PV-Engineering PVPM 1040C User manual

PVPM 2540C
1000C
1040C
1050C
Peak Power Measuring Device
and I-V-Curve Tracer
for PV Modules and Generators
Users Manual

Release © 02 / 2021
PV-Engineering GmbH
Hugo-S hultz-Str. 14
DE-58640 Iserlohn
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]
e-Mail servi [e-mail]

1 Content -2-
1 Content
1 CONTENT.................................................................................................................................................................... 2
2 SOFTWARE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT........................................................................................................4
3 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................................... 5
4 NORMAL USE............................................................................................................................................................. 5
5 SAFETY REQUIREMENTS........................................................................................................................................... 6
6 OPERATION OF THE PVPM........................................................................................................................................ 8
6.1 OPERATING AND CONNECTION ELEMENTS.................................................................................................................................... 8
6.2 GENERAL HINTS................................................................................................................................................................. 9
6.3 CONNECTING PERIPHERAL DEVICES......................................................................................................................................... 9
6.4 POWER SUPPLY................................................................................................................................................................ 10
6.5 CONNECTING A PC........................................................................................................................................................... 10
6.6 CONNECTING THE SOLAR GENERATOR....................................................................................................................................10
6.7 CONNECTING THE COM INED SENSOR.................................................................................................................................... 11
6.8 SWITCHING-ON................................................................................................................................................................. 11
6.9 UTTONS........................................................................................................................................................................ 12
6.10 MEASUREMENT............................................................................................................................................................... 13
6.11 MESSAGES.................................................................................................................................................................... 15
7 E TERNAL SECURITY SWITCH 1000V / 32A (40A)..................................................................................................16
8 IMPACTS ON THE ACCURACY OF THE MEASUREMENT.......................................................................................17
9 ACCURACY OF THE PEAK POWER CALCULATIONS FROM I-V CHARACTERISTICS...........................................18
10 INSTALLATION OF THE TRANSFER SOFTWARE PVPM.DISP..............................................................................19
11 INSTALLING THE USB DEVICE DRIVER.................................................................................................................20
11.1 INSTALLATION WITH „NEW HARDWARE FOUND“......................................................................................................................... 20
11.2 UNINSTALLING THE CDM DRIVER........................................................................................................................................ 23
12 OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE PVPM.DISP.......................................................................................................24
12.1 MAIN MENU FILE........................................................................................................................................................... 24
12.2 EDIT............................................................................................................................................................................ 26
12.3 EXTRA......................................................................................................................................................................... 26
12.4 DIAGRAM...................................................................................................................................................................... 29
12.5 RESULTS / LISTS............................................................................................................................................................ 30
12.6 HELP (NOT YET IMPLEMENTED)............................................................................................................................................ 30
13 HARDWARE INFORMATION...................................................................................................................................32
13.1 MEASURING UNIT:.......................................................................................................................................................... 32
13.2 PINOUT OF SENSOR SOCKETS:............................................................................................................................................ 32
13.3 CALCULATION UNIT:........................................................................................................................................................ 32
13.4 DISPLAY:...................................................................................................................................................................... 32
13.5 OPERATION:.................................................................................................................................................................. 33
13.6 POWER SUPPLY:............................................................................................................................................................. 33
13.7 DIMENSIONS.................................................................................................................................................................. 33
13.8 OPERATION CONDITIONS:.................................................................................................................................................. 33
13.9 OPTIONALLY AVAILA LE:.................................................................................................................................................... 33
14 LIST OF SYMBOLS..................................................................................................................................................34
15 REASONS FOR DECREASED POWER AND YIELD OF PV GENERATORS............................................................35
16 I-U DIAGRAM: E PLANATION................................................................................................................................. 36
17 SAMPLE CURVES.................................................................................................................................................... 41
18 GLOSSARY.............................................................................................................................................................. 44
18.1 AZIMUTH (SS) AND ELEVATION (Α)........................................................................................................................................ 44
18.2 SLOPE......................................................................................................................................................................... 44
18.3 DC............................................................................................................................................................................ 44
18.4 DEGRADATION CHARACTERISTIC........................................................................................................................................... 44
18.5 DIRECT RADIATION/ DIFFUSE RADIATION.................................................................................................................................. 44
18.6 GENERATOR.................................................................................................................................................................. 44
18.7 GLO AL/TOTAL RADIATION.................................................................................................................................................. 45
18.8 SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENT OF SOLAR CELLS............................................................................................................................. 45
18.9 MISMATCHING................................................................................................................................................................ 45
18.10 MPP........................................................................................................................................................................ 45
18.11 TRACKING................................................................................................................................................................... 45
18.12 PEAK POWER............................................................................................................................................................... 45
18.13 PERFORMANCE RATIO.................................................................................................................................................... 45
18.14 PHOX-SENSOR.............................................................................................................................................................. 45
18.15 INTERNAL SERIES RESISTANCE........................................................................................................................................... 46
18.16 SOLAR CONSTANT......................................................................................................................................................... 46
18.17 SOLAR IRRADIATION / INSOLATION....................................................................................................................................... 46
Operation manual for PVPM devi es PV-Engineering GmbH

