20 Watt PV (photovoltaic) simulator: DC/DC converter design

2018 ELE Engineering Design Project (FM05)

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Faculty Lab Coordinator

Farah Mohammadi

Topic Category

Intelligent Instrumentation

Preamble

Renewable energies such as wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy and water are: 1. Environmentally compatible; 2. Low maintenance cost. To test equipment that are working with PV (solar battery charger, peak power tracker…) a system to simulate the solar panel in different solar radiation modes is required.

Objective

The objective is to simulate the behavior of a solar panel by using a controlled DC/DC converter. All the devices that use the solar panel can be tested by this system. The student should examine and understand the characteristic curve of a solar panel.

Partial Specifications

These modules to be implemented:
- Data Acquisition,
- DC/DC step down converter,
- Current and voltage measurement,
- Microcontroller system design (Using Arduino UNO),
- Verify the developed hardware.

Suggested Approach

1- Design and manufacturing of an intelligent control system (Using Arduino UNO)
2- Making a non-isolated DC/DC converter (Step down converter)

Group Responsibilities

1- Literature review of solar panel behavior in different situations including: 1.1 the full light comes to the panel 1.2 the weather is cloudy 1.3 the panel is rotated 2- Review of DC/ DC converters 3- Build an intelligent system to control the DC/DC converter and simulate the solar panel 4- Prepare a technical report and present the results at the end of the program.

Student A Responsibilities

Investigate the behavior of solar panel and how to simulate P-V curve with DC/DC converter in different solar radiation modes.

Student B Responsibilities

Design, develop and implementation of a control system to measure current and voltage

Student C Responsibilities

Design and manufacturing of a DC/DC converter

Course Co-requisites

Electronics