Maximize the performance of your inverter
If you are designing or manufacturing photovoltaic solar inverters from one to twelve inputs and up to 2000 V per input, Keysight’s Photovoltaic / Solar Inverter Test Solution can help you develop, verify, and maximize the performance and bankability of your inverter. The solution enables you to optimize maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms and circuits. With the DG8900 software you can quickly and easily test individual inputs to the European EN50530 (April 2010) standard to easily compare your results to your competitors. The explosive growth in the solar power generation industry has increased competition and intensified the need for solar inverter test and measurement solutions. With the PV8900 Series and DG9000A software you can simultaneously control and test from one to twelve PV inverter inputs / MPPTS, enabling you to go beyond the test standards, optimizing your inverters to beat the competition.To keep solar power at grid parity with competing methods of power generation, performance and power conversion efficiency are increasingly important. Small increments in power production have a dramatic effect on the profitability of solar power generation. You need to ensure your solar inverters are capable of converting the maximum power that is available from the solar array. Developing and verifying the performance of inverter MPPT algorithms and circuits is challenging. MPPT algorithms are complex, and under-the-sun testing with a comprehensive set of temperature and irradiance conditions is extremely difficult, expensive, and time consuming, if even possible at all. As inverters increase in power, the size of the test array would become unmanageable. As they increase in number of inputs on a single inverter, the complexity of test changes exponentially. The only practical test method is to use a laboratory test solution that can simulate from one to many real-world solar array strings.
Quickly create, visualize, and execute photovoltaic / solar I-V curves
Keysight’s PV simulation solution consists of the PV8900A Series PV simulator hardware and two software packages to choose from: the DG8900 SAS control/curve generation software and the DG9000 advance/multi-input PV inverter test software.The PV simulators are autoranging, programmable DC power sources that simulate the output characteristics of a photovoltaic array under different environmental conditions (temperature, irradiance, age, cell technology, etc.) enabling you to quickly and comprehensively test inverter MPPT algorithms and inverter efficiency. The DG8900 SAS Control software allows the user to control one PV8900A (or one primary/secondary set) output as well as easily create, visualize, and download solar / photovoltaic I-V curves to the instrument using the Curve Workspace. Once a curve has been downloaded to an PV8900A, the user can enable the output and watch as their PV inverter searches for the maximum power point, gaining insight into their MPPT algorithm. The DG9000 software allows the user to control the output of from one to twelve PV8900A units.
Key features and benefits
- Easily view and control your N8900APV Series PV Simulator from the Control tab
- Perform simple functions, such as setting voltage, current, OVP, as well as turn the output on/off
- Set the instrument mode: SAS or Power Supply
- View the programmed I-V and power curves, maximum power point, andthe active I-V and power points (SAS mode only)
- Quickly create and download photovoltaic I-V curves from the Curve Workspace tab
- Create PV curves according to Sandia, EN50530, and Keysight’s proprietary (N8900APV) models
- Choose between Basic and Advanced curve generation
- Graphically view the curve before sending it to the instrument
- Create static and dynamic EN50530 test reports with one click from the MPPT Efficiency tab (DG8901A upgrade required after 30-day free trial)
- Automated test to the EN50530 standard
- Automated reports formatted to the EN50530 standard
- Full log file with all the measurements from the test
Your PV Array Simulator is Also an Advanced, Autoranging System DC Power Supply
The Keysight Technologies PV8900 Series PV array simulator provides up to 30 kW autoranging, single-output programmable DC power. The autoranging output characteristic enable a wide range of voltage and current combinations at full power. Power supplies with “rectangular,” or traditional, output characteristics provide full power at only one voltage and current combination.The PV8900 Series provides stable output power, built-in voltage and current measurements, and autoranging output voltage and current from up to 2000V, up to 60 A at up to 30 kW. These supplies offer many system-ready features like multiple standard I/O interfaces to simplify and accelerate test- system development and compact 3U (20 kW) or 5U (30 kW) design to save rack space. If you need more power, you can easily parallel multiple units to create “one” power supply with up to 600 kW of total output power. The built-in primary/secondary control enables programming as if it’s just one big power supply; no need to program each supply individually.
Autoranging output – does the job of multiple power supplies
The PV8900 PV array simulators’ autoranging output characteristic makes it much more flexible than rectangular, or traditional, output characteristic power supplies because they expand the power curve, giving you more voltage and current combinations in one power supply. It’s like having many rectangular power supplies in one.
