Effects of Ambient Temperature on the Performance of a Photovoltaic Solar System in a Tropical Area.

The effect of ambient temperature on the performance of an amorphous silicon photovoltaic system (ASPS) was studied in a tropical area, Ogbomoso, Nigeria. This research was carried out by monitoring the variation in power output of the system with ambient temperature of the area for three years, 2006, 2007, and 2008. From the results, there is direct proportionality between the power output performance of the system and the ambient temperature. This was confirmed from the values of the correlation coefficient, R, when the power output of the system was correlated with the ambient temperature; they are 88%, 86%, and 89% for 2006, 2007, and 2008, respectively. The results also indicate that the ambient temperature must be taken into account when designing and predicting the performance of the ASPS in the area of the study.