3-D PV-cell model by means of FEM

This paper proposes a model of PV cell utilizing finite element method (FEM). The model has been implemented in Comsol Multiphysics environment. At the first step the model has been separately validated from the thermal point of view and from the electrical one. Successively, in order to verify if the proposed model is able to represent the thermo-electrical behavior of the PV cell under real conditions, both the effects have been simultaneously applied. Simulation results confirm the goodness of the proposed PV-cell model.