Exergetic Optimization of a Solar Photovoltaic Array

Table 1

Climatic, operating and design parameters of PV array [22, 35].

Solar PV module parameters	Value in validation	Value in optimization
PV module type	Siemens SM55,	Siemens SM55,
	monocrystalline silicon	monocrystalline silicon
Number of modules in series per string, 𝑁𝑚	2	From optimization
Number of strings, 𝑁𝑠	6	From optimization
The solar radiation intensity at the reference conditions, 𝐺ref	1000W/m^2	1000W/m^2
The solar radiation intensity, 𝐺	From experimental data	700W/m^2
The ambient temperature, 𝑇amb	From experimental data	300 K
The ambient temperature at NOCT conditions, 𝑇amb,NOCT	293.15 K	293.15 K
The cell temperature at the reference conditions, 𝑇cell,ref	298.15 K	298.15 K
The nominal operating cell temperature, 𝑇cell,NOCT	318.15 K	318.15 K
The PV array temperature, 𝑇cell	(14)	From optimization
The sun temperature, 𝑇sun	5760 K	5760 K
Wind speed, 𝑉𝑤	0.5 m/s	0.5 m/s
The short-circuit current at the reference conditions, 𝐼sc,ref	𝑁𝑠×3.45A	𝑁𝑠×3.45A
	(for total array)	(for total array)
The open-circuit voltage at the reference conditions, 𝑉oc,ref	𝑁𝑚×21.7V	𝑁𝑚×21.7V
	(for total array)	(for total array)
Maximum power point current at the reference conditions, 𝐼mp,ref	𝑁𝑠×3.15A	𝑁𝑠×3.15A
	(for total array)	(for total array)
Maximum power point voltage at the reference conditions, 𝑉mp,ref	𝑁𝑚×17.4V	𝑁𝑚×17.4V
	(for total array)	(for total array)
The electrical efficiency at the reference conditions, 𝜂el,ref	0.12	0.12
The current temperature coefficient, 𝛼	1.2mA/^∘C	1.2mA/^∘C
The voltage temperature coefficient, 𝛽	−0.077V/^∘C	−0.077V/^∘C
The efficiency correction coefficient for temperature, 𝛾ref	0.004^∘C^−1	0.004^∘C^−1
The semiconductor band gap energy, 𝜀	1.12 eV	1.12 eV
The effective product of transmittance–absorptance, (𝜏𝛼)	0.9	0.9
The PV array emissivity, 𝜀𝑔	0.88	0.88
The length of solar module, 𝐿1	1.293m	1.293m
The width of solar module, 𝐿2	0.329m	0.329m
Time interval, Δ𝑡	900 seconds	3600 seconds