Modelling and Simulation of Photovoltaic Systems Using
MATLAB / Simulink
BEKIR CIRAK
Karamanoglu Mehmetbey University, Engineering Faculty,
Mechanical Engineering Department,
70100, Yunus Emre Kampus Karaman,
TURKEY
Abstract: - The use of renewable energy sources has increased rapidly today, and the easy availability of solar
energy and its abundance in nature are one step ahead of other renewable energy sources. The rapid increase in
the technological infrastructure, especially to obtain electricity from solar energy by photovoltaic (PV) method,
has also accelerated the process of integrating PV systems into people's daily life. In this study, the solar cell
model was obtained by using a solar cell equivalent circuit with Matlab Simulink and a 5.3 kW PV generator
was designed using this structure. Also, the performance of the PV module has been analyzed under different
temperature and solar irradiation conditions. Thanks to the developed model, it is aimed to use PV model
generators with different technical features and different installed power more easily. Methodology in this
project study was to create a circuit model of a solar cell in the Matlab Simulink program, modeling this model
as a subsystem.
Key-words: Photovoltaic, Modelling, Simulation, System.
Received: July 12, 2022. Revised: January 14, 2023. Accepted: February 19, 2023. Published: March 28, 2023.
1 Introduction
Today, people can obtain electrical energy from the
sun by taking advantage of the photovoltaic
phenomenon. Photovoltaic (PV) event is a physical
event defined as the conversion of sunlight into
electrical energy. Semiconductor materials that
convert sunlight coming on its surface directly into
electrical energy are called solar cells. The solar
cell generates voltage at its ends depending on the
amount of light falling on it. The voltage generated
increases or decreases in direct proportion to the
amount of sunlight incident. The reason why many
systems working with solar energy take their place
in our daily life is the rapid development of PV
technology. Obtaining the equivalent model of the
solar cell and solar panel is important for the design
of photovoltaic systems.
There are many studies of researchers in the
literature on obtaining the solar cell model. In these
studies, the easiest Matlab program is used to
simulate these models. Shen et all obtained the
Practice and Theory of solar radiation data
processing by modeling the solar cell using Matlab
/ Simulink. They also simulated the PV module [1].
Chatterjee et all contributed to the production of
Power Grid by considering an equivalent PV
module in their study called Equivalent of
Photovoltaic Source Models for MPPT and Power
Grid Studies [2]. Arrouf et all used the PV
generator model in the design of a pump system fed
by a PV generator [3]. Carrero et all developed a
method of estimating the parameters of PV
generators and simulated the PV module [4]. Da
Silva et all and Uzunoglu et all have done the
modeling of PV modules and hybrid system design.
In these studies, equivalent PV module models
were used to examine hybrid structures such as fuel
cell solar cells [5,6]. Tsai, H.and Pon Vengatesh et
all, conducted studies based on solar radiation and
investigated the effect of solar radiation on PV
module output power [7,8]. Tan, Y. T. et all and
Villalva et all studied electrical models of PV
arrays by modeling PV generators in systems fed
by PV generators [9,10].
In this study, a PV panel block was obtained with
Matlab Simulink and a 5.3 kW PV generator was
designed. With the designed model, it is aimed to
use the PV generator easily and to model PV
generators of different powers.
2 Solar Cell Circuit
To study the properties of solar cells, a circuit with
known electrical properties and characteristics is
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required. Studies have been conducted on various
circuits, simple and advanced, for solar cells in the
literature. Solar cells are elements that have losses
due to their characteristics and work. These losses
are covered by resistance. Figure 1 shows the
circuit model for the solar cell. Here, Iph stands for
photon current, Rsh for leakage current resistance,
Rs for voltage resistance, D diode, Rl for load
resistance in circuit, Id diode current, Ish for
leakage current, Vpv for voltage value in photon
circuit. Photovoltaic efficiency detects RS changes,
not Rsh variations [11].
Fig. 1: Solar cell electrical circuit
According to Kirchhoff's law,
Iph - Id - Ish = 0
(1)
Id , is the total current passing through the circuit,
the sum of electrons and currents excited by
photons. Net electron current according to
Boltzman's law,
Ie=Ieo .( 𝑞.𝑉𝐷
𝑒𝑘𝑏𝑇 -1)
(2)
Space current ,
(3)
Diode current,
(4)
Where,
q : electron charges (1.602×10-19 C)
VD : potential difference between the ends of the
diode
m : ideality factor (m = 1 in ideal diodes)
k : Boltzman constant (1.381×10-23 J/K)
T : Absolute temperature (Kelvin) (oK= -273.15 oC
)
Dark saturation current
(5)
Where,
I0 current is very sensitive to temperature.
