Simulation model of operation of autonomous photovoltaic plant under actual operating conditions

Relevance. Solar photovoltaic technology is one of the most rapidly growing renewable sources of electricity that has practical application in various fields of human activity due to its high availability, huge potential and environmental compatibility. The most serious technical problem of autonomous energy systems with renewable sources is the necessity to align the modes of energy generation and consumption that requires a reliable determination of energy balance with a high temporal sampling. Determination of energy characteristics under actual operating conditions is relevant due to nonlinearity of the main PVP element characteristics and their strong dependence on the external meteorological factors of stochastic nature. The study aims to develop a simulation model of an autonomous photovoltaic power plant, which provides simulation of its operation under actual operating conditions. Methods. Mathematical and computer simulation is implemented in the MatLab/Simulink software environment. Results. A simulation model of the autonomous photovoltaic plant was developed. The model comprises six main components: model of the solar radiation arrival, solar cell, DC inverter (charge controller), battery, inverter, and electrical load. All the components are implemented in MatLab/Simulink as separate subsystems and are capable of dimensional scaling to study photovoltaic systems of any configuration. The proposed model considers the influence of external climatic factors on the solar cell energy characteristics to increase the accuracy of the energy generation forecast.