Laboratory course on solar photovoltaic systems based on low cost equipment

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are growing popular nowadays due to the incessant demand for power. This has resulted in increased awareness and interest among the engineering students to learn these systems. However, PV related laboratory courses have ceased to exist due to the cost of PV panels and the relevant equipment required as well as the complexity involved in handling and testing of such systems mainly due to the dependence on the external weather conditions. This work proposes low cost and low power equipment for hands on experimentation of concepts like VI curves, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), partial shading, interconnection schemes to enhance the power generation in a PV array etc., in a laboratory at an undergraduate level. The experimental setup along with the procedure for performing the experiments in a compendious manner has been explained for various real life problems in PV generation systems. The outcomes of the proposed prototype with small rating PV cells and artificial light sources demonstrate the articulate nature as well as the didactic contributions of the equipment.