Modeling and Simulation of Photovoltaic Module

for Space Applications using

Simulink/MATLAB

Kareem A. Morsy Mohamed A. Abouelatta, Mohammed M. El-Banna,

Ministry of Defense, Ain Shams University M. K. Elsaid
Cairo,Egypt Ain Shams University - Faculty of Engineering
[email protected] Cairo, E-11517, Egypt

Abstract—this paper presents an enhanced model of Several models were proposed, most of them lack an accurate
photovoltaic (PV) module for space application. The model is description of one or more specific PV module characteristics.
represented by two diodes equivalent circuit for each single
junction and implemented in Simulink / MATLAB. It is validated
Rustemli et al. [3] implement a photovoltaic model to
using real requirements of space mission with real space PV cell
characteristics. The fundamental equations of the PV cell are study the temperature effect only and W. Singla, V. et al. [4]
utilized with the influences of space radiation and the variation of implement a photovoltaic model to study the radiation effect
the operating temperature. The P-V and I-V characteristics as a only. The implementation of a photovoltaic module that
function of space radiation and the operating temperature are represented by a single diode equivalent circuit is introduced
presented. The comparison of the modeling results with the in [5-10]. However, the recombination losses are ignored in
published data from the manufacturer shows a satisfactory the depletion zone in the single diode prototype.
accuracy with max error 5.9 % for the whole voltage range. The
model is used to implement a complete space photovoltaic system In an actual PV cell, recombination in the depletion region
for space applications. Finally, the model is used to compare the
represents a substantial loss. It can’t be sufficiently
performance of single crystal Si module and multi-junction
module using a real mission requirement of a satellite platform. demonstrated by utilizing a single diode equivalent circuit. To
take this loss into consideration, a PV cell has to be
Keywords— MATLAB / Simulink; Space photovoltaic cell; represented by two diodes model to be more accurate [11-14].
Photovoltaic module; Space radiation; Satellite orbit .
The rest of the paper is structured as follows: In section 2,
I. INTRODUCTION space PV cell is introduced. In section 3, the two diodes’
model equivalent circuit is illustrated. In section 4, a model of
a space photovoltaic module is implemented. Results and
Most orbital satellites today depend on solar panels to
discussion including the influences of variation of cell
generate the necessary power for their normal operation. This
operating temperature and radiance power on the performance
trend is probably not going to be changed because there is a
of the PV module are studied in section 5. Section 6 shows a
distinctive lack of alternative power sources in space. In
comparison between Si and multi-junction PV modules in
addition, the development of solar power generation
space applications. And as a last point, section 7 is devoted to
technology for satellites remains of crucial importance to
identifying paper's conclusions.
produce a cheaper and more reliable spacecraft [1].
II. SPACE PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL
All PV cells that are deployed in space must not ignore the
unique features of the space nature. Whereas the spectral
The selection of photovoltaic cells for the array relies on the
irradiance in space isn’t filtered by the atmosphere and this is
requirements of the mission, and the relative advantages and
distinctive from the radiance on the ground. So, All PV cells
costs of what are available. Silicon (Si) PV cells and high
that are fabricated to operate in space are verified in standard
efficiency multi-junction PV cells were manufactured for
conditions of Air Mass Zero spectrum (AM0) [2].
space applications. Nowadays, PV cells based on multi-
junction are the most effective cells. They are introducing high
Modeling is required to investigate the behaviour of the
efficiency and higher levels of radiation resistance [9, 11].
PV modules in space and to get the effect of various
parameters on the performance of the PV system. It is a
crucial step before proceeding in the fabrication process.

      
  

 Fig. 2 Two diodes equivalent model of a PV cell for each single
junction.

Where:
Fig. 1 Multi-junction PV cell.
Icell: output current of PV Cell, (A)
Vcell: output voltage of PV Cell, (V).
The advanced efficiency multi-junction PV cell of Ge / GaAs / K: constant of Boltzmann (= 1.38×10-23J/K).
GaInP has structure comprises of 3 sub-cells: Ge sub-cell,
GaAs sub-cell, and GaInP sub-cell. Every sub-cell has its Iph: photocurrent, that rely upon irradiation and cell
individual material features that participate to the conversion operating temperature, (A).
efficiency of the PV cell. Is1, Is2: diode 1 & diode 2 reverse saturation currents, (A).

