Performance assessment of five different photovoltaic module technologies under outdoor conditions in Algeria

The aim of this paper is to establish a performance assessment of different kinds of photovoltaic (PV) module technologies installed in the city of Saida in Algeria. The modules are three thin film modules: copper indium selenide (CIS), mono-crystalline heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) and tandem structure of amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon (a-Si_μc-Si) with two crystalline silicon modules: multi-crystalline and mono-crystalline back contact. The modules were characterised by measuring their I-V characteristics under the same outdoor conditions. Moreover, measurements of various meteorological parameters such as irradiance, temperature and humidity, using the weather station, were also performed. The monthly average daily performance parameters as performance ratio, energy yield and efficiency are given and analysed. It was found that the HIT and the a-Si_μc-Si performed much better than the other technologies. The annual average daily performance ratios of a-Si_μc-Si module was found to be about 1.55% higher compared to HIT module and 2.04% compared to CIS. The HIT module produce an annual average daily energy of 1.15 kWh more than double what the a-Si_μc-Si produce and an annual average daily efficiency more than double of the efficiency of a-Si_μc-Si.