A Noval Solar Simulator to Explore Envirnoment Impacts On Panel Efficiency

Abstract

The paper provided a complete hardware design for a solar simulator for versatile environmental conditions. These conditions include shading, humidity, dust, and temperature. In this work, the solar simulator was designed and fabricated to analyze the performance of PV panels with and without air cooling mechanisms in indoor tests. The halogen bulbs with built-in reflector support by the steel structure holder act as natural sunlight. The challenge for a solar simulator is stable uniform solar radiation and illumination. The uniform solar radiation of 7,575 candela was measured in the test area. Several units of PV panels were tested on variable environmental conditions. The air-cooling mechanism with a speed of 200 km/h decreases the surface PV panels with an air-cooling mechanism decreased by 2.3 ˚C. This increases the efficiency of the panel by 6.11 % of the maximum power output based on different fixed solar radiation. They have also compared it by hardware and by simulation method. An overall method and procedure of the measurement by the solar simulator are discussed and proposed