Development of a Low-Cost System for Real-Time PV Curve Tracing and Health Diagnostics

Abstract

This article describes the development of a numerical real-time low-cost system for tracing the I-V and P-V characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) modules. It features a microcontroller, voltage and current sensors (LV25-P and LA55-P), and a Boost converter with PWM duty cycle control for dynamic load alteration. Compact and reliable design integration are achieved with the custom printed circuit board (PCB) design, which was developed in Altium Designer. Electrical data collection is done continuously and under varying duty cycles, enabling the full range capture of the PV module's electrical characteristics.Experimental validation was completed using a 180W PV panel in open sunlight. Implementation results verified the I-V and P-V curve tracing capabilities of the system, where a performance degradation of about 8.8% in maximum power point (MPP) was detected relative to simulation model predictions obtained using MATLAB Simulink. The results also capture a performance gap observation due to aging on PV module, which had been in operation for 30 years. These results emphasize the accuracy of the derived solution for real-time diagnostics, performance monitoring, aging analysis, and predictive maintenance, educational field testing, and maintenance forecasting.