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Ejsr 33 3 13 PDF
Ejsr 33 3 13 PDF
1. Introduction
Recently, the installation of PV generation systems is rapidly growing due to concerns related to
environment, global warming, energy security, technology improvements and decreasing costs. PV
generation system is considered as a clean and environmentally-friendly source of energy. The main
applications of PV systems are in either standalone or grid connected configurations. Standalone PV
generation systems are attractive as indispensable electricity source for remote areas [1]. However, PV
generation systems have two major problems which are related to low conversion efficiency of about 9
to 12 % especially in low irradiation conditions and the amount of electric power generated by PV
arrays varies continuously with weather conditions. Therefore, many research works are done to
increase the efficiency of the energy produced from the PV arrays [2]
The solar cell V-I characteristics is nonlinear and varies with irradiation and temperature. But
there is a unique point on the V-I and P-V curves, called as the maximum power point (MPP), at which
at this point the PV system is said to operate with maximum efficiency and produces its maximum
power output. The location of the MPP is not known but can be traced by either through calculation
models or search algorithms. Thus, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques are needed to
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maintain the PV arrays operating point at its MPP. Many MPPT techniques have been proposed in the
literature in which the techniques vary in many aspects, including simplicity, convergence speed,
hardware implementation and range of effectiveness. However, the most widely used MPPT technique
is the perturbation and observation (P&O) method. This paper presents a simple MPPT algorithm
which can be easily implemented and adopted for low cost PV applications. The objective of this paper
is to design a novel PV controller scheme with improved MPPT method.
The proposed standalone PV controller implementation takes into account mathematical model
of each component as well as actual component specification. The dcdc or boost converter is the
front-end component connected between the PV array and the load. The conventional boost converter
may cause serious reverse recovery problem and increase the rating of all devices. As a result, the
conversion efficiency is degraded and the electromagnetic interference problem becomes severe under
this situation. To increase the conversion efficiency, many modified step-up converter topologies have
been investigated by several researchers. Voltage clamped techniques have been incorporated in the
converter design to overcome the severe reverse-recovery problem of the output diodes [3]. In this
paper, focus is also given in the boost converter design. Another important component in the
standalone PV systems is the charge controller which is used to save the battery from possible damage
due to over-charging and over-discharging. Studies showed that the life time of a battery can be
degraded without using a charge controller..
The proposed new controller scheme for the standalone PV system controls both the boost
converter and the charge controller in two control steps. The first step is to control the boost converter
so as to extract the maximum power point of the PV modules. Here, a high step-up converter is
considered for the purpose of stepping up the PV voltage and consequently reducing the number of
series-connected PV modules and to maintain a constant dc bus voltage. A microcontroller is used for
data acquisition that gets PV module operating current and voltage and is also used to program the
MPPT algorithm. The controller adopts the pulse width modulation (PWM) technique to increase the
duty cycle of the generated pulses as the PV voltage decreases so as to obtain a stable output voltage
and current close to the maximum power point. The second control step is to control the charge
controller for the purpose of protecting the batteries. By controlling the charging current using the
PWM technique and controlling the battery voltage during charging, voltages higher than the gassing
voltage can be avoided.
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PSPICE simulation of the converter was done by considering the component values of C1=
1F, C2 = 6.8 F, Co = 680 F and L=9 H. D1, D2, D0 are Schottky diodes, Q is MOSFET
IRFP2907, frequency, = 20 kHz. Figures 2 and 3 show the simulation results in terms of the
converter voltage gain and efficiency which is about 93%, respectively, for the converter driving loads
up to 5 kW
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1.8
1.7
Vload/Vmodule
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
Duty Cycle
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.5
Based on the PSPICE simulation results of the proposed converter as shown in Figure 3, the
voltage gain of the converter which is in the form of a logarithmic curve is obtained as given by,
(1)
2.2. Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithm
The maximum power extracted from the PV array depends strongly on three factors: insulation, load
impedance and cell temperature, assuming fixed cell efficiency. When a PV system is directly
connected to the load, the system will operate at the intersection of the I-V curve and load line, which
can be far from the MPP. The MPP production is therefore based on the load-line adjustment under
varying atmospheric conditions. The variation of the output I-V characteristic of a commercial PV
module as a function of temperature and irradiation shows that the temperature changes mainly affect
the output voltage, while the irradiation changes affect the PV output current (Salas 2006).
