In this paper, an enhanced evolutionary computing algorithm has been attempted for photo voltaic (PV) design parameter extraction using adaptive genetic algorithm. The I-V curve fitting approach has been used to find optimal photovoltaic parameters Unlike single objective function based approaches, multiple objective functions including, least mean square error and Pearson residual error optimization are considered to fit the I-V curve. A cumulative fitness function is derived using both objectives that alleviate computational complexity, local minima and convergence. Importantly, Pearson residual error optimization (PRO) optimizes least mean square error (LSE) reduction while alleviating the probability of under/over-fitting that ensures optimal PV design parameter identification. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.