Simulink Simulation of a Current Mode Control DC-DC Based PV Emulator : Sustainable Application of Power Electroincs in Solar PV Eduaction

The intermittent nature of solar radiation poses great challenges in real-time empirical investigation of solar photovoltaic arrays. Research and development analysis of solar PV performance within controlled environment has been made easy through the development of various PV emulations topologies. This paper therefore presents a comparative analysis of two PV emulators based on different solar PV models simulated in MATLAB. A simple but accurate MATLAB/Simulink module of a current-controlled DC-DC based PV emulator is outlined. A comparative analysis between a DC-DC converter and a Newton Raphson based PV emulators against a unity ideality factor curve showed a good approximate. That is obtained at a reduced cost and complexity.