On the influence of temperature on crystalline silicon solar cell characterisation parameters F. Ghani a,⇑ , G. Rosengarten b , M. Duke c , J.K. Carson c a Solimpeks Australia, 3 Spring St, Sydney 2000, Australia b School of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne 3000, Australia c Department of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand Received 13 November 2014; accepted 9 December 2014 Available online 7 January 2015 Communicated by: Associate Editor Nicola Romeo Abstract The crystalline silicon type cell is at present the most commonly used photovoltaic device on the market. These solid state devices are only capable of converting a portion of the solar spectrum into electricity. Disregarding reflection losses, the remaining portion is absorbed by the cell thus elevating its operating temperature. It has been shown in a number of previous studies that the overall electrical performance of these cells will deteriorate with temperature, with power output dropping linearly with temperature. In this study, we examine this issue in closer detail by investigating how temperature affects each of the five characterisation parameters required to char- acterise their electrical behaviour using the single diode five parameter model. Collecting current–voltage data from a mono-crystalline silicon cell at constant irradiance but at temperatures varied within the range of 25 and 70 °C (the typical range experienced in the field), we calculated the five modelling parameters using a unique numerical approach which takes into consideration several points taken from the experimental current–voltage data. It was found that all five modelling parameters were influenced by temperature, with the reverse saturation current followed by the series and shunt resistances being affected most significantly, in that order. Photovoltaic device modelling will be enhanced by taking into account the influence of temperature on each of these characterisation parameters. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Characterisation; Photovoltaic; Modelling; Temperature; Solar; Parameter selection 1. Introduction The environmental conditions and consequently the operational state of any terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) system are subject to large fluctuation over its working life. Ambient temperature and the characteristics of the inciden- tal irradiance (magnitude, spectral characteristics, etc.) will constantly vary due to weather, seasonal loading, and time of day influencing the output of the photovoltaic device. As the electrical characteristics of photovoltaic systems are typically provided only under standard test conditions (STC), where the magnitude and spectral characteristics of the light source and temperature are fixed at predeter- mined values (1000 W/m 2 and AM1.5 respectively), these values cannot be explicitly used for any meaningful energy forecasting purpose. Simulating the performance of the PV system is therefore needed to approximate the energy yield of a photovoltaic system deployed outdoors. This is impor- tant for both technological and economic reasons. At present a number of models have been applied to simulate photovoltaic behaviour with the most common approaches being based on the single and double http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2014.12.018 0038-092X/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. www.elsevier.com/locate/solener Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Solar Energy 112 (2015) 437–445