Open Access

ARTICLE

Experimental Evaluation of the Static and Dynamic Electrical Parameters of the Solar Panels to Characterize Their Real-Time Performance at Variable Operational Conditions

Anthony Dyson, Tamer Kamel^*, Marcel Ambroze

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

* Corresponding Author: Tamer Kamel. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Recent Advance and Development in Solar Energy)

Energy Engineering 2026, 123(4), 1 https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2026.078417

Received 30 December 2025; Accepted 11 February 2026; Issue published 27 March 2026

Abstract

This study provides a new experimental framework to measure the static and dynamic electrical parameters for a solar panel of multiple cells. The study evaluates its static parameters, including its resultant diodes’ saturation currents, diodes’ ideality factors, series, and shunt resistances. Such parameters are essential to characterise the steady-state performance of a solar panel. Additionally, the dynamic parameters as the equivalent junction and diffusion capacitances are also experimentally measured. These parameters impact the performance of the panel at variable solar irradiance, temperature, and load conditions. A solar panel of 36 series-connected cells has been utilised in this research to undertake this experimental evaluation. This work addresses a gap in the recent literature regarding a full evaluation of the internal electrical parameters in a whole solar panel of multiple cells. Firstly, a dark experimental environment has been developed so that no influence from external light sources can affect the measurements being taken. The panel is then stimulated with different types of electrical stresses in various circuit configurations to measure the required static and dynamic parameters. For the solar panel under study, the series and shunt resistances per cell have been evaluated to be 18.91 mΩ and 5.6 kΩ, respectively, while the junction and diffusion capacitances have shown direct and inverse relationships, respectively, with the applied voltage as expected. The outcomes of these experimental setups highlighted the importance of the developed comprehensive framework in this research to be employed to assess the quality of the solar panel and its real-time performance at variable operational conditions.

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Keywords

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