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Solar cells that integrate concentration photovoltaic systems are usually exposed to inhomogeneous illumination and temperature profiles which influence their performance. Under such conditions, the solar cell behavior is only accurately modeled if the diode and resistive losses are considered to be distributed across the solar cell instead of being gathered, as in the conventional lumped model. This paper presents a distributed diode model and its experimental validation, which was carried out for standard test conditions and a range of temperature and concentration levels going from 25 to 70°C and 1 to 30 suns, respectively, for both homogeneous and a set of inhomogeneous profiles. Modeled and experimental results showed good agreement, thus validating the model. The results of traditional and distributed model approaches are compared with homogeneous and inhomogeneous profiles of irradiation and temperature. Finally, we analyze the effect of different profiles on cell performance.Index Terms-Concentration photovoltaic (CPV), nonuniform illumination, nonuniform temperature, PV solar cell model.

Concentration photovoltaic (CPV) systems are seen as a shortcut to achieve lower photovoltaic (PV) electricity costs/kWh. Within the available CPV configurations, V-trough systems are likely to succeed in the short term since they are less demanding in terms of tracking accuracy and due to their ability to make use of standard PV modules, a well-known and developed technology. However, silicon standard modules were initially designed to operate under 1 sun conditions, facing some challenges when integrated in CPV systems. The present work aims to demonstrate that such application is efficient up to a few suns and also to analyze possible accelerated modules degradation rates. For such analysis we have used a prototype based on the DoubleSun ® technology: a 1.9x concentration V-trough system, integrating 2-axis tracking system and making use of conventional silicon modules.

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