Development of a photovoltaic panel emulator using Labview

With increasing interest in renewable energies, large amounts of money and effort have been put into research and development for photovoltaic systems. The larger interest in PV systems has increased demand for appropriate equipment to test PV systems and for teaching and training the next generation of workers for the sector. A photovoltaic emulator is a device that satisfies a portion of these needs. A photovoltaic (PV) emulator was created using a programmable DC power supply and a developed GUI using Labview. The photovoltaic emulator provides the same current and voltage characteristics as any desired PV panel under various sets of environmental conditions. A PV emulator allows the remaining system to be analyzed in a controlled environment with control over the inherent variability of outside temperature and weather conditions and allows repeatable conditions to test PV equipment such as inverters and MPPT algorithms. The emulator provides an ideal tool and environment for both teaching and research at the University level without the costly investment of a set of commercial PV emulators. An existing power supply that can be used for a variety of other purposes is controlled via Labview to emulate a photovoltaic panel. The power supply can provide an open circuit voltage of 60V and short circuit current of 9A, such that any panel with parameters within this range may be emulated. Thus an extensive variety of panels may be emulated and the majority of panels from the Sandia database are within the capabilities of the available power supply.