Effect of spectral shift on solar PV performance

Abstract

Photovoltaic module performance is defined at standard test conditions, which includes a defined spectral irradiance distribution. However, environmental conditions in the field often differ from the standard spectrum; this change in spectrum is known as spectral shift or spectral mismatch. This paper discusses the impact of spectral shift on various PV technologies and presents models that have been proposed to characterize this effect when modeling PV system performance. It concludes that changes in spectrum significantly impact PV performance and should be accounted for in standard PV simulation software.