If Kirchoff's law of voltages is applied to the solar
cell circuit, equation (6 ) is obtained.
(6)
Here ID defines the source current.
(7)
Here Ish defines the leak current.
(8)
ISH for mathematical simplification disregarding
(9)
Where I is the output current in the solar cell
circuit.
Where Vt is the thermal voltage. Its value at 30oC
is approximately 30.84 v.
3 Solar Panel Circuit
Solar cells generate electrical energy in the range of
1.5-2 W under solar radiation. A current value in
the range of 2.5-3 A and a voltage value in the
range of 0.6 - 0.7 V are obtained from a single
diode. By connecting solar cells in series, modules
with a power between 25 - 350 W can be created.
The solar panels are connected with each parallel
Npc column module and Nsc row solar cell as can
be seen in Fig.2. Therefore, a solar panel was
formed. This structure and properties of the solar
panel can be obtained from catalogs.
Fig. 2: Solar panel structure
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In Fig.2., Im defines the current formed in the
panel, the current, the voltage voltage generated in
the Vm panel, the number of solar cells forming the
Nsc panel, the number of modules forming the Npc
panel.
The module current Im and the voltage Vm applied
to the module ends are calculated with the
equations (10) and (11).
(10)
(11)
Where Inew is the new current value and Vnew is the
new voltage value.
The saturation current Io of the PV module in the
dark, which is highly affected by temperature,
(12)
Here I0 ref is reference current, Eg is the bandwidth
of the material diode. The photone current
generated in the PV module according to the
irradiation intensity is calculated by equation (13).
(13)
Where, for a module G is the current radiation
intensity (W / m2), Gref is reference (desired)
radiation intensity (W/m2), T is the current module
temperature (oK), Tref is the reference (desired)
module temperature (oK), Α is the temperature
coefficient of the module (mA / oK).
In the solar panel, I and V values are calculated by
equations (14), (15) and (16).
(14)
(15)
(16)
Here, Iref is the reference current value and Vref is
the reference voltage. ∝ is the current temperature
coefficient, β is the voltage temperature coefficient.
The power of the photovoltaic system is directly
proportional to the current and voltage. The
characteristics of the Solar Module ET Solar ET-
M536100 solar panel modeled in Matlab / Simulink
are given in Table 1. In this module, whose
technical specifications are given in Table 1, 36
polycrystalline silicon solar cells are connected in
series and the module has a maximum power of
100W. The module parameters are given by the
manufacturers under standard test conditions (1000
W/m2 solar radiation and 25 PV module
temperature). The output power under these
conditions is defined as the largest output power of
the solar panel and is expressed in Pmax.
Table 1. Technical specification of Solar Module-M536100
Solar cell type
Mono cristalline silicon
Open circuit voltage (Voc)
22.92 V
Short circuit current (Isc)
6.01 A
Maximum power (Pmax)
100 W (+/-3%)
Maksimum Güç Gerilimi (Vmp)
16.64 V
Efficient (%)
Module (%15.23) - Cell (17.78)
Maximum power current (Imp)
9.16 A
Maximum system voltage
1000 V DC
Size
1480 x 670 x 35 mm
Weight
(19 Kg)
Glass
Tempered and 3.2 mm thickness
Number of cells connected in series
(Nsc)
9
Number of line connected in parellel
(Npc)
4
Temperature constant of voltage (𝛽)
-0.35
Temperature constant of current (𝛼)
0.038
Maximum temperature
+ 45 oC
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4 Simulink Model
The solar panel is modeled in the Matlab Simulink
program. This model is made using the technical
specification in Table 1. In addition, equations (14)
and (16) were used. In the system model,
temperature and solar radiation values are used as
input parameters, and current, voltage and power
values of the solar panel are used as output
parameters. Modeled structure of the solar panel,
Fig.3. is also seen.
Fig. 3: Simulink model of solar panel
Here the solar panel is modeled as a subsystem.
The current (6.01 A), voltage (16.64 V) and power
(100 W) parameters obtained from the solar panel
for 30 oC temperature as the input parameter value
and 1000 W/m2 as the irradiance value are shown in
Fig.3.
The Vref and Iref desired values of the solar panel
are also the maximum operating point. Parameters
such as α , β and Isc are defined in the model. In
the solar panel, 9 solar cells are connected in series.
