Design of a Low-Cost PV Emulator Applied for PVECS

Abstract

Applied tests on a real photovoltaic panel for a consolidated analysis require complex experiment setup and permanent availability of climatic conditions. This method is ineffective and can damage the PV system. As a result, PV emulators are highly requested in solar energy conversion and generation research, which rests essentially on a maximum power point tracking control algorithm (MPPT) and an adapting power stage as the DC-DC converter and PV inverter. The PV emulator guarantees a controllable light source environment to act as a real PV system in the laboratory. This paper deals with the study and development of an experimental PV emulator based on logarithmic approximation of the ideal single diode model (ISDM), which is implemented using analog electronic components. Mainly, the PV model, the controller, and the power stages, forming the PV emulator, are described. This simple, low-cost, and efficient device is considered as a nonlinear power supply template replacing the real PV system for any operating point irrespective of the environmental condition changes. The emulated current-voltage and power-voltage curves are validated via resistive load and batteries. Then, the performance of the proposed PV emulator is evaluated by its ability to recharge properly two 12V 7 Ah batteries.