PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF CRYSTALLINE (POLY-SI) AND THIN FILM (A-SI/μC-SI) PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS

Output performance of crystalline (poly-Si) and thin film (a-Si/μc-Si) photovoltaic (PV) array has been evaluated in the area of PUSPIPTEK-Serpong for a period of seven months. The output power of both types of PV array at STC conditions is 1.0 kWp and 0.88 kWp, respectively. Each type of PV array is equipped with 2,5 kW grid-type inverter. The aim of this research is to determine the amount of energy produced by both types of solar cells at outdoor conditions. The performance ratio (PR) and the module yield (Ym) have been used to examine the performances of both PV modules. The electrical outputs of the PV array such as, current, voltage, maximum power, and the environmental parameters such as light intensity, PV cell’s temperature, ambient temperature, and wind speed were measured automatically by a data logger for every 5 minutes. For the data calculations, the output power of both PV array were normalized to their output power at the standard test conditions (STC). The electrical parameters output (I-Vcurve) of both PV modules measured by the Sun Simulator were used as based for the data calculation. Results from the analysis of seven months data accumulated at outdoor conditions shown that the performance ratio (PR) for a-Si/μc-Si PV module was about 10% greater than the Poly-Si module. The average value of module yield Ym for Poly-Si was about 32% for Poly-Si, and 36% for a-Si/μc-Si, respectively. The difference of Ym of both PV modules was approximately 3.1% for a-Si/μc-Si. This result indicated that the PV array of a-Si/μc-Si produced energy of about 3.1% greater than poly-Si on the conditions in Serpong.