PV Emulator Based Buck Converter using dSPACE

Controller
A. Rachid, F. Kerrour, R. Chenni

H. Djeghloud

MoDERNa Laboratory
University of Mentouri Brothers
Constantine, Algeria
rachidkarim303@yahoo.fr

Laboratory of Electrical Engineering of Constantine

University of Mentouri Brothers
Constantine, Algeria
hind.djehloud@umc.edu.dz

Abstract This paper proposes the practical realization of a

PV emulator based on a buck DC/DC converter. In the
beginning we established a theoretical study and a
mathematical modeling of the PV model and a simulation of
PV emulator based a buck converter under MATLABSimulink. A comparative study between results of a real PV
panel and the simulated PV emulator are presented. In the next
part, we realized the PV emulator controlled by the
dSPACE1104 controller board based on a closed-loop
reference using a Pulse width PWM modulator. Simulation
and experimental results demonstrate that I-V characteristics
of the PV emulator and the real PV module are very tightening
independently on external weather conditions.
KeywordsPV emulator; buck converter; MATLAB-Simulink;
dSPACE; PWM.

I. INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy sources are increasing day by day in the
last decades, particularly investigation and investment in the
photovoltaic (PV) field is being more important. The
development of PV systems involves elaborating practical
setup and experimenting different types of PV module.
However, it is not straightforward to test the PV equipment
(eg. DC/DC converters and their MPPT control circuits, the
storage systems, the DC/AC converters,) connected to a real
PV module because of the big influence of environment
conditions such as irradiance and temperature. Additionally, it
is costly to buy different models of the available PV panels for
each test individually. To overcome this problem the emulator
is the best solution to simulate a similar current and voltage
characteristics of different types of PV panel under various
environment conditions. Several kinds of PV emulators have
been proposed, some of them are implemented using the
amplification of the current and voltage of a single cell [1],
nevertheless this approach has revealed a limited flexibility in
a rapid following of the influence of solar irradiance and
temperature. For this reason researchers have been reoriented
to use controlled power converters for the design PV
emulators [2]. In [3] and [4] the authors used a DC/DC buck
converter to emulate the I-V characteristics of the PV system
where the control was conducted by a dSPACE chipboard. A
similar design was used in [5] but the power converter was

controlled by a FPGAunit. Other researchers chose to use

buck-boost DC/DC converter controlled by a low cost microcontroller [6]. Besides, the structure presented in [7] and
which is based on a DC/DC full-bridge topology and high
frequency transformer was proposed as well as a PV emulator.
This paper targets to explain how to perform a PV
emulator based on IGBT DC/DC buck converter controlled
digitally by an intersective PWM modulator using a dSPACE
1104 chipboard. Section 2 describes the proposed PV emulator
principle; section III presents the mathematical modeling of a
PV module which is indispensable for the emulator control.
Section IV is dedicated to the design of the DC/DC buck
converter. Section V summarizes the main simulation results
of the studied PV emulator. Finally section VI portrays the
practical results of the conceived PV emulator. The
comparison between simulation and experimental results
reveals a satisfactory agreement.
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PV EMULATOR PRINCIPLE
The block diagram of the proposed PV emulator is shown
in Fig. 1. It is composed of two stages: the power stage and the
control stage. The power stage comprises a buck DC/DC
converter based on a DC power supply Vin, a switch S
controlled by a dSPACE processor, a smoothing inductance
L and a filtering capacitor C. The load is represented by a
variable resistor R which voltage is Vout. The control stage
consists of a dSPACE chipboard, current and voltage sensors,
and a mathematical model of PV system built in
MATLAB/SIMULINK.

Fig. 1. Block diagram of a PV emulator.

978-1-5090-2320-2/16/$31.00 2016 IEEE

This model has three input parameters: the temperature

T, the irradiance G and the feedback load current IL. It
allows calculating the reference voltage corresponding to the
given conditions. The error between the reference and the
measured load voltage will constitute the modulating signal of
the carried-based PWM gating signal generator which offers a
fixed frequency to obtain an appropriate duty cycle (<1).
The communication between the power stage and the control
stage is ensured by analog-to-digital ADC and digital-toanalog DAC interfaces.
III.

MODELING OF A PV PANEL

The accuracy of a PV emulator depends on the

mathematical modeling of the solar module based on a number
of solar cells. Different models of the solar cell have been
proposed [8-11]. The most accurate models are the double
diode model with series and parallel resistance [8] and the
single diode model (with series and parallel resistance too) [9],
both mathematical models require the simultaneous
knowledge of respectively six and five parameters so
numerical solution are needed such as NewtonRaphsons
method. The accuracy of the obtained numerical solution
depends on the choice of the unknown model parameters
initial values [10]. Another simplification by neglecting the
shunt resistance of the single diode model is proposed in [11],
this model requires four parameters usually conveyed by the
manufacturer
(datasheets)
and
considers
the
temperature/irradiance effects. The equivalent circuit of this
last model is show in Fig. 2.