Nevertheless, PV systems should be designed to operate at their maximum output power levels for any
temperature and solar irradiation levels at all times. Another significant factor which determines the
PV power is the impedance of the load. However, load impedance is not constant. When a PV system
is directly connected to the load, the system will operate at the intersection of I-V curve and load line,
which can be far from the MPP. The MPP production is based on the load-line adjustment under
varying atmospheric conditions. To adapt the load resistance to the PV modules and extract maximum
power from them, the duty cycle is set to its optimal value which corresponds to its optimal operating
point (Vop. Iop), see Figure 5 [5]
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In order to draw maximum power from the PV array, usually a DC/DC converter is inserted
between the PV array and the battery. An MPPT controller is also connected to the DC/DC converter
to ensure the operation of the PV array at its MPP by means of implementing an MPPT algorithm. In
MMPT algorithm, when the solar radiation and temperature are varied, each of the MPP corresponds to
only one value of the input resistance of the converter. Thus, as the solar radiation or temperature
changes, the value of input resistance seen by the PV modules will also change so as to locate the new
MPP. This can be achieved by varying the duty cycle which is then used to control the switching mode
of the converter
A simple MPPT algorithm is proposed as shown in Figure 6. Firstly, the load voltage and the
PV voltage are observed. Depending on these two observations, the controller will generate a suitable
duty cycle for the converter. The optimum duty cycle, D can be determined from equation (2) and it is
given by,
(2)
Figure 6: Proposed MPPT algorithm
START
V load = V
YES
load rated
NO
Calculate D using eq.2
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availability in many sizes, low cost and well understood performance characteristics [7]. Generally,
battery manufacture refers to four distinct charging stages within a battery charging cycle, namely,
bulk, absorption, equalization and float as shown in Figure 7. However, not all battery chargers have
the four stages. The proposed charger controller uses the PWM charging technique in order to deal
with the gassing voltage problem at the equalization stage.
Figure 7: Stages in battery charging
3. Methodology
For the purpose of estimating the mathematical models developed for the proposed standalone PV
system, simulations were carried in terms of the MATLAB codes. Each PV module considered in the
simulation has a rating of 80 Watt at 1000 W/m2, 21.2 V open circuit voltage, 5A short circuit current.
The PV module is connected to a block of batteries with of sizing 60 Ah, 48 V. Figure 8 describes the
algorithm for the new controller scheme of the PV system in terms of a flowchart.
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YES
NO
Calculate D using eqn.2
YES
NO
NO
Load
YES
PWM charging
>9 cycles
NO
NO
YES
NO
>HVD1
>HVD2
YES
No Charging
Calculate discharging
voltage (Vdischarge) and
resistance (Rdischarge)
Calculate Vbattery
YES
>.75
NO
YES
NO
>HVR
YES
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Current
Ta = 30 C
G = 1000W/m.m
5
4.5
G = 900W/m.m
G = 800W/m.m
3.5
G = 700W/m.m
G = 600W/m.m
2.5
G = 500W/m.m
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0
10
Voltage
15
20
Current
3.5
3
10C
60C
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0
10
15
20
25
Voltage
Figure 11 compares the PV array P-V characteristics obtained from using the proposed MPPT
algorithm and the classical MPPT P&O algorithm. From this figure, it can be seen that by using the
proposed MPPT algorithm, the operating point of PV array is much closer to the MPP compared to the
using the classical P&O algorithm.
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Module Power
60
50
40
30
MPP by
clasical
method
20
MPP
MPP by
proposed
method
10
0
0
10
Voltage
15
20
In addition, the proposed boost converter is able to give a stable output voltage as shown in
Figure 12. In terms of PV array current, it can be seen from Figure 13 that the PV current is closer to
the MPP current when using the improved MPPT algorithm. Thus, the track operating point is
improved by using the proposed MPPT algorithm. In terms of efficiency of the standalone PV system
which is calculated by dividing the load power with the maximum power of PV array, it is noted that
the efficiency of the system is better with the proposed MPPT algorithm as compared to using the
classical P&O algorithm as shown in Figure 14.
Figure 12: Boost converter output voltage
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5. Conclusion
This paper has presented an efficient standalone PV controller by incorporating an improved boost
converter design and a new controller scheme which incorporates both a simple MPPT algorithm and a
battery charging algorithm. The simulation results show that the PV controller using the simple MPPT
algorithm has provided more power and better efficiency (91%) than the classical P&O algorithm. In
addition, the proposed boost converter design gives a better converter efficiency of about 93%. Such a
PV controller design can provide efficient and stable power supply for remote mobile applications.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]