Comparison of calibrations of a single-diode model of photovoltaic module performance using performance matrix vs. specification datasheet

Two novel parameter-fitting methods were developed to calibrate a six-parameter single-diode model (SDM) for the performance of photovoltaic (PV) modules. One model-calibration method used the short-circuit current, maximum power, and open-circuit voltage points, in addition to the temperature coefficients at these points, all at standard test conditions (STC). This represented a limited set of performance information commonly reported by a manufacturer’s specification datasheet. These parameter fits were evaluated by the calibrated model’s ability to predict the maximum-power performance of nine different commercial makes of monofacial PV modules over a range of operating conditions, which were a superset of the IEC 61853-1 standard reporting “matrix” of performance vs. irradiance and temperature. Reasonable performance prediction was found away from STC for most parameter fits, with some notable exceptions. The other model-calibration method calibrated the same SDM using the data from the full performance matrix and no temperature coefficients. Overall for crystalline silicon modules, away-from-STC performance predictions from the model calibrated using the full performance matrix were significantly better than those from the same model calibrated using the STC-only specification-datasheet information. •Two algorithms calibrate a single-diode model to performance matrix vs. spec sheet.•Fit quality is analyzed and compared for nine commercially measured modules.•Both algorithms produce reasonable fits for eight crystalline silicon modules.•Heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) outlier suggests model error.•Performance-matrix fits better predict power over a range of operating conditions.•Open-sourced implementations are available in Python.