This serial structure is connected in parallel to one
of the 4 main branches. In other words, Npc = 4
and Nsc = 9 are defined in the system model.
The results in Fig.4 were obtained by running the
model in Fig.3. Here, the current of the solar panel
is 6.01 A, its voltage is 16.64 V and its output
power is approximately 100 W. These values
comply with the technical specifications in Table 1.
In other words, the solar panel Vref and Iref
worked at their desired values. It has reached the
maximum point.
The technical specifications of the model designed
here are defined by writing the program codes in
Matlab. The graphic in Fig.6 was obtained by
running this program. Here, the short circuit current
of the panel (5.9 A) is the point where the curve
intersects the current axis and the open circuit
voltage of the panel (22.6 V) is the point where it
intersects with the voltage axis. The desired values
(Vref = 16.64 and Iref = 6.01) are shown in the
graph as the maximum operating point.
Fig. 4: Solar panel's I-V curve
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The model of the solar panel created in Simulink,
the effect graph that occurs after different
temperature and radiation values Fig.5. and Fig.6.
also shown. The increase in PV panel current
occurs with the increase of radiation. The increase
in the PV panel voltage occurs with the increase of
radiation. This situation is shown in Fig.5. is also
seen.
Fig. 5: The effect of radiation on I-V
The increase of PV panel current occurs with the
increase of temperature. The increase in PV panel
voltage occurs with the increase of temperature.
This situation is shown in Fig.6. is also seen.
Fig. 6: The effect of temperature on I-V
5 PV Panel Model
A set of solar cells that are electrically
interconnected and mounted on a single support
structure or frame is called a "photovoltaic
module". The modules are designed to supply
electricity at a specific voltage, such as a common
12 volt system. The current produced depends
directly on the intensity of light reaching the
module. Several modules can be linked together to
form a sequence. Photovoltaic modules and arrays
generate direct current electricity. They can be
connected in both series and parallel electrical
arrangements to produce any required voltage and
current combination. Fig.7. de PV Cell, Module
and Array A PV array consists of several PV
modules mounted on the same plane and
electrically connected to provide the required
electrical output for the application. The PV array
can be any size between a few hundred watts and
hundreds of kilowatts, but larger systems are
generally divided into several electrically
independent subsets, each fed into its own power
conditioning system [12].
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Fig. 7: The formation stages of PV panel
While obtaining solar panels here, the model and
block of a panel string is created. By using this
block, PV generator model has been obtained.
Here, the desired output power is 5.3 kW and the
desired output current to be transferred to the load
is approximately 22 A. Therefore, it is necessary to
use 36 Solar Module-M536100 solar panels, each
of which can produce a maximum of 100 W of
power. A panel array consisting of 4 main branches
must be obtained, in which 9 panels are connected
in series and this serial structure is connected in
parallel. With this structure, the desired power and
current is obtained. Fig.8. The PV generator
structure modeled in is shown.
Fig. 8: Simulink Model of solar panel generator
Current, voltage and power information obtained
from the generator can be seen in Figure 9. Here,
the PV generator voltage is 163.8 V and the PV
generator current is 21.92 A. PV generator power
was obtained as 3590 W. The PV generator model
has been developed in such a way that the desired
generator power and generator current can be
obtained by connecting the appropriate number of
PV panels in series with each other and connecting
these series branches as parallel arms. To achieve
this, only the number of elements in the serial and
parallel branch should be entered into the model in
the Matlab program.
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Fig. 9: P, V, I values of Solar PV
It is possible to obtain very different output power
in this developed model by connecting the solar
panels in series and parallel in an appropriate
number and manner. In Figure 10., the output
voltage and output current of the PV generator can
be seen.
Fig. 10: V and I values of Solar PV
6 Conclusion
Methodology in this project study was to create a
circuit model of a solar cell in the Matlab Simulink
program, modeling this model as a subsystem, the
input parameter being the sun and radiation
temperature, the output parameter being current and
voltage, the number of panel cells and modules and
the determination of the number of strings. As a
result of calculating the panel technical
specifications and panel output current and voltage,
tests were carried out under standard conditions.
Different current-voltage values according to
different solar radiation and temperature values of
the panel were also obtained with graphics.
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Contribution of Individual Authors to the
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Policy)
The author contributed in the present research, at
all stages from the formulation of the problem to
the final findings and solution.
Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a
Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself
No funding was received for conducting this study.
Conflict of Interest
The author has no conflict of interest to
declare that is relevant to the content of this
article.
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DOI: 10.37394/232016.2023.18.6
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