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Published June 2021 | public
Book Section - Chapter

Low-cost Open-source 12-channel MPPT Data Logger for Solar Cell Research

Abstract

The emergence of perovskite solar cells has brought increased attention to the importance of stability testing and continuous maximum-power-point tracking (MPPT) for the characterization of experimental solar cells, even at early stages of R&D. As many experimental cells are often fabricated in multitude, e.g., as multiple 'pixels' on each substrate, it is desirable to have a large number of measurement instruments, each of which can be committed for long periods of time, ranging from days to weeks or longer, to characterize the performance of each individual research device. Here, we present a low-cost measurement circuit capable of performing and recording simultaneous measurements on up to 12 devices, including MPPT, I–V sweeps, fixed-voltage, and fixed-current operation. The circuit is suitable for cells with ISC up to ~150 mA and VOC up to ~3 V. Complete schematics, PCB layouts, and firmware are available online, offered for use and improvement by the greater PV research community.

Additional Information

© 2021 IEEE. This work is supported by the Space Solar Power Project at Caltech (https://spacesolar.caltech.edu). The authors acknowledge helpful conversations with Colin Mann and Don Walker of the Aerospace corporation, and with Jonathan Grandidier of JPL. We acknowledge Stepan Demchyshyn and Martin Kaltenbrunner of Johannes Kepler University, and Jing Shun Huang of Caelux Corp., for providing the research cells that were characterized using the prototype circuits.

Additional details

Created:
August 20, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023