A Low Cost PV Emulator using Labview and Arduino

Abstract

A solar panel emulator is a programmable power supply which mimics the characteristics of a solar panel and can be used under laboratory conditions. This paper proposes the design of an economical solar panel emulator using LabView software and its implementation using Arduino. The proposed emulator consists of a flyback converter with a MOSFET driver which brings out the characteristics of the desired PV panel. The characteristic curves are generated using LabView software and PWM signal is generated in hardware. This PWM signal drives the MOSFET which in turn operates the flyback converter. The proposed system is simulated using MATLAB software and a prototype of the proposed system is implemented using Arduino UNO R3.