1 Content -3-
18.18 STANDARD TEST CONDITIONS.......................................................................................................................................... 46
18.19 CURRENT-VOLTAGE-CHARACTERISTIC................................................................................................................................. 46
18.20 FOUR-WIRE MEASUREMENT (KELVIN MEASUREMENT)................................................................................................................47
18.21 EFFICIENCY................................................................................................................................................................. 47
19 APPENDI A............................................................................................................................................................ 48
19.1 - INDICATOR LIGHTS IN THE FRONT PANEL............................................................................................................................... 48
19.2 SPEAKER SIGNALS:.......................................................................................................................................................... 48
20 KONFORMITÄTSERKLÄRUNG DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY.......................................................................49
Operation manual for PVPM devi es PV-Engineering GmbH

2 Software End User Li ense Agreement -4-
2 Software End ser License Agreement
LICENSE GRANT
The accompanying software and associated documentation ("Software")
are proprietary products owned by PV-Engineering GmbH and protected
under internationa copyright aw. You may not remove any product
identification, copyright notices, or other notices or proprietary
restrictions from the Software.
Use of the Software is defined to be use and distribution consistent with
the fo owing conditions.
You or any person under your authority or contro may:
✔Make copies of the Software for backup purposes provided said
copies contains a of the origina Software's proprietary notices;
✔Use the Software on y on computers owned, eased, or otherwise
contro ed by you and on y on one computer at a time;
✔Use the Software on a network, provided that a icensed copy of the
Software has been acquired for each person permitted to access the
Software through the network;
✔Distribute or redistribute data fi es generated by the Software;
You or any person under your authority or contro may not:
✗Copy or use the Software except as authorized under this License
Grant;
✗Use on two or more computers at a time without separate
authorization and the payment of additiona icense fees;
✗Distribute or redistribute any part of the Software or Fi es except as
described above;
✗Permit other individua s to distribute or redistribute any part of the
Software or Fi es;
✗Modify, trans ate, reverse engineer, decompi e, disassemb e, or create
derivative works based on the Software or Fi es;
✗Copy the Software or Fi es; rent, ease, grant a security interest in, or
otherwise transfer rights to the Software or Fi es; or remove any
proprietary notices or abe s on the Software or Fi es.
EXPORT
You agree to comp y fu y with a aws and regu ations to assure that
neither the Software, nor any direct product thereof, is exported, direct y
or indirect y, in vio ation of aw.
TERMINATION
This icense granted hereunder wi terminate automatica y if you fai to
comp y with the imitations described herein. Upon termination, you must
destroy a copies of the Software.
LIMITED WARRANTY
PV-Engineering GmbH makes no warranties, inc uding warranties of
merchantabi ity and fitness for a particu ar purpose. Any remedy under
this warranty is imited to return of the software and the user manua to
the dea er or to PV-Engineering GmbH for rep acement or refund. This
warranty is va id for 90 days from your date of purchase. PV-Engineering
GmbH exc udes any warranty coverage for incidenta or consequentia
damages. Some states do not a ow imitations on imp ied warranties, so
some of the above imitations may not app y to you.
TRADE MARKS
Bor and is a trade mark of Bor and Inc.
MS-DOS, MS-Windows are trade marks of Microsoft Corporation
Iser ohn, 20.06.2003
Operation manual for PVPM devi es PV-Engineering GmbH

