Reconfigurable emulator for photovoltaic modules under static partial shading conditions

•Negative breakdown is included in the emulation of a partially shaded PV module.•Bypass diode connection is configurable for different partial shading test scenarios.•Kalman filter is implemented for real-time measurements and a priori control.•Emulator output perfectly matches the modeled IV curves with fast and accurate responses. This paper aims to emulate the IV characteristics of a multiple-substring photovoltaic (PV) module under nonuniform irradiance levels by taking into account the breakdown voltage of shaded cells, configurations of bypass diode connections, and cell temperatures. A suitable control scheme for the emulator’s power stage significantly improves the performance of the emulator’s output. As a result, this PV emulator proves to be capable of performing under various operating conditions of the PV module including uniform irradiation and nonuniform partial shading with great accuracy.