Current-voltage characteristics of novel PV devices under various irradiance and temperature conditions

The current voltage (I-V) characteristics of PV devices under various irradiance, temperature, and spectral conditions are of central importance for evaluating the output power and energy production of the devices under various climate conditions. Those characteristics are relatively well confirmed for crystalline silicon and thin film Si PV devices, and methods to estimate the irradiance-dependence and temperature-dependence are described in standards such as IEC60891. However, experimental results on newer devices such as CIGS, dye-sensitized (DSC), and organic thin film (OPV) devices are less established than those Si based PV devices. The present study extensively investigates the I-V curves of those novel PV cells and modules under various irradiance and temperature conditions. It is shown that the resultant irradiance dependence at 0.01-1 sun is predominantly affected by the series resistance, which is consistent with the precedent reports on PV modules. The temperature dependence is dominated by the constituent photovoltaic materials and structure. Translation equations for irradiance and temperature based on linear interpolation are applicable also to the new PV devices.