New Software Package for Teaching and Learning the Basics of Photovoltaic System Sizing

摘要

This paper describes an innovative and highly modular software tool named PVLab and developed by the GREMAN laboratory in collaboration with Polytech Tours from the University of Tours (France). This simulation package assists the designer in the sizing of PV (photovoltaic) installations. PVLab has a high level of flexibility, allowing its physical models and databases (e.g., meteorological data) to be modified according to the user's needs. This is made possible through the use of expertise applied to all of the computing steps, and to the MATLAB development environment. The user's ability to control the source code itself will allow much greater progress to be made in the field of renewable energy applications than with PVsyst, which is currently the commercial reference. All of these features come together to make PVLab the perfect tool for modernizing higher education, in particular with regard to students' competencies.