Steady-state performance optimization of a 500 kHz photovoltaic module emulator

This paper presents a new low-cost hardware design of a photovoltaic (PV) module emulator using a non-synchronous buck converter topology to emulate typical voltage-current characteristics of actual PV modules. The emulator has a high power density of 20.8 W/cm³ offering significant compactness with high accuracy and resolution capable of operating at up to 48 V input and a variable DC output between 0-40 V and 0-10 A. The converter uses a switching frequency of 500 kHz and has a measured maximum efficiency of 97.2%. The methods used to carry out the design are discussed in detail including PV modeling, emulator design and experimental results that demonstrate the accurate operation of the emulator.