An Improved MPPT Method To Increase Speed & Accuracy Of PV System

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1.INTRODUCTION:
PV power generation has become very widespread throughout the world. PV
panels do not include moving parts and they are clean with low-cost and simple
maintenance .In order to obtain maximum efficiency from the pv panels maximum
power point tracking methods are employed. These MPPT method transfers the
maximum power from the pv panels to load with adjusting the duty cycle of dc to dc
converter under the variable weather conditions.
1.2.ENERGY SOURCES:
Energy exists in several forms such as heat , kinetic or mechanical energy, light,
potential energy , electrical, or other forms. Energy is the ability to do work. Energy
sources could be classified as Renewable and Non-renewable.
1.2.1:Non renewable Energy:
A non-renewable resource (also called a finite resource) is a natural resource that
cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a quick enough pace to keep up with
consumption . An example is carbon-based fossil fuel. The original organic matter,
with the aid of heat and pressure, becomes a fuel such as oil or gas. Earth minerals
and metal ores, fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas) and groundwater in certain
aquifers are all considered non-renewable resources, though individual elements are
always conserved (except in nuclear reactions Conversely, resources such as timber
(when harvested sustainably) and wind (used to power energy conversion systems)
are considered renewable resources, largely because their localized replenishment can
occur within time frames meaningful to humans as well.
1.3.NEED FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY:
Renewable energy is the energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight,
wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat. These resources are renewable and can be
naturally replenished. Therefore, for all practical purposes, these resources can be
considered to be inexhaustible, unlike dwindling conventional fossil fuels. The global
energy crunch has provided a renewed impetus to the growth and development of
Clean and Renewable Energy sources. Clean Development Mechanisms (CDMs)are
being adopted by organizations all across the globe.

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 An Improved MPPT Method To Increase Speed & Accuracy Of PV System

Apart from the rapidly decreasing reserves of fossil fuels in the world, another major
factor working against fossil fuels is the pollution associated with their combustion.
Contrastingly, renewable energy sources are known to be much cleaner and produce
energy without the harmful effects of pollution unlike their conventional counterparts.
1.4. DIFFERENT SOURCES OF RENEWABLE ENERGY:
1.4.1 Wind power:
Wind turbines can be used to harness the energy available in airflows. Current
day turbines range from around 600 kW to 5 MW of rated power. Since the power
output is a function of the cube of the wind speed, it increases rapidly with an increase
in available wind velocity. Recent advancements have led to aerofoil wind turbines,
which are more efficient due to a better aerodynamic structure
Wind power or wind energy is the use of wind to provide the mechanical
power through wind turbines to turn electric generators and traditionally to do other
work, like milling or pumping. Wind power is a sustainable and renewable energy,
and has a much smaller impact on the environment compared to burning fossil fuels.
Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines, which are connected to
the electric power transmission network. Onshore wind is an inexpensive source of
electric power, competitive with or in many places cheaper than coal or gas
plants.Onshore wind farms also have an impact on the landscape, as typically they
need to be spread over more land than other power stations and need to be built in
wild and rural areas, which can lead to "industrialization of the
countryside"and habitat loss. Offshore wind is steadier and stronger than on land
and offshore farms have less visual impact, but construction and maintenance costs
are higher. Small onshore wind farms can feed some energy into the grid or provide
electric power to isolated off-grid locations.
1.4.2 Solar power:
The tapping of solar energy owes its origins to the British astronomer John
Herschel who famously used a solar thermal collector box to cook food during an
expedition to Africa. Solar energy can be utilized in two major ways. Firstly, the
captured heat can be used as solar thermal energy, with applications in space heating.
Another alternative is the conversion of incident solar radiation to electrical energy,
which is the most usable form of energy. This can be achieved with the help of solar
photovoltaic cells or with concentrating solar power plants.

