Projects / Electrical / Electrical project 29

Solar Panel I-V Curve Tracer

Approx. component budget: Rs. 4,000 - 8,000

Objective

Plot the current-voltage curve of a panel under different irradiance, temperature and shading conditions.

What you will build

A tracer using a MOSFET or capacitor as a variable load across a solar panel, with voltage and current sensors and a microcontroller that sweeps the load and plots the I-V and P-V curves.

Results you can expect

• I-V and P-V curves
• Maximum power point
• Open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current
• Effect of partial shading and temperature
• Fill factor

What you will learn

Solar cell characteristics, partial shading effect and instrumentation, the basis for panel testing and MPPT design.

Tools and notes

Arduino/ESP32, INA219 or ACS712, MOSFET with heat sink, solar panel, lux meter or reference cell, Excel. Keep the panel voltage low and use a heat sink on the load MOSFET.

Resume points from this project

• Built and tested Solar Panel I-V Curve Tracer; objective: plot the current-voltage curve of a panel under different irradiance, temperature and shading conditions.
• Measured and analysed i-V and P-V curves and maximum power point; wrote the report and presented the results in a viva. Add your own numbers: [x].

Replace [x] with your own measured results. Write only what you really did.

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