PV Array Modeling at Cell Level under Non‐homogeneous Conditions

When the photovoltaic (PV) string is simulated at a module level, it is assumed that the irradiation level received by all the cells in the module is the same, and also that those cells are perfectly equal in terms of parameters. Unfortunately, PV string modeling level does not allow the reverse behavior of the cells to be examined, it is perhaps the best compromise between accuracy and computation speed, but it does not account for the hot‐spot phenomena that the cells might be subject to in some operating conditions. The cell model must therefore be improved so that it takes into account cell behavior at negative voltage values. The subcell model should be useful for lowering the granularity level of the representation, thus allowing it to describe if a single cell is affected by a partial shadowing or not. The objective is to achieve a simulation of such operating conditions by an equivalent circuit model.