A comparative study of exergetic performance of amorphous and polycrystalline solar PV modules

This paper presents the experimental analysis of amorphous and polycrystalline PV modules of each 5 W rating tested at Energy Centre, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, India, on a typical hazy day of January (27 January, 2014). The energy, exergy, and power conversion efficiencies of both the modules have been evaluated based on measured parameters such as solar intensity, ambient temperature, wind speed, and module temperature. Exergetic efficiency of amorphous PV module varied from 2.44% to 3.92% whereas it varied from 4.83% to 8.32% for polycrystalline PV module throughout the day. The energy efficiencies of both the modules are found to be always higher than that of exergy efficiencies and power conversion efficiencies.