Low-Cost Automatic I-V Curve Tracer for Low Voltage Solar Panel

Photovoltaic cells or solar cells are becoming more popular in the modern world due to their ability to generate electrical current from light photon. This paper shows a low-cost automated system consisting of an Arduino UNO, ADS1115 analog-to-digital converter, a shunt resistor, and a digital potentio-meter load to trace the I-V curve of a low-power solar panel in varying levels of light illuminance. This curve tracing process was performed on ideal solar panel model to a non-ideal or practical solar panel model by using MATLAB's non-linear least squares algorithm. The results of each model are discussed and compared to determine the best-fitting mathematical model. In addition, the experiment also explored the limitations and capabilities of the automated I-V curve tracer that can be used to find improvements that can be done to the automatic system.