3 Introdu tion -5-
3 Introduction
The devices of type PVPM enables the measurement of the I-V-curve of photovoltaic modules as well as of
strings. By a new developed procedure the device can measure and calculate the peak power Ppk the Rs and
Rp directly at the place of installation of the PV system. Calculation results and the diagram can be displayed on
the internal TFT display.
The peak power is the power of a module under Standard Test Conditions (STC) [1]. In the past the very
complex measurement of the peak power was possible only in particularly suited laboratories. By a new
patented method [2] which was developed by Professor Wagner at the University of Applied Sciences
Dortmund this measurement can easily be performed with the PVPM. So the quality control of a PV system can
be executed fast and economically. This simple and meaningful check in practice serves the certainty of the
customer and also that of the installer. Beyond that the measured I-V-curves permit further explanations about
the electrical characteristics of the checked module or string. So the PVPM is suitable as an instrument in
research as well as for development purposes.
The PVPM is a mobile measuring devi e with integrated battery supply and battery harger in a durable metal
housing. The devi e has its own industrial miniature PC and a high- ontrast LC display and thus its fun tion is
independent of other devi es. Nevertheless (if desired) a PC an be atta hed for data transfer and further
analysis of the measured values over a standard serial interfa e.
The PVPM is operated omfortably over a few keys and an on-s reen menu. The fun tions are defined self-
des ribing and the user is always led by the program. So no long training a tivities for the operating personnel
are ne essary.
The PVPM automati ally measures the I-V- hara teristi of the PV generator at a apa itive load. From the
measured data it al ulates the effe tive solar ell hara teristi , Ppk and Rs [2], [3]. After the measurement the
data are stored automati ally in a non-volatile storage and so are available later (e. g. in the offi e) [4]. The
devi e internally an store the data of several 1000 measurements.
The following results are displayed:
Permanent values:
Peak Power PPk
Internal Series Resistan e Rs
Internal Parallel Resistan e Rp
Current values, depending on irradiation and temperature:
Vpmax , Ipmax , Pmax
Vo , Is , FF, Tmod , Eeff
The determined I-V- hara teristi an also be shown dire tly on the TFT display.
[1] IEC60904-3: STC= Irradiance 1000 W/m2 Spectrum AM=1.5 Cell Temper. 25°C
[2] Wagner A.: Peak Power and Internal Series Resistance Measurement under Natural Ambient Conditions. –EuroSun Copenhagen
2000
[3] Bendel C. Wagner A.: Photovoltaic Measurement relevant to the Energy Yield. - WCPEC3 Osaka 2003
[4] Schulte K.M. Wagner A.: Die Effektive Solarzellenkennlinie. - Anwendung Teillast-Berechnung. Staffelstein. 2002
4 Normal use
The peak power and I-V- hara teristi measuring instrument series PVPM is used ex lusively for the
admission of the I-V- hara teristi urve of single photovoltai modules and strings. Before onne ting
the PV generator under test to the measuring instrument it must be ensured that the test spe imen
annot ex eed the maximum urrent and voltage levels of the measuring instrument at any time.
Operation manual for PVPM devi es PV-Engineering GmbH

5 Safety Requirements -6-
5 Safety Requirements
Before the first use of the PVPM read this manual arefully and ompletely. It ontains important hints to avoid
damage to persons or the measuring devi e. These hints are emphasized by a frame around the text and
should be paid attention to.
Referen es in this do ument, whi h on ern se urity matters, are indi ated by a frame. Damages due to the
negle tion of the referen es in this do ument are ex luded from the warranty. No warranty at all is guaranteed
for onsequential damages.
The program PVPM.disp requires a PC with hard disk and MS Windows NT or higher and a mouse pointing
devi e. The onne tion of the PVPM requires a free RS232 serial interfa e. Please be sure that this interfa e
has no interrupt onfli ts with other devi es in the PC.
If no serial interfa e is available at the PC, the PVPM an be atta hed to the PC with the help of a ommer ial
USB to serial onverter.
The required free spa e on the hard disk before installing PVPM.disp is about 5 MB. Please be sure later on
that there is enough free spa e on the hard disk before storing measured data.
Attention: For the purpose of data se urity we would like to point out the importan e of saving the database
of the program regularly on another data medium, so in the event of damage you will be able to ontinue
working without onsiderable data loss. Su h a damage an not be ex luded even under the present state-
of-the-art. Please do not restore single data files, but always the omplete data ba k-up of the program,
otherwise you might ause malfun tion, this in turn might lead to data loss! In ase of doubt please onta t
the distributor or the produ er.
! WARNINGS !
To disregard the following information can lead to severe injury and even entail a peril to
life
CA TION! Before starting up the equipment please read this manual
carefully!
NOTE: Danger of an electrical impact
Note: Measuring category I. Do not use this device in measuring categories II, III and IV.
Do not connect measuring inputs to ground.
This device may never be utilised close to inflammable gases.
Keep children and infants away from the measuring equipment!
The measuring device may not be used in locations with intense dust exposure or high
humidity. No fluids may reach the interior of the measuring device.
At appearance of unusual sounds, the development of smell or smoke the device has got
to be switched of immediately, the circuit breaker and the current source have got to be
disconnected.
Before each measurement check the test leads for the power measurement for damages.
Never operate damaged test leads! If the conducting wires of the measuring device are
damaged they have to be replaced. Mending the wires is not admissible.
Operation manual for PVPM devi es PV-Engineering GmbH

