Estimation Method of Solar Cell Temperature Using Meteorological Data in Mega Solar Power Plant

The demands for diagnostics of solar power plants from remote places are increasing. We aim at constructing a diagnostic system which detects faulty modules automatically in mega solar power plants (MSPPs). The system utilizes measured data in power plants which can be obtained comparatively easily, such as string powers or solar irradiances. Solar irradiances are the most important factor which determines the magnitude of power generated in the cell, and cell temperatures are the second most important. However, cell temperatures are not usually measured directly in power plants. In this paper, we propose a new method to estimate the temperature of crystalline silicon solar cells which are most common at present, using measured data such as cell powers, solar irradiances atmospheric temperature, and wind speeds, which can be measured comparatively easily in power plants. We also evaluate our method by comparing estimated cell temperatures and surface temperatures of modules actually measured at Yoshinogari MSPP in Japan.