Advanced Photovoltaic Energy

The Advanced Photovoltaic Energy teaching solution offers students a comprehensive, modular setup to explore the foundational principles of photovoltaics, examine PV system components, and design complex PV systems in a lab environment.

The system includes experiments that enable students to investigate the core properties of solar cells, analyse their electrical characteristics, and measure how environmental conditions impact solar cell performance.

It also provides  in-depth analysis of specific component characteristics, including the switching thresholds of series or shunt regulators, MPP (Maximum Power Point) tracking, PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) regulation, and power generation.

Learning Objectives:

• Series and parallel connection of solar cells
• Power dependence on the surface area of the solar cell
• Power dependence on the angle of incidence
• Power dependence on level of illumination
• Power dependence on level of illumination under load
• Internal resistance dependence on level of illumination
• Shading effect on solar cells
• Dark characteristic curve of solar cells
• I-V-characteristics, MPP and fill factor of solar cells
• Dependence of the I-V-characteristics of solar cells on level of illumination
• Dependence of the I-V-characteristics of solar cells on temperature
• Characteristic curve of solar modules
• I-V-characteristics of partly shaded solar modules
• Temperature coefficient of solar cells
• Components of an off-grid system
• Possible operating conditions of off-grid systems
• Working principle of shunt and series regulators
• Comparison of PWM and series regulator
• Load characteristic of PWM regulators
• Working principle of a MPP tracker
• Characteristics of a MPP tracker
• Working principle of deep discharge protection
• Working principle of an inverter
• Determination of the output voltage progression at an inverter