A flexible battery testing framework for accelerated research on photovoltaic-battery modules and a representative test time series
Konga NB, Shcherbachenko S, Astakhov O, Weigand D, Abdoulkadri AM, Moutari SK, Figgemeier E, Brabec CJ, Merdzhanova T (2026)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2026
Journal
Book Volume: 179
Article Number: 124007
DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2026.124007
Abstract
Surplus variable photovoltaic (PV) generation should be coupled to storage as close as possible to its point of generation to minimize grid stress and infrastructure expansion. This can be achieved by electrically coupling and physically integrating batteries at the PV module level, an approach that has been shown to be feasible but requires batteries adapted to PV-module-specific electrical and thermal operating conditions. In direct coupling, the battery current is set by the instantaneous interaction of PV and battery current-voltage characteristic, and the thermal conditions are dominated by the PV module temperature. Existing battery testing methods do not fully address this requirement space for early-stage laboratory cells. Here, we present a flexible battery testing framework that translates direct PV-battery coupling and PV-module thermal boundary conditions to laboratory-scale batteries. The platform combines a software-controlled PV emulator with a programmable thermal chamber to expose batteries to scaled PV I-V characteristics and PV-module-equivalent temperature profiles. It is demonstrated using a Li-ion cell under a representative seven-day PV profile for Freiburg, Germany. The emulator reproduces the target electrical conditions with cumulative charge and energy deviations of about 1.5%, while the tested configurations show PV-battery coupling efficiencies above 95%. The results demonstrate the platform's potential for screening laboratory-scale batteries by assessing relative PV-battery sizing, voltage matching, C-rate variation, state-of-charge swing, and direct-coupling behavior. The derived battery operating time series is also provided as a simplified proxy for preliminary screening on conventional battery cyclers.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
Forschungszentrum Jülich / Research Centre Jülich (FZJ)
Germany (DE)
Abdou Moumouni University / Université Abdou Moumouni (UAM)
Niger (NE)
Germany (DE)
Abdou Moumouni University / Université Abdou Moumouni (UAM)
Niger (NE)
How to cite
APA:
Konga, N.B., Shcherbachenko, S., Astakhov, O., Weigand, D., Abdoulkadri, A.M., Moutari, S.K.,... Merdzhanova, T. (2026). A flexible battery testing framework for accelerated research on photovoltaic-battery modules and a representative test time series. Journal of Energy Storage, 179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2026.124007
MLA:
Konga, N'Danadje Bagnabana, et al. "A flexible battery testing framework for accelerated research on photovoltaic-battery modules and a representative test time series." Journal of Energy Storage 179 (2026).
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