Samenvatting

The predicted depletion of fossil fuel reservoirs, together with rising energy demands and an increasing environmental awareness make the production of energy from environmentally friendly and renewable sources necessary. One of those sources is solar power, from which energy can be harvested with photovoltaic panels.
The research presented here is aimed at modelling the output of photovoltaic modules using exclusively electrical parameters at standard test conditions (STC), usually provided by the manufacturer. This will enable power producers to predict their output accurately and effectively. Furthermore, it can help the industry to identify defects and shortcomings in newly developed solar cells and modules faster, thus reducing the development risks.
Presented results verify the proper operation of the proposed model. The validation process shows good results with Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficients above 0.95, for high and medium irradiance levels. At low irradiance levels the proposed model results in higher errors. However, further tests, with various other photovoltaic modules are needed to validate the proposed model completely.