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 An Improved MPPT Method To Increase Speed & Accuracy Of PV System

Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a
range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal
energy, solar architecture, molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis.
It is an important source of renewable energy and its technologies are broadly
characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture
and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques
include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power and solar water
heating to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to
the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing
properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.
1.4.3 Small hydropower:
Hydropower installations up to 10MW are considered as small hydropower and
counted as renewable energy sources. These involve converting the potential energy
of water stored in dams into usable electrical energy through the use of water turbines.
Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity aims to utilize the kinetic energy of water without
the need of building reservoirs or dams.
1.4.4 Biomass:
Plants capture the energy of the sun through the process of photosynthesis. On
combustion, these plants release the trapped energy. This way, biomass works as a
natural battery to store the sun’s energy and yield it on requirement.
Biomass is plant or animal material used for energy production (electricity or
heat), or in various industrial processes as raw substance for a range of products. It
can be purposely grown energy crops (e.g. miscanthus, switchgrass), wood or forest
residues, waste from food crops (wheat straw, bagasse), horticulture (yard waste),
food processing (corn cobs), animal farming (manure, rich in nitrogen and
phosphorus), or human waste from sewage plants.
Burning plant-derived biomass releases CO2, but it has still been classified as a
renewable energy source in the EU and UN legal frameworks because photosynthesis
cycles the CO2 back into new crops. In some cases, this recycling of CO 2 from plants
to atmosphere and back into plants can even be CO2 negative, as a relatively large
portion of the CO2 is moved to the soil during each cycle.

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 An Improved MPPT Method To Increase Speed & Accuracy Of PV System

1.4.5 Geothermal:
Geothermal energy is the thermal energy which is generated and stored [9]
within the layers of the Earth. The gradient thus developed gives rise to a continuous
conduction of heat from the core to the surface of the earth. This gradient can be
utilized to heat water to produce superheated steam and use it to run steam turbines to
generate electricity. The main disadvantage of geothermal energy is that it is usually
limited to regions near tectonic plate boundaries, though recent advancements have
led to the propagation of this technology
Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal
energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. The geothermal
energy of the Earth's crust originates from the original formation of the planet and
from radioactive decay of materials (in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal
proportions). The geothermal gradient, which is the difference in temperature between
the core of the planet and its surface, drives a continuous conduction of thermal
energy in the form of heat from the core to the surface.
Earth's internal heat is thermal energy generated from radioactive decay and
continual heat loss from Earth's formation. Temperatures at the core–mantle
boundary may reach over 4000 °C (7,200 °F).[4] The high temperature and pressure
in Earth's interior cause some rock to melt and solid mantle to behave plastically,
resulting in portions of the mantle convecting upward since it is lighter than the
surrounding rock. Rock and water is heated in the crust, sometimes up to 370 °C
(700 °F).
With water from hot springs, geothermal energy has been used for bathing
since Paleolithic times and for space heating since ancient Roman times, but it is now
better known for electricity generation. Worldwide, 11,700 megawatts (MW) of
geothermal power was available in 2013. An additional 28 gigawatts of
direct geothermal heating capacity is installed for district heating, space heating, spas,
industrial processes, desalination and agricultural applications as of 2010.
Geothermal power is cost-effective, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally
friendly,[8] but has historically been limited to areas near tectonic plate boundaries.
Recent technological advances have dramatically expanded the range and size of
viable resources, especially for applications such as home heating, opening a potential
for widespread exploitation. Geothermal wells release greenhouse gases trapped deep

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 An Improved MPPT Method To Increase Speed & Accuracy Of PV System

within the earth, but these emissions are much lower per energy unit than those of
fossil fuels.
1.5.RENEWABLE ENERGY TRENDS ACROSS THE GLOBE:
The current trend across developed economies tips the scale in favour of
Renewable Energy. Forthe last three years, the continents of North America and
Europe have embraced more renewable power capacity as compared to conventional
power capacity. Renewables accounted for 60% of the newly installed power capacity
in Europe in 2009 and nearly 20% of the annual power production.

