*3.1. PV Generator*

PV cells are made of a semiconductor material that forms the basic element of a photovoltaic module. A generator typically includes several modules connected in series and in parallel to produce the required current and voltage. Figure 2 shows the most commonly used equivalent schematic of a solar cell, which includes a current source, *Iph*; a diode; and two parasitic resistors, *Rs* and *Rsh*.

**Figure 2.** Electrical model of a photovoltaic cell [24].

The actual current–voltage characteristic can be represented by the following equation:

$$I = I\_{ph} - I\_{obs} = I\_{ph} - I\_s \left[ \exp^{\frac{V + I.R\_t}{nV\_{th}}} - 1 \right] - \frac{V + I.R\_s}{R\_{sh}} \tag{1}$$

where *Iph* (A) is the saturation current, *Vth* (V) is the thermodynamic potential, *K* (*J*.*K*<sup>−</sup>1) is Boltzmann's constant, *T* (*K*) is the effective cell temperature, *e* (C) is the electron's charge, *n* is the nonideality factor of the junction, *I* (*A*) is the current provided by the cell, and *V* (*V*) is the voltage across the cell.

Table 1 represents the electrical characteristics of the GPV proposed in this study. Indeed, it is composed of 5 PV panels (REC\_330NP), and each panel can generate a peak power of 330 W peak in standard conditions. These panels are connected in series, which allows for generating a voltage of (VMPP) = 173 V and delivering a total peak power of 1650 W peak in standard conditions.

**Table 1.** GPV under investigation specifications.


Figure 3 shows the current and power versus voltage evolution for different irradiance patterns and for a cell temperature held constant at 25 ◦C. From the analysis of power and current, it is interesting to note that the variation of irradiance has a significant effect on these two variables. Indeed, the increase in this characteristic leads to an increase in the power and the current. Table 2 summarizes the progression of the peak power as a function of irradiance.

**Figure 3.** Current-Voltage and Power-Voltage characteristics of GPV under variable irradiance.


