RE Feature

PV Laboratory Kit for

TRAINING SOLAR
ENGINEERS
The National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education
(NCPRE) at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) used a
novel and low cost ‘Solar Photo Voltaic Laboratory Kit’ (SPLK) to
conduct teaching courses in remote centres.
CHETAN S. SOLANKI, BRIJ M. ARORA, JUZER VASI AND GAURAV B. TARE

Fig 1. Hands-on training to

teachers on the lab kit, NCPRE

20 December 2012
Volume 6 Issue 3
 RE Feature

T
he Solar PV Laboratory Kit is designed by the Degree protractor at
Castor wheels at
two ends for 360*
faculty and research staff of NCPRE using low cost either end of the kit
rotation
components. Using the Kit, one can perform various Two crystalline and
Fixed legs at two
two multi crystalline
experiments right from the cell to system level. For modules
ends for firm
holding of the kit
the two week interactive course 35 lab kits were fabricated
Needle for Locking arrangement
and shipped to 35 remote centres. The approximate cost shadow at two ends
of each kit was Rs. 40,000. The coordinators of the remote Handle for Key used in the
centres received hands-on experience with the laboratory opening the locking arrangement
frame
kit well before the course and thereafter they provided the
hands-on training to teachers participating at the respective
centres (Fig. 1). To supplement the lab kit, a detailed 163
page laboratory manual was also sent out to all centres. In
addition, a DVD, ‘Solar PVs: Fundamentals, Technology
and Applications’ showing how the experiments are to be Fig 2. Solar PV module characterisation kit
performed, was also provided. These served as an aid to the
coordinators during the course as well as a reference for the with a heater and a temperature sensor. The temperature
participants while performing the experiments. controller facilitates the controlling of temperature on the
solar cells (temperature dependence of a solar cell can be
Laboratory Kit studied). The cooling fan directly blows air on the aluminium
Each laboratory kit consists of five sub-kits and one block and solar cells when cooling is required by the user. The
freeware. They are as follows: ammeter and voltmeter gives the readings while performing
experiments, the 100 Ohms resistance pot acts as variable
i. Solar PV Module Characterisation Kit - It makes use of load on the solar cells, one can vary the pot gradually to plot
mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline solar PV modules I-V characteristics.
(10 W and 2 numbers each). These mono and multi PV For using the nearly 1000 W/m2 obtained from the
modules are diagonally arranged in the frame so that one
can identify the difference in mono and multi technology of Pyranometre

solar PV modules. At standby, this frame of PV modules rests

in another frame having a mechanical moving and locking
arrangement. This makes the PV module kit very compact
and a person can easily carry it from his lab to the roof or
suitable place having direct sunlight for undertaking the
experiment. The moving and locking arrangement facilitates
to set and lock the solar PV module frame very precisely
at required angle between 0-90°. The protractor reads the
proper tilt angle of the PV modules frame. It consists of
two fixed legs in the front and two castor wheels at its back;
the castor wheels can be used to rotate the PV module kit
to track the sun, the fixed legs keeps the kit fixed during
low wind loads. While tracking the sun using the moving
arrangement and castor wheels, the needle provided right at
the centre of the PV module frame shows the direction of the
sun. When the shadow of the needle becomes zero, it means
that the PV modules are directly facing the sun. The banana
pins provided as terminals of PV modules facilitates series
and parallel connections of the PV modules within the kit
very conveniently (Fig. 2).
ii. Solar PV Cell Characterisation Kit - Two 4 x 4 cm2 glass
laminated multi-crystalline solar cells are housed inside the
cabinet in an aluminium block. This aluminium block is fitted
Calibrated solar cell
Fig 3. Solar cell as radiation measurement kit
sun, two of quartz halogen lamps (50 W rating each) are
used. These lamps are provided with intensity regulator
knob and a series of insertable filters and glasses to vary
the light intensity while performing experiments. The
kit is also provided with a switch for internal and external
mode. Internal mode is the normal mode for performing
experiments and in the external mode, an external power
supply (four quadrant power supply or an electronic load)
can be used so as to study the dark and illuminated current-
voltage characteristics of a solar cell (Fig. 3).
iii. Solar PV System Characterisation Kit - The PV system
consists of different components of a stand-alone PV system
such as solar PV modules, battery, inverter and load. In this
the major components are solar PV modules, battery and
inverter. Solar PV modules are used to charge the 12 V, 7.2

