Validation of proposed photovoltaic energy rating standard and sensitivity

Abstract

PV devices are currently compared on the basis of the power measurements, which might not be as meaningful as a comparator as the energy yield. The energy rating standard proposed by the IEC promises to overcome this shortcoming. It has been implemented in three institutes and the issues with the current drafts are evaluated. The data required as the input for the energy rating is normally not available and synthetic datasets will have to be used or parts need to be estimated for validation studies. The validation against outdoor data shows that the uncertainty of the input data, specifically the angular distribution of the diffuse irradiance, makes the energy prediction part virtually not applicable for energy yield calculations. The validation effort shows a reduction of the standard deviation in the measurements, indicating that all environmental effects are considered. The evaluation of the originally proposed standard days shows that there is little information to be gained in their application as they are not representative of realistic conditions; they are enveloping the possible environments. This will in some cases over-emphasise the importance of certain effects, as their contribution to the overall energy yield might be negligible. Overall, the proposed standard represents an important advance on power rating. The standard is able to identify differences in device technologies. Further work might be required to make the output more relevant to a wider variety of users, though.