Low-cost I-V tracer for photovoltaic modules and strings

Leite, Vicente; Batista, José; Chenlo, F.; Afonso, João L.

doi:10.1109/speedam.2014.6872078

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…They have the advantage of being cheaper than the capacitive load for low voltages, with the limiting power that the transistors used in their design can handle, and they normally have noise in their measurement due to the transistor switching [34]. In [35], the use of a PWM control for the management of the MOSFET or an IGBT is proposed, and a structure for the galvanic isolation of the control circuit is exposed. In [36], this concept is extended, using a DAQ for the generation of a triangular signal as a control of the MOSFET.…”

Section: Electronic Load Tracermentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of I–V Tracers for Photovoltaic Modules: Topologies and Challenges

et al. 2021

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Current–voltage (I–V) curve tracers are used for measuring voltage and current in photovoltaic (PV) modules. I–V curves allow identifying certain faults in the photovoltaic module, as well as quantifying the power performance of the device. I–V curve tracers are present in different topologies and configurations, by means of rheostats, capacitive loads, electronic loads, transistors, or by means of DC–DC converters. This article focuses on presenting all these configurations. The paper shows the electrical parameters to which the electronic elements of the equipment are exposed using LTSpice, facilitating the appropriate topology selection. Additionally, a comparison has been included between the different I–V tracers’ topologies, analyzing their advantages and disadvantages, considering different factors such as their flexibility, modularity, cost, precision, speed or rating, as well as the characteristics of the different DC–DC converters.

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Section: Electronic Load Tracermentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of I–V Tracers for Photovoltaic Modules: Topologies and Challenges

et al. 2021

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“…• MOSFETs exhibit a finite value of R DS(on) in the saturation region, resulting in incorrect measurement resulting in incorrect measurement near V oc [88]. • Transistors are only used for low power rating SPV module characterization since they can only hold high power for a few milliseconds as a load.…”

Section: ) Drawbacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• Transistors are only used for low power rating SPV module characterization since they can only hold high power for a few milliseconds as a load. • When it comes to high power ratings, a heat sink and cooling fans are needed for safe operation [88], [89]. • Due to the non-negligible influence of the parasitic, capacitive, and inductive MOSFET parameters, measuring error occurs [90].…”

Section: ) Drawbacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Development of Low Cost, Portable, On-Field I-V Curve Tracer Based on Capacitor Loading for High Power Rated Solar Photovoltaic Modules

Sayyad

Nasikkar

2021

IEEE Access

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This paper outlines a novel design of low-cost, portable, fast, and precise Current-Voltage Curve Tracer (IVCT) with automated parameter extraction for high power rated Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) modules to effectively and efficiently determine the outdoor operating status of SPV power generators. The developed IVCT is based on a Raspberry Pi microprocessor, a super-capacitive load, heat sinkable discharge resistances, and sensors with high sensitivity and resolution for measuring light irradiance, module temperature, current, and voltage. The proposed Outdoor Test Facility (OTF) consists of an Current-Voltage (I − V ) and a Power-Voltage (P − V ) curve tracer that uses a dynamic loading supercapacitor to safely and quickly scan the SPV module performance characteristics under real-world operating conditions. It also helps to achieve uniform sampling with better data accuracy. It uses Raspberry Pi as a central processing unit for low-cost data acquisition, data logging, and data computation. Furthermore, results from on-field testing of various small-scale SPV modules show that the I − V tracer can acquire higher-resolution characteristics curves and perform accurate model parameter recognition in real-time. Proposed IVCT can measure individual SPV modules without altering the electrical interconnection circuit, and the operating point can be shifted to 20 A and 45 V in few seconds. The proposed system recomposes the SPV module I − V characteristics based on this variance, with accuracies of 1 to 3% for the region near maximum power. INDEX TERMSI-V curve tracer, Capacitive load, Internet of Things (IoT), On-site I − V curve measurement, Solar Photovoltaic VOLUME x, 20xx

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“…After investigating the most relevant loading methods [19,20,[40][41][42][43][44][45], capacitive loading approach is selected to obtain electrical curves of the SPV module which is also widely used method for all available commercial OTFs. The reactive component, similar to a capacitor, offers a low resistance path during charging, and an infinite resistance path after capacitor voltage equals the DC input voltage produced by the SPV module.…”

Section: Electrical Load Unit 231 Capacitive Loadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capacitive Load-Based Smart OTF for High Power Rated SPV Module

et al. 2021

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Solar energy is the most promising renewable resource with an unbounded energy source, capable of meeting all human energy requirements. Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) is an effective approach to convert sunlight into electricity, and it has a promising future with consistently rising energy demand. In this work, we propose a smart solution of outdoor performance characterization of the SPV module utilizing a robust, lightweight, portable, and economical Outdoor Test Facility (OTF) with the Internet of Things (IoT) capability. This approach is focused on the capacitive load-based method, which offers improved accuracy and cost-effective data logging using Raspberry Pi and enables the OTF to sweep during the characterization of the SPV module automatically. A demonstration using an experimental setup is also provided in the paper to validate the proposed OTF. This paper further discusses the advantages of using the capacitive load approach over the resistive load approach. IoT’s inherent benefits empower the proposed OTF method on the backgrounds of real-time tracking, data acquisition, and analysis for outdoor output performance characterization by capturing Current–Voltage (I–V) and Power–Voltage (P–V) curves of the SPV module.

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Low-cost I-V tracer for photovoltaic modules and strings

Cited by 13 publications

References 7 publications

A Review of I–V Tracers for Photovoltaic Modules: Topologies and Challenges

A Review of I–V Tracers for Photovoltaic Modules: Topologies and Challenges

Design and Development of Low Cost, Portable, On-Field I-V Curve Tracer Based on Capacitor Loading for High Power Rated Solar Photovoltaic Modules

Capacitive Load-Based Smart OTF for High Power Rated SPV Module

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