Abstract In the last years, the growing global energy demand and the even more strictly pollution regulations have led the research to improve efficiency of conventional technologies and to find out innovative solutions to solve these issues. In this scenario, the renewable energy becomes a fundamental resource, especially in the field of electric energy generation. Problems related to non-programmability and effectiveness of renewables can be minimize through the diffusion of distributed generation and energy storage technologies. In this study, an integrated microgrid, made up of photovoltaic arrays, batteries and a hydrogen generator is presented. The aim of this work is to develop a simplified mathematical model able to describe the behavior of the photovoltaic modules for different operating conditions. On the respect of available literature on this topic, the peculiarity of this model is the possibility of being used simply knowing those parameters usually provided by manufacturers. To validate the model, experimental data recorded during the laboratory tests have been used. Obtained results show that 78 % of the analyzed operating conditions computed using the developed model are within the tolerance range of ± 10 % compared to experimental values.