Parameter Extraction of PV Solar Cell Using Metaheuristic Methods

Abstract

Due to the increasing crises in energy and environmental factors, the importance of renewable energy is increasing. However, it is gaining importance in developing photovoltaic energy systems. Therefore, great efforts are made to maximize success in accurately modeling PV parameters. Parameter estimation is a complex problem and requires advanced design tools such as optimization techniques because the current voltage (I–V) characteristics of PVs are nonlinear. This study investigates the best technique for the most accurate estimation of the parameters obtained in single-diode and double-diode cases. The Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO), Improved Gray Wolf Optimization (IGWO), Sine Cosine Algorithm (SCA), Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA), and Multi-Verse Optimizer (MVO) are the algorithms used in this paper. Apart from the literature, this study considers that the PV parameter extraction problem is not just an offline optimization problem but also a real-time optimization issue. The performance of all methods has been compared with experimental data. The lowest error on minimum iteration and highest convergence accuracy have been achieved for offline optimization by using IGWO. The results clearly state that the IGWO is not usable in real-time applications even though IGWO is the best optimizer in offline optimization.