Abstract:

Photovoltaic technologies dominate renewables and offer rich theoretical and experimental study opportunities in engineering. This six-week project in the Mathematical Laboratories I course (BSc Electrical Engineering – Energy Systems, School of Engineering (ISEP)-Polytechnic of Porto) guides students to model photovoltaic (PV) panel behavior and verify it experimentally, building analysis, instrumentation, and digital skills. Students study simplified and non-simplified single-diode models, calibrating with manufacturer max power and voltage, and estimating diode, shunt, and series resistances, plus an empirically adjusted ideality factor, analyzing I-V and P-V curves, where I is intensity, V, voltage, and P, power.

The students then implement a small hardware setup for real-time data acquisition: PV panel, signal-conditioning networks, and an Arduino R4 connected to a personal computer (PC). The software comprises Arduino code to read two analog inputs and transmit data, and Python code to log CSVs. Measurements, under controlled illumination, vary load resistance and are sampled at 10 Hz for at least 30 s. Data are analyzed in Colab notebooks to fit the model to the data and extract metrics such as maximum power point, near short-circuit current, and near open-circuit voltage. Students discuss deviations due to series/shunt resistances and model validity. Assessments include reports, presentations, and a final discussion; preliminary results indicate gains in technical, digital, and collaborative skills and a deeper understanding of PV systems and modeling in engineering design.

Keywords:

Arduino, Colab, Digital transformation, Engineering education, Transdisciplinary education, PV panel.