Extraction of efficient electrical parameters of solar cell using firefly and cuckoo search algorithm

Energy extraction from the solar irradiance by the use of solar cell Module is very important in the field of renewable energy. The Electrical properties derived from the nonlinear Current-voltage (I-V) curve of the solar cell module play a vital role in the exploration of device performance and overall efficiency. In this paper, two recently developed heuristic algorithm Cuckoo search optimization and Firefly algorithm has been applied for the extraction of parameters of double diode lumped electrical circuit model of a solar cell. The study carried out using data set generated from a MATLAB/SIMULINK model of a PV module. Results suggest that Cuckoo Search and Firefly algorithm outperform other popular evolutionary computing techniques like DE and PSO in terms of convergence speed and excellent final solution. The curves obtained from the extracted values using FA and CS are identical with those of the experimental one at different environmental conditions validates the purpose of this study which is novel also in the solar energy domain.