Review of methods for the calculation of cell temperature in high concentration photovoltaic modules for electrical characterization

The solar cell operation temperature is an important input in models for the electrical characterization of high concentration photovoltaic cells and modules. However, the direct measurement of this temperature is difficult in these kinds of devices. Because of this, in recent years, the scientific community has proposed different methods for indirectly calculating the cell temperature in high concentration photovoltaic modules from atmospheric parameters and/or easily measurable parameters on the module. In this paper, a comprehensive review of existing methods for cell temperature calculation in high concentration photovoltaic modules for electrical characterization is presented. The different methods are summarized and a comparative analysis is done. Required inputs, advantages and technical difficulties of each method are highlighted. Also, an experimental campaign has been carried out at Jaén, south of Spain, in order to quantify the accuracy of the methods. Results show that methods based on direct measurements on the module are somewhat more accurate than methods only based on atmospheric parameters. The choice of the most suitable method for a specific application will depend on the availability of module information, on the required accuracy and on technical issues.