A novel and accurate photovoltaic simulator based on seven-parameter model

• A generalized PV simulator has been proposed and designed based on seven-parameter model.
• The developed simulator can generate the real PV characteristics under different operating conditions.
• Four different tests have been conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed simulator.
• The proposed simulator has been developed as a masked block in MATLAB/Simulink.

The output characteristics of a photovoltaic (PV) array are highly non-linear. Therefore, an accurate and efficient PV model is required to study and analyze the operation of PV system in the changing environmental conditions. This paper proposes a precise PV simulator based on the seven-parameter electric circuit model. The proposed simulator can generate the output characteristics of a PV system precisely at different operating conditions. It has also enough flexibility to simulate different configurations of PV panels with series/parallel connections. The robustness of the proposed simulator is demonstrated under the partial shaded conditions. Additionally, the performance of the developed simulator is verified by interfacing it with the actual power electronic converter and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller. The proposed PV simulator will facilitate the design aspects of PV systems and help in behavior assessment of newly developed controllers prior to practical implementation.