Simulation tool for energy management of photovoltaic systems in electric vehicles

• A PV system can be used to increase the autonomy of a mobile system.
• The goal is to develop the models of a PVS concerning all its components.
• Measured, forecast and calculated values of radiation and temperature can be considered.
• The implementation of the MPPT charge regulator is also included.
• The model can be considered a useful tool to estimate the performance of a PVS.

High autonomy is an important goal of most mobile systems, it can be achieved in three ways: reducing energy consumption, increasing the capacity of batteries and replenishing battery energy over time. Another possibility comes from using an on-board generating system: in this context an embedded photovoltaic system (PVS) is a feasible solution. To model the whole system and to evaluate its energy performance, a Simulink model in Matlab environment has been developed. Meteorological variables (radiance and ambient temperature) are essential inputs to estimate the power production of a PVS. In this simulator, measured, forecast as well as calculated values of radiation and temperature can be considered. Once that the path followed by a mobile PVS (MPVS) is known, the Simulink tool calculates both the energy produced by PVS and the energy consumption. Different scenarios concerning the optimization of the PV production, considering the path followed by the MPVS, its consumption and the available solar radiation, have been considered and simulated. This model can become a very helpful tool to estimate the power production of PVS applied to any mobile system in such a way not only to optimize the energy performances but also to refine the sizing of the PVS. A mobile robot is used as test-bed.