Development of a lab module for multi-interface solar photovoltaic inverter for three-phase loads

Abstract

This paper presents the design and development of a laboratory module to aid solar photovoltaic courses in the Electrical Engineering and Power systems programs. This hardware-based system is modeled for three-phase solar photovoltaic power system with multiple interfaces such as solar, battery and utility power. This system employs a photovoltaic power as the main input and an electrical storage system as secondary input. The system is supported by the utility grid in the case of deficiency or absence of photovoltaic power. The power flow control from the two sources is tailored for maximum utilization of solar photovoltaic power while maintaining required level of constant power for the industrial application. A microcontroller is programmed to operate the changeovers between sources for uninterrupted and constant level of power for the load. The complete design and experimentation of the proposed system are explained in this paper along with techno-economic analysis to make this more meaningful for power engineering graduates to apply them in real life situations.