A Low Cost Photovoltaic Panel Emulator

Photovoltaic panels are a low efficiency energy source. These require a relative large area in order to generate a specified output power and operate subject to uncontrollable environmental conditions. Photovoltaic panel emulators offer several important advantages in the context of testing MPPT techniques and static converter controller performance besides contributing to educational tool. This paper proposes a photovoltaic emulator whose the main characteristics are low electric inertia, flexibility, simplicity, low cost and robustness while maintaining a good approximation of the solar I-V profile. The design procedure is detailed and experimental results are carried out to confirm the feasibility of proposal.