Designing and Construction of a Solar Panel Simulator Capable of Simulating Partial Shading Conditions

Given the increasing popularity of solar energy and producing its accessory equipment in Iran, like DC/DC converters, and since for studying and comparing converter’s performance or developed algorithms to extract the maximum power from converter, it is necessary to test it under uniform conditions, but due to various interfering factors such as hourly, daily, and spatial variation of solar radiation intensity or unpredictable shading on panels, the tests have to be performed using a simulator. Therefor this paper derives a new set of relations to simulate the panel’s performance under partial shading conditions and a simulator is constructed accordingly. By holding the temperature constant, the converter’s performance is studied for both uniform illumination and partial shading conditions. Result of studies carried out for uniform illumination under standard conditions and partial shading in conditions under which one third of cells received 600 w/m2 and the rest received 1000 w/m2, indicated a good agreement between the converter’s performance and ideal I-V and P-V curves of solar panel.