Design of PV System with DC distribution for Rural

Electricity

Tarmizi Tarmizi Syahrial Syahrial Fathurahman Fathurrahman*

Electrical and Computer Engineering
Syiah Kuala University
Banda Aceh, Indonesia
mizi@unsyiah.ac.id
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Syiah Kuala University
Banda Aceh, Indonesia
syahrial@unsyiah.ac.id
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Syiah Kuala University
Banda Aceh, Indonesia
*Corresponding Author:
fathurrahman@unsyiah.ac.id

Abstract— Indonesia is a tropical country that lies across the
equator, this make Solar PV has a huge potential as a primary
source of electrical energy. However, PV add up only at 0.34%
out of 14.7% of Indonesian renewable energy share. A PV
system uses MPPT control technique in order to maximize
electrical energy extraction in all specify working condition. In
this research, a stand-alone solar PV system with DC
distribution system is designed. The Solar PV system is
composed of 300 Wp Solar PV panel, MPPT, 24 V/100 Ah lead
acid battery, boost converter, full bridge DC converter and DC
to AC inverter. The PSIM simulation shown 99.8% of MPPT
efficiency. The distribution system is in DC at 339.6 V with the
voltage drop across 4 km distribution line accounted for 1.72 V.
The inverter output voltage is 220 V with its waveform close to
sinusoidal.
Keywords—Solar PV, MPPT, DC Distribution System, boost
converter, full bridge DC Converter, Inverter.
I. INTRODUCTION
Electrical energy is used as a very vital source of energy
embedded almost in all human activities. Electrical energy is
a secondary form of energy generated by the convesrsion
process from other primary sources of energies such as fossils,
wind, hydro, geothermal, nuclear and solar. At the moment
according to the World Bank report, more than 90% of world
population have accessed electricity [1].
In 2021 Indonesian national electrification ratio and the
electrified villages ratio is accounted for 99.28% and 99.59%
respectively. Which left 346 villages without electricity, this
is still a big number. Although Indonesian National
electrification ratio is considered high, more than 85.55% its
primary power is relaying on fossil fuel which is dominated
by the most polluted energy sources “coal” by 43.35%.
Conversely, Indonesia is an archipelagic country located
around equator, which makes Indonesia has a very
prospecting solar energy development. The day lasts 12 hours
throughout the year and the sun's rays are very intense, it is
estimated that Indonesia has an average daily radiation around
4.8 kWh/m2/day [2].
Renewable energy contribute only 14.7% of Indonesian
energy mix. This number is relatively low comparing to
Indonesian ambitious target to have 23% of renewable energy
as their energy mix in 2025 (four years left). Despite Solar PV
having a very good potential, out of 14.7% of Indonesian
renewable energy share, PV only contribute 0.34% [3]. In
order to achieve 2025 target, considering all it superb features,
PV solar installation capacity in Indonesia must be intensify
in the upcoming years [4].
Based on the report on [5] current PV Module Efficiency
is ranging from 15.2%-34.5% depending on semiconductors
technology used (crystalline, polycrystalline or thin film).
Those figure is still relative low, hence it is important to design
an overall PV system that has low losses and high efficiency
by implementing proper MPPT control technique and suitable
distribution system topology. The current overall PV system
efficiency as discuss in [6-7] is around 97%-98%. The main
contribution of this paper is to design the PV system that has
high efficiency by using proper MPPT technique and low
losses by using suitable distribution system topology.
II. PV SYSTEM
Solar PV system is consisted of one or more combined
solar panel with power electronic device as an interface to the
load. There are three primary types of solar PV and storage
systems: grid-tied, grid/hybrid and off-grid. Rural PV system
usually used an off-grid PV system. An off-grid PV System
has two main topologies, firstly, centralized or known as
communal PV system and secondly, distributed or known as
solar home system (SHS). Communal off-grid PV system is
commonly used in dense rural area, whereas SHS is used in
lower density area [8].
As a primary component, a cell in PV system is generally
modelled as single diode equivalent circuit as shown in Fig. 1.
The cell equivalent circuit has the current-voltage
characteristic, which expressed as follow [9-12]:
(1)
Fig. 1 Single diode model equivalent circuit.
The output power of PV system is fluctuates depending on
environmental/climate condition such as solar irradiance,
wind velocity, and temperature profile. In order to extract
maximum power in every given working condition as shown
in Fig. 2, PV system must employ a control technique known
as MPPT (maximum power point tracking) [13-15]. In general
MPPT technique divided in to three classifications: classical,
intelligence, and optimization [15].

