Development of a low cost LED-halogen solar simulator for indoor experiments on the performance of photovoltaic modules afected by various light intensity and temperature environments Yohanes S. Peli (a,*), Ambrosius Tino (a), Diana Rachmawati (a)
a) Electrical Engineering Department, Politeknik Negeri Kupang, Jl. Adisucipto, Penfui - Kupang. Nusa Tenggara Timur. INDONESIA
*jonsubanpeli[at]gmail.com
Abstract
The aim of this article was to discuss in detail, the development of a low cost LED-halogen solar simulator, including characteristics. The LED-halogen was choosen because of its accessible, cheap and work steadily with simple power supply. It was also quick and easy to construct with simple equipment. The construction of the simulator consisted of two main parts- the collector module and LED-halogen light sources. The collector module faced upwards to the light source, which was placed at the top of the unit. In addition, the simulator was equiped with proper cover to reduce the interference of light entering from the outside. The optimal distance between the light surface simulator and the test plane was 50 cm, giving the maximum non-uniformity of 9.2%. Experiment results showed that the output power of the tested PV module strongly depends upon the solar irradiation falling on it. The power output of the module increases linearly with the increase in the incident solar radiation. With the increase in the incident solar radiation more number of photons will be available to move the electrons from balance band to conduction band resulting into production of more current. Furthermore, the increase in temperature result in the reduction of band gap of the PV cells in the module. This leads to the increase in Isc but decrease in Voc. The decrease in Voc is more prominent than increase in the Isc. Therefore, overall power output and effi-ciency of the PV module decreases with the increase in its operating temperature.
Keywords: LED-halogen solar simulator- PV performance- irradiance- temperature
