A high-accuracy photovoltaic emulator system using ARM processors

• Published in: Solar energy Vol. 120; pp. 389 - 398
• Main Authors: Castillo Atoche, Alejandro, Vázquez Castillo, Javier, Ortegón-Aguilar, Jaime, Carrasco-Alvarez, Roberto, Sandoval Gío, Jesús, Colli-Menchi, Adrian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2015; Pergamon Press Inc
• Subjects: ARM processor; Design engineering; Embedded systems; Emulator; Environmental conditions; Hardware design; Microprocessors; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic system; Real time; Emulator; ARM processor; Hardware design; Photovoltaic system
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2015.05.026

•We propose an embedded design for real-time PV system emulator using an ARM processor.•It is a low-cost, high precision and portable system based on the two-diode model scheme.•It uses an extensible database of commercial PV cells using an easy-to-use interface.•It is tested and compared with the theoretical reference model.•Source code is available through web page. In this paper, an embedded design for implementing a real-time photovoltaic (PV) system emulator with user-defined environmental conditions is proposed. The design implemented on a Sitara Cortex 9 ARM processor allows the evaluation of PV cells in a low-cost, portable and affordable system. This embedded PV emulation system uses an LCD screen to establish a human-system interface (HSI), and it contains an extensible database of commercial PV cells with their manufacturer’s datasheet parameters. Based on the accurate two-diode model, the proposed design allows the generation of high precision I–V,P–V characteristic curves with the embedded ARM, which represents an affordable and simple solution. Experimental results demonstrate the accuracy of the real-time embedded system for different solar cells and environmental conditions.