XXX-X-XXXX-XXXX-X/XX/$XX.00 ©20XX IEEE

 The design of PV system in this research is using one of the load street light Osram Ledenvo Led 36 V/30 W. The full
clasical MPPT methode, namely, Perturb and Observe (P&O) bridge DC converter is installed to increases the DC voltage
Technique. P&O technique is widely used as MPPT algorithm from 24 V to 340 V used as an input to DC distribution line
due to its practical implementation. P&O adjust the voltage system. Two Inverters, Inverter-A and Inverter-B is installed
output in order to harvest maximum power [15]. near to the load to convert and transform 340 V DC voltage to
220 V/50 Hz AC voltage.
Located centrally LED Street Liht
36V/30W
Boost Converter-2
(24V to 36V)

DC Bus
XL RL LA 100W
VSen ISen Inverter-A
Boost (24Vdc to
Converter-1 Line distribution A 220Vac)
( 500m)

PV 300W/17.4V
Full Bridge DC
MPPT Converter
Fig. 2 The I-V and P-V relationship curve of PV under various (24 to 320Vdc)

condition [12].
Battery LB 100W
XL RL Inverter-B
24V/ 100AH
Other important component in a PV system is power (24Vdc to
220Vac)
electronics converter. In a typical PV system setup a DC-DC Line sistribution B
(4 Km)

Converter and Inverter is used. DC–DC Converter is an
important element where the MPPT algorithm is implemented
[16]. An Inverter is a device that used to convert DC to AC
voltage as the input to the load. These days, multi-level
inverter is used more common than the conventional voltage
source inverter due to it superiority feature and advantages
[17].
Fig. 3 Block of PV with DC distribution system.
The length of distribution line-A and line-B are 500 m and
4 km respectively. The distribution line used NFAK2X
2x10 mm AL twisted cable, with the resistance at 3.08 Ω/Km.
Start

Losses in PV system distribution line is also an important

factor that should take into account in designing solar PV Measure V(n), I(n)
system. In general the losses in AC and DC distribution can
be calculated by using equitation (2) [18]. Calculation Power P(n)
= ∗| | (2) P(n)=V(n)*I(n)

Where is given by equation (3) ∆P=P(n)-P(n-1)

∆V=V(n)-V(n-1)
= + (3)
Where in DC system in is consider to zero. Hence the No Yes
∆P > 0
losses DC the losses is given by equation (4)
= ∗| | (4)
No Yes No Yes
The MPPT efficiency can be calculated using equation (5) ∆V < 0 ∆V > 0
= 100% (5)
or input power to the system is the maximum power from Vref=Vref +step Vref=Vref -step Vref=Vref +step Vref=Vref -step
the solar module based on sun irradiance ( $ ) and %& is the
the power that produced by solar module ( '( ).

