In this paper, an attempt is made to investigate the exergetic performance of a solar photovoltaic (PV) array. A detailed energy and exergy analysis is carried out to evaluate the electrical performance, exergy components and exergy efficiency of a typical PV array. The exergy efficiency of a PV array obtained in this paper is a function of climatic, operating and design parameters such as ambient temperature, solar radiation intensity, PV array temperature, overall heat loss coefficient, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, maximum power point voltage, maximum power point current, PV array area, etc. Some corrections are done on overall heat loss coefficient. A computer simulation program is also developed to estimate the electrical and operating parameters of a PV array. The results of numerical simulation are in good agreement with the experimental measurements noted in the previous literature. Finally, parametric studies have been carried out. It is observed that the behavior of exergy efficiency with respect to the variations of climatic, operating and design parameters is so similar to the electrical efficiency of PV array. Further, it is observed that PV array temperature has a great effect on the exergy efficiency and the exergy efficiency can be improved if the heat can be removed from the PV array surface. On the other hand, design parameters such as PV array area have a little effect on the exergy efficiency.

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