Performance evaluation and characterization of different photovoltaic technologies under the coastal, desertic climate conditions of Lima, Peru

Abstract

This work presents the main results of the experimental characterization campaign under outdoor conditions carried out with four different photovoltaic (PV) technologies during a period of six months in the city of Lima, Peru. Most of these technologies are new for the Peruvian market, and their performance and yield are unknown for the local climate. Among the studied PV technologies, are those that will soon dominate the global PV market due to their competitive power/price ratio. The modules were characterized by extracting the electrical parameters from the current-voltage (I-V) curve, and by measuring the irradiance, the spectral distribution, the panel temperature and the weather conditions. This allowed us to study the behavior of these PV technologies and their energy production in Lima's desertic and coastal climate, towards an evaluation of their performance. One third of Peru’s population is in Lima, so this long-term study of the performance of different PV panels is crucial for the renewable energy reform the government is currently introducing.