Design and Implementation of a Buck Converter Based Digitally Controlled Real Time PV Simulator

Solar photovoltaic (PV) system is one of the best auspicious non-conventional energy sources. However, the major problems associated with a PV system are its poor efficiency, interaction With other parallel connected systems, high initial cost and reduction in the output power due to partial shading effect and difficulty in tracking the maximum power point (MPP). To solve these issues, a comprehensive investigative study is required to analyse the behaviour of the PV systems. Hence, it is important to implement a low-cost test bench set up in the laboratory to replicate the characteristics of the PV panel. This paper presents the design and development of a buck converter based photovoltaic simulator using a High-Speed Reconfigurable Power Electronic Controller (HSRPEC). The proposed technique employs a high-speed FPGA controller to achieve accurate and faster replication of the electrical characteristics of a PV panel. A lookup table approach is used to store the current and voltage values of a PV panel in the HSRPEC’s memory. The simulation and test results show that emulated characteristics are exactly similar to the real characteristics of a PV module.