Iscn: the given short-circuit current in standard temperature

condition (STC),
Ki: the manufacturer temperature coecient of the shortcircuit current (A/K),
T, Tn: the actual temperature and the STC temperature,
I0: the dark saturation current,
V, Vt: the cell voltage and the unction terminal voltage,
A: the ideality factor comprises between 1 and 2,
K: the Boltzmann coefficient (1.3810-23 J/K),
Rs: serial resistance of the cell,
Q: the electron charge (1.610-19 C),
From (1) one can calculate the reference voltage of the PV
model so that:

Vref = Vt .A.log (
-Rs.I
(3)

With

Rs =

(4)

Where Voc, Impp and Vmpp are respectively the opencircuit

voltage, the optimum current and the optimum voltage of the

cell considering the effects of irradiance and temperature.
They are given by:
Voc(G,T) = Vocstc + Kv.(T-Tn)
Impp(G,T) = Imppstc.

.[1+Kv.(T-Tn)]

Vmpp(G,T) = Vmppstc + Kv.( T-Tn )

(5)
(6)
(7)

Where Kv is the manufacturer temperature coecient of the

open-circuit voltage (V/K).
IV. DCDC BUCK CONVERTER DESIGN

Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit of the simplified of singlediode model.

Which concerns the study presented in this paper, the

single-diode model including the shunt resistance is adopted
and which uses the NewtonRaphson method to obtain the
numerical solution. The mathematical modeling is not detailed
in this paper. In a second step, the same model is considered
but by neglecting the shunt resistance in this time. This choice
is justified by the good tradeoff between simplicity and
accuracy. The basic equation of this model is given by.

The scheme of the considered DC/DC buck converter is

depicted in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. Scheme of the considered DC/DC buck converter.

I = Ipv I0. [

], Vt =

(1)

Where:
I is the current of the photovoltaic cell
Ipv is the photo-generated current considering the effects of
irradiance and temperature and which is given by:
Ipv=

(Iscn+Ki.(T-Tn))

(2)

G, Gn: in (W/m) is the irradiance on the device surface and

the standard irradiance (1000W/m),

This converter is designed to operate under continuous current

mode so the output voltage is given by:
Vout = .Vin

(8)

The smoothing inductance L and the filtering capacitor C can

be dimensioned using (9) and (10).
L

C 

(1-)

(9)
(10)

Fig. 4. The proposed model of the PV emulator constracted under MATLAB/Simulink.

V. MATLAB/SIMULINK SIMULATION RESULTS

Fig. 4 shows the MATLAB/Simulink model of the
proposed PV emulator based on the mathematical modeling
discussed in section III. The power stage of the model was
constracted using both SimPowerSystems (PS) and SimScape
(SS) tool boxes. Its major components can be ensured by the
PS library whereas the variable resistor can only be found in
the SS library, this is the reason for what the power stage is a
mixture between PS and SS blocks. Fig. 5 portrays the control
stage which serves to generate the gating signal of the DC/DC
buck converter IGBT.
The real PV panel which was used to validate the
performed PV emulator behavior is installed in the roof of the
Electrotechnic Department workshop situated in the
Technology Sciences Faculty of Mentouri Brothers University
(Constantine-Algeria). Table I records the charasteristics of
this panel. The input voltage Vin is set to 120V, the filtering
capacitor C is chosen equal to 74 F and the smoothing
inductance L takes the value 1.5 mH. The switching frequency
of the IGBT is 10kHz and the carrier signal amplitude is 1 A.
The temperature is set at the STC. The simulation results of
the proposed emulator are presented in Figures 6 to 10.
Fig. 6 shows the I-V characteristics plotted under various
irradiances, considering the shunt resistance and where the
numerical solver is Newton-Raphson programmed in an
embedded function. The simulation reveals good response
when the emulator behaves as a current generator. Neverthless
the response is less good when it behaves as a voltage

TABLE I. CHARACTERSITICS OF THE REAL PV PANEL

Voc(V)
22.2

Isc(A)
5.15

Vmp(V)
17.8

Imp(A)
4.8

Pmax(W)
85

Ki(%/K)
0.02

Kv(%/K)
-0.34

generator especially for a specific range of high irradiance (the

result is perfect for G equals to 500W/m and becomes
imperfect starting from G equals to 700W/m). The cause of
this imperfection in this range of irradiances will be
investigated in future works.
Fig. 7 depicts the simulated I-V characteristics but this
time by neglecting the shunt resistance (the model is then
based of four parameters) and one can conclude that these
curves are perfect in both behaviours (current generator and
voltage generator). Moreover the P-V characteristics are also
satisfying as illustrated in Fig. 8.
From the curves mentioned in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 it is
obvious that the PV emulator describes a perfect follow of the
trajectories of the considered PV panel concerning both I-V
and P-V characteristics (note that the real PV panel
characteristics were obtained and stored by the help of the
Cassy Sensor 525 010 and its accompanying software Cassy
Lab at different times of the day corresponding to the desired
irradiances).
6
2

G=1000W/m

current(A)

Where: Vout is the output of the converter, = imax - imin is

the inductance current rippling, V = Voutmax Voutmin is the
capacitor voltage rippling, fs is the switching frequency.

