I am finding it difficult to simulate a PV array under changing irradiance and temperature conditions.

Hello, i am trying to simulate a PV array in simulink under changing irradiance and temperature conditions. I have the data for temperature and irradiance in an excel sheet which i have successfully imported to simulink using the 'From spreadsheet' blocks. The results obtained are not satisfactory. I started by using 5 values of temperature and 5 values of irradiance, expecting to have 5 corresponding output voltage values. But, the output rather gives me 13 values of output voltage. Please what can i do to ensure that the output should have the same number of data points as the input? Thank you.

Answer 1

[Yash]

There may be an error in the synchronization of the input signals. These may resolve the issue.

• If the sample times of the temperature and irradiance signals are different, you need to synchronize them. You can use the "Interpolation" block in Simulink to interpolate the signals to a common time base. This way, you will have the same number of data points for both signals.
• Ensure that you have a common time vector that matches the data points of both temperature and irradiance data signals. You can do this by using the "Time" block in Simulink or by creating a time vector manually.
• Ensure that the temperature and irradiance data points are aligned properly. Double-check that the corresponding temperature and irradiance values are at the same index in the imported data. You can sort the data based on a common key or index to ensure proper alignment.
• Ensure that the sample time settings for the input signals (temperature and irradiance) in Simulink match the actual sample time of your data. You can adjust the sample time using the "From Spreadsheet" block's parameters or using the appropriate blocks in Simulink.

Hope this helps.

[Awangum Noel Nkwa]

Thank you immensely. I will take into consideration all the points you have mentioned here.