December 2012
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 RE Feature
12V, 7Ah
Exide battery
Inverter without casing
Fig 4. Efficiency measurement of standalone solar PV system
Ah sealed maintenance free battery. The AC loads on the
100 W inverter when put on, discharges the battery through
inverter and load (Fig. 4).
iv. Carrier Lifetime Measurement Kit - The kit consists of a
commercially available small-area mono-crystalline cell and
is lifetime measured - using two simple methods: the open-
circuit voltage decay (OCVD) obtained by pulsing a bank of
white LEDs and the reverse recovery transient measurement
obtained by using the solar cell as a p-n junction (Fig. 5).
v. Spectral Response Measurement Kit (SRMK) - It consists
of synthetic light source composed of light emitting diodes,
covering a wavelength range of 360 to 1060 nm. A LED of
required wavelength can be selected electronically by push
buttons for the increment/decrement of wavelengths. Solar
cell under test is exposed to light of each wavelength by
exciting the corresponding diode and the photo current is
measured. In the scheme used, each LED is turned on for
a fraction of a second. A 10 Ohm resistor connected across
the cell develops voltage proportional to photo-current,
which is amplified and digitised by using an analogue to
digital converter and stored. Ratio of photo-current to light
power from diodes at various wavelengths gives the spectral
response. From spectral response, it is straight forward to
determine the external quantum efficiency.
vi. Freeware (PC 1D and SEQUEL) - One can do the simple
simulation to estimate the effect of a given parameter
on solar cell efficiency. PC1D (photo-conductance one
dimensional) is the name of simulator which is freely
available and well recognised all over the world. There are
many research papers that have been published based on the
results obtained from PC1D.
The simulations done using SEQUEL include (a) I-V and
PV characteristics of a solar cell; (b) I-V and PV characteristics
of an array of solar cells, including the effects of shading; and
(c) a DC-to-DC closed-loop converter in which the output
voltage follows the command voltage by suitably adjusting
the duty cycle of the gate signals controlling the switches.
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Volume 6 Issue 3
The above mentioned sub-kits and freeware can be used
for performing eleven 2 hour experiments, as below:
■ Measuring parameters of a solar PV module in the field.
■ Series and parallel connection of solar PV modules.
■ Effect of sun tracking on energy generation by modules.
■ Efficiency measurement of a stand-alone solar PV system.
■ Dark and illuminated I-V characteristics of a solar cell.
■ Solar cells connected in series and parallel.
■ Dependence of solar cell I-Vs on light intensity and
temperature.
■ Carrier lifetime measurement for a solar cell.
■ Spectral response measurement.
■ Solar cell simulation using PC1D.
■ Solar circuit simulation using SEQUEL.
Experiments 1, 2 and 3 can be performed using the
Laboratory Sub-Kit 1 having mono-crystalline and multi-
crystalline modules obtained commercially and mounted
on a specially designed and constructed stand which could
be manually tilted and fixed as desired. Experiments 5,
6 and 7 were performed using the Laboratory Sub-Kit
2 which is a purpose-designed low-cost solar simulator,
which approximately simulates the solar light using
halogen lamps. A set of filters is provided to vary the
intensity of light. It also uses a special low-cost 4-quadrant
I-V measurement system by which the dark and illuminated
I-V characteristics of a solar cell can be studied. The
apparatus has two commercial small-area solar cells which
can be connected in series and in parallel to investigate
I-V characteristics of these combinations. For the carrier
lifetime measurement, the kit has a commercially available
small-area mono-crystalline cell using two simple methods:
the open-circuit voltage decay (OCVD) obtained by pulsing
a bank of white LEDs, and the reverse recovery transient
measurement obtained by using the solar cell as a p-n
Fig 5. Carrier lifetime measurement kit

Fig 6. Solar PV kit
junction. Experiment 10 on simulation is performed by
using the public-domain simulation package SEQUEL
developed at IITB.
Conclusion
The guiding philosophy behind the laboratory experiments
and the low-cost laboratory kit is to give the participants
a feel of performing actual solar PV based measurements
without insisting on the accuracy typically associated with
high performance expensive instruments. The low-cost kit
The guiding philosophy behind
the laboratory experiments
and the low-cost laboratory
kit is to give the participants a
feel of actual solar PV based
measurements.
RE Feature
could easily be replicated further if required for solar PV
courses developed at the participants’ colleges.
After the successful dispatch and utilisation of 35
kits at the remote centres during the two week course,
the usefulness of the laboratory kits was realised.
The participants appreciated and insisted on getting
a set of the laboratory kit at their college or institute
(Fig. 6). Thereafter, IITB proposed to the Ministry of New
& Renewable Energy (MNRE) for the approval of another
165 kits for institutions across the country. Keeping in
mind the usefulness of a laboratory manual to students,
graduate and post graduate teachers as well as professionals
and individuals, the copy of the ‘Solar Photovoltaics: A
Lab Training Manual’ will be made available on-line for
downloading and will soon be available in stores as well. ❂
The authors are Associate Professor, Dept. of Energy Science
and Engineering; Professors, Dept. of Electrical Engineering; and
Research Assistant, National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and
Education, respectively, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay,
Mumbai. Email: chetanss@iitb.ac.in
December 2012
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