Multi-junction PV cells are several p-n junctions [15], N : diode ideality factor.
which consist of various semiconductors materials as shown in q: charge of the electron (= 1.6 ×10-19C).
Fig. 1 [16]. The current components that are generated by each
p-n junction according to various wavelengths of spectrum, Tc: operating temperature of PV cell, (K).
contribute to the cell total current. To enhance the conversion Rs: series resistance, (Ω).
efficiency of the cell, a several semi- conducting materials can
Rp: shunt resistance, (Ω).
be used to enable the absorbance of an extensive variety of
wavelengths [17, 18].
The value of the current (Icell) is a function of the
photocurrent (Iph) which usually rely upon the radiation and
III. PHOTOVOLTAIC EQUIVALENT MODELS operating temperature of the PV cell as illustrated in Eq. (2)
[24, 25]:
The equivalent circuit models of a PV cell and module are
introduced in this part.
Iph= [Iscr +K1( Tc – Tr )] (Ir / Ir0) (2)
A. Photovoltaic cell equivalent model
Where:
The photovoltaic cell modeling can be implemented by
single diode [5-10, 19] or double diodes equivalent circuit for
each single junction [11-14, 20]. The two diodes model is more Iscr: current of short circuit (SC) of PV cell at Ir0 and Tr (A).
accurate, as it considers the recombination losses in the Ir : is the solar irradiance, (W/m2).
depletion zone. The equivalent circuit of the two diodes’ model Ir0 : is the reference solar irradiance at (AM0) = 1353 W/m2.
of the PV cell comprises of two diodes, a series resistance (RS) Tr : The cell’s reference temperature 28oC = 301.15 K.
describes an internal resistance to the current flow, a parallel KI : SC current temperature coefficient of the cell.
resistance (Rp) which expresses a leakage current, and finally a
photo current, (see Fig. 2) [21].
B. Photovoltaic module equivalent model
The relation between the output current (Icell) and the output The photovoltaic module is considered as the conversion
voltage (Vcell) of the Photovoltaic cell [22, 23] is defined in Eq. unit in the PV system. It consists of PV cells connected in
(1), by means of:
parallel and series. The parallel and series assemblies of the
PV modules result in an array [26, 27]. To increase the total
voltage of the PV module, photovoltaic cells are assembled in
series (Vmod = V1+V2+V3+...). On the other hand, to increase
the total current generated by the module, PV cells are
connected in parallel (Imod = I1+I2+I3+...) [28]. The equivalent
circuit of the module composed of parallel cells branches (Np)
(1) and series cells (Ns) see Fig. 3.
 TABLE 1 Typical electrical characteristics of UTJ - LEON (59.6 cm2)

Parameter Value
Isc 17.22 mA / cm2
Imp 16.46 mA / cm2
Voc 2.660 V
Vmp 2.300 V
Fig. 3 equivalent model of a PV module.
Pmp/Pmpo
0.86%
The relation between the output current (Imod) and the Max degradation of EOL
output voltage (Vmod) of the photovoltaic module [21], which
utilizes two diodes model for each single junction, is defined
in Eq. (3) as: Cell Area 59.6 cm2
Cell Wight 84 mg /cm2
Efficiency 27.7 %

and its characteristics is summarized in Table 1, at space

standard condition Air Mass zero (AM0) (135.3 mW / cm2, 28
o
C), and efficiency 27.7% [16].

A general photovoltaic module is implemented using

Simulink / MATLAB (see Fig. 4), the PV module block
consists of (5) parallel subsystems (Np = 5), as shown in Fig.
(3) 5.

Where:

Ns: Total of series cells.

Np: Total of parallel cells branches.

IV. THE PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION OF PV MODULE IN

SIMULINK/MATLAB

The model is validated using actual space mission

platform, SSTL -150 ESPA Satellite platforms. The real space
mission requires the following [29]:
- An end of life power (PEOL) of 120 W.
- Main Bus Voltage Range (28 – 33V).
- The power control technique using direct energy transfer
(DET).
- And working in low earth orbit (LEO). Fig. 4 Simulink/MATLAB model implementation for PV Module.
- Under a temperature range from (–170°C to 123°C) [30].

In reality, the space PV cells have a relatively much wider

allowable operating temperature range of (−190 oC to +60 oC).

The thermal control system maintains the spacecraft to

operate within its operating temperature limits for all the
equipment on board. The radiant energy produces a flux of
about 1370 W/m2 at the Earth’s orbit [31]. Ultra Triple
Junction (UTJ)-Leone (59.6 cm2) solar cell from Spectro lab
of the Boeing company is chosen as a normal PV cell for the Fig. 5 Subsystem implementation of PV model.
implementation of the model. Its structure is shown in Fig. 1,
 Fig. 8 The module output power at BOL in case of (UTJ) PV module .
(Ns =17, and Np =5, and number of cell=85).

From the parameters in Table 1, the total area of the module

equal = Amod = (85×59.6cm2) = 5066 cm2 = 0.5066 m2.
The Mass of the module = Mmod = (5066 cm2 × 84 mg / cm2) =
425.5 g = 0.4255 kg.
Fig. 6 Mask blocks implementation of PV module. Finally, to estimate the power at the end of life (PEOL), Eq. (4)
should be applied as follows [32]:
Each subsystem consists of 17 PV cells connecting in
series (Ns = 17), in addition, the mask block is designed as PEOL =Ld . PBOL (4)
shown in Fig. 6, in which the factors of photovoltaic module
can be specified. Where Ld: life degradation.
Max power degradation at end of life (EOL) equals 0.86,
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION then the estimated power at the end of life (PEOL) = 142.6 ×
86/100 = 122.64 W. This result verifies the mission
As a validation for the proposed model, a comparison requirements which mentioned in the satellite platform [29].
of the I - V characteristics of the (UTJ) PV cell of the model The I-V and P-V characteristics of the UTJ PV module are
with the measured data of the PV cell of (UTJ)-Leone (59.6 shown in Fig. 9 at irradiation of 135.3 mW/cm2 and
cm2) at reference temperature of 28 °C and reference temperature Tc = 60 ( at worst case of operating conditions).
irradiation of 135.3 mW/cm2 is shown in Fig. 7 [16]. The
comparison shows a satisfactory accuracy which is less than
5.9 % for the whole voltage range.

