A comprehensive review on photovoltaic emulator

Abstract

The photovoltaic (PV) emulator is a nonlinear power supply which has similar current-voltage (I-V) characteristic to the PV module. In solar energy generation research, such as the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and the PV inverter, the actual PV module and the high power controllable light source were used during the experimenting phase. However, this method requires complex experiment setup, is highly inefficient, and can damage the PV module. The PV emulator provides a simpler and more efficient solution compared to the actual PV module and the controllable light source while maintaining similar output produces by the actual PV module. This paper provides a template for the researcher to design the PV emulator according to the requirements established from the tested system. The PV emulator consists of three parts which are the PV model, the control strategy, and the power converter. The PV model produces the I-V characteristic of the PV module. The control strategy determines the operating point of the PV emulator on the I-V characteristics curve and produces the reference signal for the power converter. The power converter follows the reference signal and generates a similar output as the actual PV module.