5 Safety Requirements -7-
The current measurement input may only be attached to a limited source of direct current
(photovoltaic generator) with at most 20A (40A with PVPM2540C and PVPM1040C)! The
connection of other sources can lead to demolition of the device and to danger of life!
For security reasons only qualified personal must establish the cable connection between
the PV generator and the PVPM security switch! The measurement should be carried out
or accompanied by qualified personal. Additional qualifications and laws (e.g. VDE 0100)
have to be observed, otherwise high currents and voltages involve danger of life!
The PVPM and all devices being part of it may be opened and repaired by authorized
qualified personal only. Before opening a case every cable connection must be
disconnected! Keep in mind that even with disconnected cables the may reside
dangerous high voltage inside the case!
The solar generator can generate very high tensions and currents, which can affect your
health when you do not handle with care!
!! VERY IMPORTANT !!
Never plug in or remove the cable connectors between solar generator and PVPM
before the solar generator is deactivated! A security switch added to the
measurement line allows the simultaneous disconnection and the safe connection
of measuring wires to the PVPM.
The PVPM will make a short circuit during measurement or due to wrong polarization, and
when you tear of a cable under this condition, a light arc can arise and can cause serious
damage to health and material! After the generator is deactivated you can remove the
cable connection without harm.
Operation manual for PVPM devi es PV-Engineering GmbH

6 Operation of the PVPM -8-
6 Operation of the PVPM
6.1 Operating and connection elements
1. On/Off ro ker swit h
2. USB onne tor (Mini B)
3. Status indi ator lamps
4. TFT Tou h display
5. Irradiation input
6. Input for external Pt100 (module ba k surfa e temperature measurement)
7. Four-wire measuring onne tor (voltage)
8. Four-wire measuring onne tor ( urrent)
External voltage supply/battery harge at left side of the PVPM
Operation manual for PVPM devi es PV-Engineering GmbH

6 Operation of the PVPM -9-
6.2 General Hints
The PVPM, as nearly all ele troni measuring devi e, an only operate in a defined temperature range (see
appendix). That is why the PVPM should not be exposed to dire t sunlight over a longer period of time. Keep
the devi e in a shady pla e or prote t it from dire t sunlight using a sunshade.
The standard version of the PVPM annot be integrated into other devi es or e.g. bra kets. It is very important
that the air an move free around the ase so that a proper ooling is guaranteed! Only if the PVPM is
ompletely out of operation (even no harging) it may be sta ked.
Attention: Never loosen a measurement cable connection during a measurement! The considerable
dc tensions and currents can cause a light arc which may cause fire, serious injuries and even
death! (see chapter 5)
The front panel of the PVPM is rather rough, but you should handle it with are anyway. To avoid damage of the
front panel please take noti e of the following hints:
Do not tou h the front panel with a sharp or pointed obje t. This ould for e s rat hes and might even
destroy the foil espe ially in the regions with swit hes in the ba k.
Clean the surfa e with a soft and damp tissue. Do not use materials that an s rat h, espe ially on the
over of the display. A s rat hed display over will dramati ally affe t the display quality.
The ase is not water proofed. Do not expose the PVPM dire tly to influen e of water, rain or similar.
For a good measuring quality the sun irradian e during the measurement should be above 500 W/m2.
Measurements are possible below this irradian e value, but less pre ise and meaningful.
6.3 Connecting Peripheral Devices
Operation manual for PVPM devi es PV-Engineering GmbH