Swept measurement of high-power I-V curves
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 arrays'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:
- Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Lexington (USA). Lincoln Lab.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76ET20279
- OSTI ID:
- 6748258
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ET/20279-229; CONF-820906-7; ON: DE83001138
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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