Impact of Environmental Factors on Photovoltaic Systems

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) modules are sensitive to environmental factors such astemperature, irradiance and shading. Therefore, the impacts of environmental factors onphotovoltaic systems are investigated in this chapter. Generally, the PV modules getshadowed, completely or partially, by the passing clouds, neighboring buildings andtowers, trees, and utility and telephone poles. The situation is of particular interest in caseof large PV installations such as those used in distributed power generation schemes.Under partially shaded conditions, the PV characteristics get more complex with multiplepeaks. Therefore, except for temperature and irradiance, the impact of partial shadingcaused by clouds and other neighbor objects on the performance of photovoltaic systemsare investigated. Developing of photovoltaic market and the electrical models of solarcells will be analyzed and discussed. In addition, shading effects on photovoltaic panelsare studied with simulation and experimental results. Some implementations ofphotovoltaic systems are given end of the chapter. © Nova Science Publishers, Inc.