Daniel Tudor Cotfas

By Petru Adrian Cotfas, Daniel Tudor Cotfas and Horia Hedesiu

The demand of energy increases once with the growth of population, and therefore, the finding of or improvement in the efficiency of renewable energy sources becomes very important for researchers and industry. The conversion of solar energy into electrical energy can be done based on photovoltaic or Seebeck effects. In the first case, photovoltaic panels are used, while in the second case, thermoelectric generators are used. The two can be combined to obtain the so-called hybrid systems, which have the goal to improve the overall conversion efficiency of the system. This chapter is focused on showing how the graphical programing language, called NI LabVIEW, together with a SPICE simulator, called NI Multisim, can be used for studying and understanding the behavior of the photovoltaic and thermoelectric generators as parts of the renewable energy sources. Different simulations developed in LabVIEW or Multisim are presented, and some monitoring and characterization applications are also described. Simple simulations to complex laboratory or industrial-level applications are dealt with in this chapter.

Part of the book: LabVIEW - Virtual Instrumentation in Education and Industry [Working title]