Simple and Fast Response Photovoltaic Panel Emulator using Transistor Current Source

Photovoltaic (PV) panels as a renewable energy source are now increasingly being used and studied. Testing PV systems such as Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), battery charge controller or grid systems in a real environment is very difficult because dynamic weather conditions cannot be controlled. The use of PV emulators instead of real PV modules and high power controlled light sources during the experimental phase of PV power system research is very efficient. Most PV emulators are made from Direct Current (DC) converters which are controlled using high-speed controllers with complex algorithms. The emulator output of these techniques generally contains a lot of noise and has a slow response. This paper presents the development of simple and fast response photovoltaic panel emulator using transistor current source. The proposed emulator uses PNP transistors, which are inexpensive and easy to implement because they do not require complex programming. This PV emulator prototype is able to produce the characteristics of PV modules as PV modules in Simulink with an average Maximum Power Point (MPP) error of ± 6.75%. Dynamic testing shows the response of the PV emulator is less than 10 ms.