Abstract
A solar panel emulator is a programmable power supply which mimics the characteristics of a solar panel and can be used under laboratory conditions. This paper proposes the design of an economical solar panel emulator using LabView software and its implementation using Arduino. The proposed emulator consists of a flyback converter with a MOSFET driver which brings out the characteristics of the desired PV panel. The characteristic curves are generated using LabView software and PWM signal is generated in hardware. This PWM signal drives the MOSFET which in turn operates the flyback converter. The proposed system is simulated using MATLAB software and a prototype of the proposed system is implemented using Arduino UNO R3.
Highlights
Solar energy based on photovoltaic panels have been widely accepted as one of the main sources of our energy requirement since it is available widely and is free of cost
The in current vs voltage (I-V) characteristic curves of the chosen solar panel are generated using LabView and it is implemented in hardware at a low cost using a flyback converter driven by an Arduino board
A current sensor is connected in series with the output side of flyback converter and the load. This is used to sense the current flow in the circuit, which is the output load current. This sensed current value will be passed to the Arduino Uno and through the serial USB port, it will be received by the PC with LabView for performing required calculations
Summary
Solar energy based on photovoltaic panels have been widely accepted as one of the main sources of our energy requirement since it is available widely and is free of cost. The emulator is required to have identical current-voltage characteristics as the actual solar panel so that meaningful test results can be obtained. Reference [6]) designed and implemented a 80W solar panel emulator based on diode approximation model. Reference [10] proposed a solar emulator based on a buck converter with in-built power factor correction. The I-V characteristic curves of the chosen solar panel are generated using LabView and it is implemented in hardware at a low cost using a flyback converter driven by an Arduino board. It is ideally suited for academic environments where cost considerations are vital.
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