Researchers in Spain have assembled an experimental photo voltaic simulator for car-integrated and curved photo voltaic panels. They discovered that the short-circuit present measurements of the cells adopted the best response of the cosine of the curvature with variations of lower than 0.5%.
To satisfy the problem of figuring out curved, three-dimensional vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV), scientists on the Polytechnic College of Madrid developed the design rules and setup necessities for a photo voltaic simulator.
“We’re contemplating business manufacturing sooner or later,” the corresponding writer, Guido Vallerotto, stated pv journal. “Presently, we’re nonetheless bettering many elements of the simulator. The model we used for paper characterization will not be but prepared for commercialization, though it’s absolutely operational and functioning.
In a check of a module with a radius of curvature of 1 meter, the analysis workforce discovered that their photo voltaic simulator’s measurements of the short-circuit present of the cells adopted the best cosine response of the curvature with variations of lower than 0.5%
It additionally decided {that a} non-collimated gentle supply, normally utilized in typical photo voltaic simulators for flat modules, has a non-uniformity increase of between 2% and 20%, relying on the module. The intrinsic lack of uniformity underneath regular irradiance as a result of curved form is amplified when it’s illuminated by a non-collimated gentle supply, the researchers stated.
The researchers examined their answer in a photo voltaic simulator on a flat panel and three curved modules, with radii of curvature of 3m, 2m and 1m, respectively. The modules are geared up with 32 metallic wrap-through (MWT) cells with eight strings of 4 cells. Every string is measured independently and in comparison with the anticipated cosine response.
The workforce outlined the situation of the sunshine supply, the kind of gentle supply, and the size of the pulses. They selected a Helios 3198 photo voltaic simulator, initially developed to characterize concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), and tailored it to their proposed design. The sunshine pulse energy provide and electronics have been modified to accommodate the sluggish response time of typical silicon cells.
The setup features a black tunnel for stray gentle rejection, together with baffles and light-weight entice containers, and chambers. The design of the tunnel is crucial to realize an irradiance non-uniformity higher than 1%, stated the researchers. Mild-trapping chambers nearer to the lamp and baffles distributed alongside the tunnel are wanted to successfully suppress stray gentle and make sure that solely the sunshine mirrored by the collimating mirror reaches the measurement aircraft.
The simulator is predicated on a multi-flash method during which the Xenon flash lamp is triggered whereas the module is biased to a special voltage for every flash pulse, recording totally different pairs of current-voltage deadlines. within the decay of the heart beat. The illumination system consists of a round collimator with a diameter of two m and a focal distance of 6 m, and a small toroid flash lamp of 65 mm in diameter to acquire a collimated beam with divergence of 0.3 levels, which has similarities to direct regular irradiance. (DNI) in out of doors situations.
The photo voltaic simulator design, setup, and check outcomes are introduced within the paper “Collimated photo voltaic simulator for curved PV module characterization,” revealed in Photo voltaic Power Supplies and Photo voltaic Cells.
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