Distributed Automatic Test System for Characterizing Photovoltaic Arrays

摘要

The automatic test system which is currently in use at the Advanced Concepts Photovoltaic Test Facility located at Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is described. The equipment was designed to test various types of photovoltaic modules and arrays, as well as evaluate and operate all components of a complete photovoltaic power generation system. The test system uses a Hewlett Packard 21MX series minicomputer as the central processor and main controller. The main processor controls the bulk of the system mass storage devices which include a 5 megabyte and 20 megabyte disc and two 9 track magnetic tape recorders. The main processor also has data acquisition and control equipment. The main processor communicates with most of this equipment via an IEEE-488 bus. The main processor monitors the facility operation and the weather instrumentation, and it conducts tests on the large scale systems. (ERA citation 05:013290)