Swept measurement of high power I-V curves

Conference · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982 · Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovoltaic Spec. Conf.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5494902

Cox, C H; Warner, T H

Performance evaluation of photovoltaic (PV) arrays under a variety of conditions provides important information for the design and maintenance of PV systems. One of the principal methods for assessing an array's performance is to plot its current, I, versus voltage, V, curve. Following a brief review of techniques for measuring the I-V curve, a new capacitive-based approach is presented. It uses a rapid sweep of the I-V curve which substantially reduces the average power transfer between array and load, and in turn, substantially reduces the size and weight of the curve tracer. Both theoretical and practical aspects of the approach are presented for a 10-kW unit. Performance is verified by comparison with I-V curves obtained by using a conventional load. The agreement is found to be excellent. Approximately an order of magnitude reduction in size, weight and power consumption over conventional units was realized with the experimental I-V curve tracer.

• Research Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA
• OSTI ID: 5494902
• Report Number(s): CONF-820906-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovoltaic Spec. Conf.; (United States)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
CURRENTS
DESIGN
DIAGRAMS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DYNAMIC LOADS
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
EQUIPMENT
EVALUATION
MAINTENANCE
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOCURRENTS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
SOLAR CELL ARRAYS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT