Parameter estimation of single diode PV module based on Nelder-Mead optimization algorithm

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to propose a simple, derivative-free novel method named as Nelder–Mead optimization algorithm to estimate the unknown parameters of the photovoltaic (PV) module considering the environmental conditions. Design/methodology/approach At a particular temperature and irradiation, experimental current-voltage (I-V) and power-voltage (P-V) characteristics are drawn and considered as a reference model. The PV system model with unknown model parameters is considered as the adaptive model whose unknown model parameters are to be adapted so that the simulated characteristics closely matches with the experimental characteristics. A single diode (Rsh) model with five unknown model parameters is considered here for the parameter estimation. Findings The key advantages of this method are that parameters are estimated considering environmental conditions. Experimental characteristics are considered for parameter estimation which gives accurate results. Parameters are estimated considering both I-V and P-V curves as most of the applications demand extraction of the actual power from the PV module. Originality/value The proposed model is compared with other three well-known models available in the literature considering various statistical errors. The results show the superiority of the proposed model with a minimum error for both I-V and P-V characteristics.