Figure 1.1 : Global energy consumption in the year 2008

As can be seen from the figure 1.1, wind and biomass occupy a major share of
the current renewable energy consumption. Recent advancements in solar
photovoltaic technology and constant incubation of projects in countries like Germany
and Spain have brought around tremendous growth in the solar PV market as well,
which is projected to surpass other renewable energy sources in the coming years.
By 2009, more than 85 countries had some policy target to achieve a
predetermined share of their power capacity through renewables. This was an increase
from around 45 countries in 2005. Most of the targets are also very ambitious, landing
in the range of 30-90% share of national production through renewables . Noteworthy
policies are the European Union’s target of achieving 20% of total energy through
renewables by 2020 and India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission, through which India
plans to produce 20GW solar energy by the year 2022.

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 An Improved MPPT Method To Increase Speed & Accuracy Of PV System

1.6.PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY:
Photo voltaic are the field of technology and research related to the devices
which directly convert sunlight into electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the
photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic effect involves the creation of voltage in a material
upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation. The photovoltaic effect was first noted by
a French physicist, Edmund Becquerel, in 1839, who found that certain materials
would produce small amounts of electric current when exposed to light. In 1905,
Albert Einstein described the nature of light and the photoelectric effect on which
photovoltaic technology is based, for which he later won a Nobel prize in physics.
The first photovoltaic module was built by Bell Laboratories in 1954. It was billed as
a solar battery and was mostly just a curiosity as it was too expensive to gain
widespread use. In the 1960s, the space industry began to make the first serious use of
the technology to provide power aboard spacecraft. Through the space programs, the
technology advanced, its reliability was established, and the cost began to decline.
During the energy crisis in the 1970s, photovoltaic technology gained recognition as a
source of power for non-space applications.
The solar cell is the elementary building block of the photovoltaic technology.
Solar cellsare made of semiconductor materials, such as silicon. One of the properties
of semiconductors that makes them most useful is that their conductivity may easily
be modified by introducing impurities into their crystal lattice. For instance, in the
fabrication of a photovoltaic solar cell, silicon, which has four valence electrons, is
treated to increase its conductivity. On one side of the cell, the impurities, which are
phosphorus atoms with five valence electrons (n-donor), donate weakly bound
valence electrons to the silicon material, creating excess negative charge carriers.
1.7.SOLAR CELL:
The photovoltaic effect was first reported by Edmund Becquerel in 1839when
he observed that the action of light on a silver coated platinum electrode immersed in
electrolyte produced an electric current. Forty years later the first solid state
photovoltaic devices were constructed by workers investigating the recently
discovered photoconductivity of selenium. In1876 William Adams and Richard Day
found that a photocurrent could be produced in a sample of selenium when contacted
by two heated platinum contacts

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 An Improved MPPT Method To Increase Speed & Accuracy Of PV System

Solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electrical device that converts the energy
of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is
a physical and chemical phenomenon It is a form of photoelectric cell, defined as a
device whose electrical characteristics, such as current, voltage, or resistance, vary
when exposed to light. Individual solar cell devices can be combined to form
modules, otherwise known as solar panels. The common single junction silicon solar
cell can produce a maximum open-circuit voltage of approximately 0.5 to 0.6 volts.
Solar cells are described as being photovoltaic, irrespective of whether the
source is sunlight or an artificial light. In addition to producing energy, they can be
used as a photodetector , detecting light or other electromagnetic radiation near the
visible range, or measuring light intensity.
The operation of a photovoltaic (PV) cell requires three basic attributes:
 The absorption of light, generating either electron-hole pairs or excitons.
 The separation of charge carriers of opposite types.
 The separate extraction of those carriers to an external circuit.
1.8. LITERATURE REVIEW:
Title 1 :MPPT with Inc.Cond method using conventional interleaved boost converter
Authors : S. Zahra Mirbagheri , Saad Mekhilef , S. Mohsen Mirhassani
Publication : Science direct Energy Procedia 42 ( 2013 ) 24 – 32
Analysis :
The incremental conductance (Inc.Cond) suggests a faster method to track the
MPP . This method tracks the MPP by changing the voltage and current supplied to
the load and measuring the instantaneous and incremental conductance periodically to
reach the minimum value of the two parameters . Moreover, the converter topology is
one of the important issues which changes the efficiency and speed of the system.
This paper steps through two different topologies for Inc.Cond method.
Conventional boost converter is one of the most popular topologies which is using in
order to control the position of operating point alongside MPPT. On the other hand,
changing the topology might change the speed and efficiency. Finally, obtained
results by implantation of two different topologies of converters are represented and
studied.

