Wireless Controlled Solar Array Simulator

Solar panels/arrays are an important integral part of European Union (EU) electrical grid. Their interaction with the grid and behavior under different operational conditions are to be examined more closely at a scientific laboratory complex. A solar array simulator (SAS) is developed with the use of a power electronic DC-DC converter. A control and wireless communication are established with an FPGA platform. As a result the output parameters of the simulator are accessed remotely through graphic user interface. A comparison is made of SAS output characteristics and I-V curve of a given photovoltaic array. The results are then summarized graphically and tabularly.