Start-up and investigation of a solar panel test plant

Abstract

The topic of this thesis is the investigation about solar panels. On the practical side, a circuit was designed in order to measure the most important magnitudes when working with solar panels: the voltage, the current, the temperature, the radiation and the angle. This will allow the user to know how to reach the best conditions to generate solar energy. Furthermore, the voltage and the current are necessary to draw the characteristic P-V curve of the panel and thus find the maximum power that it is possible to get. On the theoretical side, an investigation about the spectrum of the light and its effects in the characterization of a solar panel was carried out. As the weather in Germany is usually not sunny, it is necessary to work with halogen lights sometimes. It is then very important to know how to work properly with these lights and get valid results.