Solar trainer for laboratory photovoltaic systems education

Author

Dolan, Dale S. ; Friedman, Lisa ; Huff, Jonathan ; Taufik, Taufik

Author_Institution

Electr. Eng. Dept., California Polytech. State Univ., San Luis Obispo, CA, USA

fYear

2012

fDate

9-11 Sept. 2012

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

6

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a solar trainer to be used as a photovoltaic systems educational instrument in a laboratory environment. It allows various balance of system components to be investigated and the impact of environmental conditions when generating power with solar photovoltaic panels to be studied. The stimuli tested include tilt of the panel, light intensity, and temperature. The trainer also includes the ability to test the effect of different types of solar pv panels, charge controllers, inverters, and battery types. The entire design is contained within a self-powered, easily portable rolling cart.

Keywords

environmental factors; invertors; photovoltaic power systems; portable instruments; power engineering education; solar cells; battery types; charge controllers; environmental conditions; environmental impact; inverters; laboratory photovoltaic systems education; light intensity; panel tilt; photovoltaic systems educational instrument; power generation; self-powered portable rolling cart; solar PV panels; solar photovoltaic panels; solar trainer; Assembly; DC motors; Gears; Microcontrollers; Potentiometers; Shafts; Temperature measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

North American Power Symposium (NAPS), 2012

Conference_Location

Champaign, IL

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-2306-2

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4673-2307-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NAPS.2012.6336422

Filename

6336422