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 An Improved MPPT Method To Increase Speed & Accuracy Of PV System

A basic boost converter converts a DC voltage to a higher

DC voltage. Interleaving adds additional benefits such as reduced ripple currents in
both the input and output circuits. . Due to the following facts conventional boost
converter might be replaced by some new topologies. First, the ripple in the
conventional boost converter is large and makes power losses. Second, the voltage
stress of switch is equal to the output voltage; therefore, more expensive switch
should be selected because a high voltage stress switch is required.
Title 2: Perturb and Observe MPPT Algorithm for Solar PV Systems-Modeling and
Simulation
Authors : Jacob James Nedumgatt, Jayakrishnan K. B., Umashankar S., Vijaya
kumar
Analysis:
Paper validates an algorithm for Maximum Power Point Tracking using Perturb
and Observe technique. The algorithm starts by setting the computed maximum power
PMAX to an initial value (usually zero). Next the actual PV voltage and current are
measured at specific intervals and the instantaneous value of PV power, PACT is
computed. PMAX and PACT are compared. PMAX and PACT are compared. If
PACT is greater than PMAX, it is set as the new value of PMAX. At every instant the
PACT is calculated, and the comparison is continuously executed. Hence the final
value of PMAX will be the point at which maximum power can be delivered to the
load. For maximum power transfer across the load, the input impedance should be
equal to the load impedance. Based on the mechanism of load matching the duty cycle
of the converter is varied so that the output power will almost be equal to the input in
practical systems.
Amount of energy produced by the sun is so large, that in one hour it can provide
more than enough energy for human population in one year. However, due to the low
efficiency of current solar panels, conversion of sunlight into electrical power is very
poor.
Title 3: Fuzzy-logic-control approach of a modified hill-climbing method for
maximum power point in micro grid standalone photovoltaic system
PUBLICATION: . IEEE T Power Electr 2011; 26:1022–30.
AUTHORS: Alajmi BN, Ahmed KH, Finney SJ, Williams BW.
Analysis

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 An Improved MPPT Method To Increase Speed & Accuracy Of PV System

A new fuzzy-logic controller for maximum power point tracking of photovoltaic

(PV) systems is proposed. PV modeling is discussed. Conventional hill-climbing
maximum power-point tracker structures and features are investigated. The new
controller improves the hill-climbing search method by fuzzifying the rules of such
techniques and eliminates their drawbacks. Fuzzy-logic-based hill climbing offers fast
and accurate converging to the maximum operating point during steady-state and
varying weather conditions compared to conventional hill climbing. Simulation and
experimentation results are provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed
fuzzy-logic-based controller.
1.9.PROJECT OBJECTIVE:
By using the MPPT method we can track maximum output power. In this
project we are going to compare with the traditional methods which are p&o ,
incremental conductance and flc methods under variable atmospheric conditions. The
p&o method has oscillation problems and the incremental conductance method is
complex it has more iteration when we use flc we can increase the tracking capability
of MPP and at the same time reduces the steady state oscillations.
1.10.ORGANIZTION OF PROJECT:
 In this project Chapter 1 deals about the introduction of the project and the basic
information of the project.

 Chapter 2 deals about the solar cell and the power curves of the solar cell
 Chapter 3 deals about the solar tracking systems and solar power generation.
 Chapter 4 deals about the maximum power point tracking and the method of
the MPPT and converter
 Chapter 5 deals about the simulation software theory and about the history of
MATLAB.
 Chapter 6 deals with the simulation and the results of the proposed project.
1.11.SUMMARY:
This chapter gives information about basic classification of energy sources and
need of renewable energy resources along with their types.

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