G=700W/m

G=500W/m
2

10

15

20

25

Voltage(V)
Fig. 6. I-V curves considereing the shunt resistance and obtained from a
Newton-Raphson numerical solver under different irradiances.
Fig. 5. The proposed PV model of the emulator constracted.

VI. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND RESULTS

G=1000 W /m2

current (A)

G=700 W /m
3

G=500 W/m2

G=200 W/m2
1

10

15

20

25

Voltage (V)

Fig. 7. I-V curves neglecting the shunt resistance.

100
90

G=1000 W /m2
80
70

G=700 W /m2

Power(W)

60
50

G=500 W/m2
40
30

G=200 W/m2

20
10
0

10

15

20

25

Voltage(V)

Fig. 8. P-V curves neglecting the shunt resistance.

6

Fig. 11 depicts the hardware implantation of the PV

emulator. The switch of the DC/DC buck converter is a
GT25J101 IGBT from TOSHIBA. The switching frequency
was set at 10 kHz and protected against overvoltage using an
RCD protecting circuit [12]. The LC filter is decribed by the
same values used in the simulation section. Fig. 12 shows the
galvanic and driving circuit based an optocoupler (HCPL3101) and a driver (IR2113) and which role is to protect the
control circuit by isolating it from the power. Two kinds of
sensors: CASSY sensors (transformation ratio 1) and LEM
sensors (LV25-P: transforlation ratio 1/100 and LA25-P
transformation radio 1/1000) were used. In the dSPACE 1104
controller the sensed voltage is multiplied by 100010 and
the sensed current is multiplied by 10010 before interfaced
into the built model of PV module under MATLAB/Simulnik
(RTW) Real time Workshop throught ADC inlets so that the
PV module has the same parameters used in the simualtion
(Table I). The sensed feedback current is interfaced into the
mathematical model too. The reference obtained form this
model is compared with sensed voltage and the obtained error
is compared with triangle signal with fixed frequency to carry
out an appropriate duty cycle of the PWM.
Fig. 13 shows the digital PWM controller of the PV
emulator. A PI controller is not implemented in this paper
althgough its big capability in providing a faster response and
minimizing the steadystate error [13], this is being planned in
future works. The generated PWM is sent out through DAC
outlets of the dSPACE controller then it is applied at the gate
terminal of the IGBT through the galvanic isolation circuit.

5
2

G=842W /m A=1.2

current(A)

4
2

G=614W /m A=1.28

G=354W /m A=1.3

10

15

20

25

voltage(V)

Fig. 9. I-V curves of both real PV panel and PV emulator.

Fig. 11. Experimental Setup developed in the ELT-DEPT-UMC workshop.

70
60
2

G=842W /m A=1.2

50

Power(W)

G=614W /m A=1.28
40

G=354W /m A=1.3

30
20
10

10

15

20

Voltage(V)

Fig. 10. P-V curves of both real PV panel and PV emulator.

25

Fig. 12. The galvanic and driving circuit.

80
70

P o w e r(W )

60

Fig. 13. The digital carrierbased PWM controller of the PV emulator.

The experimental results are presented in Figures 14 to 17,

note that the practical data was capturated in the dSPACE
1104 Control Desk and transferred to MATLAB using the
capture feature.

Fig. 16 exposes I-V characteristics of the performed PV

emulator for different irradiances. The shapes of these curves
resemble to the simulation characteristics (Fig. 7).
Finally, Fig. 17 presents the P-V characteristics for
different irradiances too. Obviously, these latter quite look like
the P-V characteristics illustrated in Fig. 8.

G=800W /m
40

G=500W /m

30
20

G=200W /m

10
0

10

15

20

25

Voltage(V)

Fig. 14 displays the digital PWM gating signal of the

DC/DC buck converter IGBT and which was saved from the
Control Desk.
Fig. 15 shows the reference voltage and the measured load
voltage (the red color is the reference voltage and the green
color is the measure load voltage). Its clear that the measured
load voltage follows perfectly its reference which means a
satisfactory response of the control circuit.

50

Fig. 17. The practical P-V characteristics of the performed emulator for
different irradiances.

CONCLUSION
This paper presented the simulation and implementation of
a PV emulator using a DC/DC Buck converter controlled by
the dSPACE1104 controller. The simulation results show that
the PV emulator imitating the real PV panel behavior under
different levels of irradiance. Experimental results make us
conclude that the PV emulator behaves as the real PV module
but this result needs further development. Future work will
focus on the design of the controller of the PV emulator for
enhancing the practical behavior of the performed emulator
and testing it with the new smart MPPT algorithms.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors express their gratitude of Prof. A. Bouzid from
the Electrotechnics Laboratory of Constantine (LEC, team no.
2) for providing them with PV panels.

Fig. 14. The PWM signal as displayed in the dSPACE 1104 Control Desk.

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