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Diurnal and environmental characterization of solar photovoltaic panels using a PC-AT add on plug in card

Kattakayam, Thomachan A and Khan, Sumanta and Srinivasan, Kandadai (1996) Diurnal and environmental characterization of solar photovoltaic panels using a PC-AT add on plug in card. In: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 44 (1). pp. 25-36.

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Abstract

This article describes the development of an instrumentation system for characterizing photovoltaic panels. It uses an add on card (which contains DAC, ADC and digital input/output ports) in conjunction with a PC-AT. The panels in a field are selected in succession through a set of relays actuated by the digital output port. The selected panel is loaded in discreet steps by a transistor loading circuit which is activated by the digital to analog convertor to trace the most significant portion of the I-V curve. The data shows that the power output is invariably lower than that specified by the manufacturer. The reasons for drop in output have been analyzed. It is shown that these effects can be represented by the curvature of I-V characteristic at the maximum power point (OP). The loss of power due to accumulation of dust and the increase in temperature of the panels can be significant.

Item Type: Journal Article
Publication: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Publisher: Elsevier
Additional Information: Copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier.
Keywords: Panel loading;Diurnal and environmental effects;Bird beak behaviour;Curvature and fillfactor;Photovoltaic refrigerator;Panel characteristics
Department/Centre: Division of Mechanical Sciences > Mechanical Engineering
Date Deposited: 17 Jan 2007
Last Modified: 19 Sep 2010 04:33
URI: http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/9309

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