DC-DC SEPIC LOW COST SOLAR CELL CURVES TRACER

Abstract

This paper presents the design, construction and test of a low cost and high flexibility I-V/P-V curve tracer for photovoltaic modules. The curve tracer gives the possibility to obtain the significant parameters for the design and for the start-up of a photovoltaic installation (the operation point, the short-circuit current Ise, the open-circuit voltage Voc, the maximum power point MPP and the Fill Factor FF). The curve tracer is based on the so-called virtual instrumentation, based on LabVIEW software. The developed easy handling Graphical User Interface (GUI) is interfaced, via serial port, to single chip microcontroller driving a DC-DC buck-boost converter, the Single-Ended Primary Inductance Converter (SEPIC) used as electronic load. The implemented system realizes a complete sweep of the voltage and the current given by a photovoltaic panel, including Voc and Isc. Simulation and experimental tests have been carried out, in order to verify the behaviour and performance of the designed I-V curve tracer