Analysis of Different Third-Generation Solar Cells Using the Discrete Electrical Model d1MxP

Abstract

The performance of photovoltaic solar cells is usually analyzed using continuous models, for instance, 1M5P. I-V and P-V curves are fitted by a mathematical expression from the electrical model. In the case of 1M5P, characteristics are fitted using five parameters that are obtained using a small number of I-V points from a wider set of data, keeping the curve shape given by the mathematical expression from the model. A novel model was recently proposed to overcome this issue. The d1MxP model is based on the discretization of the electrical behavior of the diodes in models such as 1M5P. The d1MxP methodology is equivalent to an analytical incremental calculation and since it connects the given points, the model error should be lower than the one obtained using models as 1M5P. It is based on the connection of adjacent points (with small voltage differences) instead of having the entire voltage range represented by some parameters (as the continuous models do, for instance, 1M5P). In this work, the d1MxP model is applied to perovskite solar cells and paint-type dye-sensitized solar cells. The aim is to analyze the behavior of the discrete model in different third-generation solar cells since their performance cannot be well characterized by the 1M5P model. The accuracy on the maximum power point is relevant, resulting in perovskite solar cells, an improvement of up to 2.61% and, in paint-type dye-sensitized solar cells, an increase of up to 5.03%.