Microcontoller-based experiment setup for learning the basic concepts of solar photovoltaic

Syed Abdul Malik bin Syed Mohamad

Abstract

In this article, we describe the construction and operation of a low-cost experimental system to demonstrate the fundamental concepts of solar photovoltaic cells. The major goal of this project is to provide students with basic instrumentation and methodologies to learn fundamental concepts of solar photovoltaic cell and its application. The system runs under the Windows operating system and is composed of an Arduino UNO ATmega328p data acquisition board as well as current and voltage sensing elements. A software written under the open-source programming language platform was used to program the microcontroller while the sun path simulation software was used for tracking the sun. The site location coordinates were determined by using a Google maps application. The experiments were performed throughout the day and the current and voltage data were automatically captured and graphically presented in an excel spreadsheet. It was found that the fill factor and power conversion efficiency of the solar photovoltaic cells were calculated to be 0.68 and 5.68% respectively

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