This thesis analyzes the design and performance of a photovoltaic (PV) emulator. With increasing interest in renewable energies, large amounts of money and effort are being put into research and development for photovoltaic systems. The larger interest in PV systems has increased demand for appropriate equipment with which to test PV systems.
A photovoltaic emulator is a power supply with similar current and voltage characteristics as a PV panel. This work uses an existing power supply which is manipulated via Labview to emulate a photovoltaic panel. The emulator calculates a current-voltage (I-V) curve based on the user specified parameters of panel model, irradiance and temperature. When a load change occurs, the power supply changes its current and voltage to track the calculated I-V curve, so as to mimic a solar panel. Over 250 different solar panels at varying irradiances and temperatures are able to be accurately emulated. A PV emulator provides a controlled environment that is not affected by external factors such as temperature and weather. This allows repeatable conditions on which to test PV equipment, such as inverters, and provides a controlled environment to test an overall PV system.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis analyzes the design and performance of a photovoltaic (PV) emulator. With increasing interest in renewable energies, large amounts of money and effort are being put into research and development for photovoltaic systems. The larger interest in PV systems has increased demand for appropriate equipment with which to test PV systems.</p> <p>A photovoltaic emulator is a power supply with similar current and voltage characteristics as a PV panel. This work uses an existing power supply which is manipulated via Labview to emulate a photovoltaic panel. The emulator calculates a current-voltage (I-V) curve based on the user specified parameters of panel model, irradiance and temperature. When a load change occurs, the power supply changes its current and voltage to track the calculated I-V curve, so as to mimic a solar panel. Over 250 different solar panels at varying irradiances and temperatures are able to be accurately emulated. A PV emulator provides a controlled environment that is not affected by external factors such as temperature and weather. This allows repeatable conditions on which to test PV equipment, such as inverters, and provides a controlled environment to test an overall PV system. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Durago, Joseph Gamos"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS in Electrical Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Electrical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dale Dolan"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:11Z","subjects":["photovoltaic","emulator","labview","solar","Electrical and Electronics","Power and Energy"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.15368/theses.2011.98"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.15368/theses.2011.98","href":"https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2011.98","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/541","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dale Dolan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Durago, Joseph Gamos"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-06-13T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Electrical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS in Electrical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["photovoltaic","emulator","labview","solar","Electrical and Electronics","Power and Energy"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/541","10.15368/theses.2011.98"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis analyzes the design and performance of a photovoltaic (PV) emulator. With increasing interest in renewable energies, large amounts of money and effort are being put into research and development for photovoltaic systems. The larger interest in PV systems has increased demand for appropriate equipment with which to test PV systems.
A photovoltaic emulator is a power supply with similar current and voltage characteristics as a PV panel. This work uses an existing power supply which is manipulated via Labview to emulate a photovoltaic panel. The emulator calculates a current-voltage (I-V) curve based on the user specified parameters of panel model, irradiance and temperature. When a load change occurs, the power supply changes its current and voltage to track the calculated I-V curve, so as to mimic a solar panel. Over 250 different solar panels at varying irradiances and temperatures are able to be accurately emulated. A PV emulator provides a controlled environment that is not affected by external factors such as temperature and weather. This allows repeatable conditions on which to test PV equipment, such as inverters, and provides a controlled environment to test an overall PV system.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Photovoltaic Emulator Adaptable to Irradiance, Temperature and Panel Specific I-V Curves"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dale Dolan"],"dc:creator":["Durago, Joseph Gamos"],"dc:date.available":["2011-06-13T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis analyzes the design and performance of a photovoltaic (PV) emulator. With increasing interest in renewable energies, large amounts of money and effort are being put into research and development for photovoltaic systems. The larger interest in PV systems has increased demand for appropriate equipment with which to test PV systems.
A photovoltaic emulator is a power supply with similar current and voltage characteristics as a PV panel. This work uses an existing power supply which is manipulated via Labview to emulate a photovoltaic panel. The emulator calculates a current-voltage (I-V) curve based on the user specified parameters of panel model, irradiance and temperature. When a load change occurs, the power supply changes its current and voltage to track the calculated I-V curve, so as to mimic a solar panel. Over 250 different solar panels at varying irradiances and temperatures are able to be accurately emulated. A PV emulator provides a controlled environment that is not affected by external factors such as temperature and weather. This allows repeatable conditions on which to test PV equipment, such as inverters, and provides a controlled environment to test an overall PV system.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/541","10.15368/theses.2011.98"],"dc:subject":["photovoltaic","emulator","labview","solar","Electrical and Electronics","Power and Energy"],"dc:title":["Photovoltaic Emulator Adaptable to Irradiance, Temperature and Panel Specific I-V Curves"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Electrical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS in Electrical Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:11Z"}