A. Results of module at worst case of operating conditions

The used cell, (UTJ)-LEONE (59.6 cm2) is working at

temperature Tc = 60 °C [31] and max radiation degradation of
total fluence of 1015 MeV equivalent electrons, [16]. At these
operating conditions, the photovoltaic module generates total
output power at beginning of life (PBOL) = 142.6 W as shown a b
in Fig. 8.
Fig. 9 (a) I-V characteristics of (UTJ) PV module, (b) P-V characteristics
of (UTJ) PV module

B. Parametric analysis in case of (UTJ)-LEONE (59.6 cm2)

The effects of different irradiation on the I-V

characteristics and on the P-V characteristics of photovoltaic
module are presented in Fig.10-a, and fig. 10-b at the
reference temperature (Tr) 28°C.

And the influence of the space temperature variation on the

I-V characteristics and on the P-V characteristics of
photovoltaic module are presented in Fig. 11-a, and Fig. 11-b
Fig. 7 I-V curve of the model against I-V curve of measured data. at a reference irradiance (Ir0) of 1353 W/m2.
 It is observed from Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 that, the Isc
(module) is a strong function of the irradiance and Voc
(module) is dependent on of the temperature. As the
irradiation increases, the output current increases with slight
change in the voltage. In contrary, when module operational
temperature increases, the output voltage decreases, with
nearly no change in the current which causes degradation in
the output power of the photovoltaic module.

(a) VI. COMPARISON OF SI PV CELL S 32 TYPE: S 32 (23.6

CM2) AND UTJ (59.6 CM2) CELL AT THE SAME OPERATING
CONDITIONS.
In this section, our model is used to implement a PV space
system using Si PV modules at the same space mission
requirement (the same power requirement) and the same worst
case of operating condition like the multi-junction PV system.

The Si PV module generates total output power at

beginning of life (PBOL) = 145 W, and its I-V and P-V
characteristics are shown in Fig. 12. at the following
conditions: NS =90, and NP =7 with total cells are 630.
(b) From data sheet of the cell the total area of the module, A=
(630×23.6 cm2) = 14868 cm2, A= 1.48 m2 which is about 3
times the required are in case of multi-junction PV module
Fig. 10 (a) I-V characteristics of (UTJ) PV module at Tr = 28 °C and [33] .
different irradiation. (b) P-V characteristics of (UTJ) PV module at Tr = And the mass of module is (14868 cm2 × 32 mg / cm2) = 475 g
28 °C and different irradiation. = 0.4755 kg, which is greater than the mass of the multi-
junction PV module.

Finally, the estimated power at the end of life (PEOL), when the
max power degradation at total fluence of 1015 MeV at EOL
equals 0.89 is PEOL = 145 × 89/100 = 129.05 W.

This result verifies the mission requirements which mentioned

in the satellite platform [29] .

(a)

(a) (b)

Fig.12 (a) I-V characteristics of (UTJ) PV module at Ir0 = 1353 W/m2 and
different temperatures. (b) P-V characteristics of (UTJ) PV module at Ir0
(b) = 1353 W/m2 and different temperatures.

Fig .11 (a) I-V characteristics of (UTJ) PV module at Ir0 = 1353 W/m2
and different temperatures. (b) P-V characteristics of (UTJ) PV module
at Ir0 = 1353 W/m2 and different temperatures.
 TABLE 2 The comparison results between UTJ and Si modules parameters and its performance, and it follows with good
accuracy, the nonlinear P-V and I-V output characteristics. The
results of the simulation are compared with the manufacturer’s
(UTJ)- Si Cell S 32 published data and the limiting error is less than 5.9 % for the
Item
LEONE cell (23.6 cm2) whole voltage range.
(59.6 cm2)
Total number of cells
in the module 85 cells 630 cells Finally, a comparison between single crystal Si and
multi-junction modules is introduced. It is found that the new
Cell Area multi-junction III-V cells are highly efficient rather than Si
59.6 cm2 23.6 cm2 solar cells. The III-V module has a smaller size, mass and
Cell Wight area over the previously used single crystal Si cells while
84 mg /cm2 32 mg /cm2 maintaining the same power levels. On the other hand, Si
NS and NP for the modules are cost effective than the multi-junction III-V
module to produce NS =17 NS =90 modules. This comparison helps the designers of the PV space
the same power NP =5 NP =7 craft systems to choose the suitable PV materials to make the
right decision according to the mission and cost requirements.
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