III. DESIGN AND SIMULATION

The PV system designed in this paper is a communal off- Return
grid PV system. In this system, the PV panels are located in
one location while the load (villager’s household) are Fig.4 P&O MPPT Algorithm
dispersed. The distribution line is using DC system. The The MPPT uses the classical P&O technique, the
block-diagram of PV distribution system is shown in Fig. 3. algorithm implement in this system can be seen in Fig. 4. The
The PV panel is consisted of 6 PV modules (BP-350J- output of MPPT is a Vref voltage of 0-1 V depending on the
50 W/17.4 V) connected in parallel. The best location of solar power of P(n). This Vref voltage is compared to the triangular
panel placement carefully determine to avoid shading by the wave (Vtri) by the comparator (op-amp) as in Fig. 5, and
trees or buildings. Thus, sunlight could hit the surface of the generated PWM wave output. The Vtri voltage adjustable at 1
solar module for 8 hours from 8 am to 4 pm. The power Vp, frequency 20 kHz and duty cycle 0.5.
Comparator
converter (boost converter, MPPT, full bridge DC converter) v ref
and battery are placed close to the solar panel. While the boost +
PWM
converter-2, inverter-A and inverter-B are placed near to load. -

The voltage on the DC bus is set in accordance to the Vtri.

battery voltage level, which is 24 V. While, boost converter-2

is put to increase the DC voltage from 24 V to 36 V feeding Fig. 5 Comparator generated PWM
 Pla Vla
LineA500m V V
LP DP

Vsa
Ila
SP Cp
Vsl 3m 1.5m

V Pm
Vdis 100n RLa
Sun L1 D1
S
PWM/ V
Feedback

Cd
S1 C1
30 T
S5 SPWM 2 Plb Vlb
S3
Ppv Vpv V V
LineB4km
V
Vsb
Ilb
MPPT 3m 1.5m

Vbus
S4 100n RLb
Lead-Acid Battry S6
24V/100AH

PWM/ SPWM 1
Feedback

Fig. 6 Circuit simulation configuration of PV with DC distribution system.

The circuit simulation of PV system using PSIM is shown Boost converter-2 uses a feedback control system (PWM
in Fig. 6. The sun irradiance is set to change from 0 to 400 feedback) to maintain the output voltage at 36 V feeding the
W/m2, 550 W/m2, 700 W/m2, 850 W/m2, and 1000 W/m2 at an street light load voltage (Osram Ledenvo Led 36 V/30 W).
interval of 0.04 s. The Parameter of module PV set at 17.4 V The circuit configuration of PWM feedback in PSIM
and Pmax 300 W is shown in Table 1. simulation is as shown in Fig. 8.
Table 1 PSIM simulation PV module’s parameters setup
Parameters value
Number of Cell (Ns) 432
Maximum Power (Pmax) 300W
Voltage at Pmax 17.5V
Current at Pmax 17.4A Fig. 8 PWM feedback circuit model.
Open-Circuit Voltage (VOC) 21.8V
The full bridge dc converter circuit is installed to increase
Short-Circuit Current (ISC) 19.2A
the DC voltage from 24 V to 340 V. The transformer winding
Temp. Coeff. Of VOC 0.02%/oC ratio used is 4:56. PWM feedback circuit is a circuit that
Temp. Coeff. Of ISC 0.068%/oC produces PWM and controls the full bridge DC converter to
dv/di(slope) at VOC -0.29 V/A generate a constant voltage at 340 V. The model of PWM
Band Energy (Eg) 0.003 eV feedback is shown in Fig. 9.
Ideality Factor 0.048
Shunt Resistance (Rsh) 1000Ω
Coefficient 0.02

The battery used in this PV system is lead acid battery, the

battery model can be seen in Fig. 7. The battery model can be
express in mathematical function f(x) as shown in equation (5)
Q (5)
f ( x ) = E0 − K + A exp ( − B.it )
Q − it

Fig. 9 PWM control feedback circuit model.

Fig. 7 Battery lead-acid equivalent circuit model.
The two inverters used in the simulation circuit in Fig.7
are sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) inverters. The
SPWM circuit model is shown in Fig. 10. The parameter set
of triangular wave (Vtri) is VPP=2 V, frequency 50 kHz and
duty cycle 0.5.
The distribution cable model is an RL series circuit, for
line A is 500 m long so that the value of R = 1.504 Ω and line
B is 4 km long so that the value of R = 12.32 Ω while XL is 0
due to the nature of DC distribution system, as discussed in
part II.
 The output voltage from the solar module Vpv on the PV
system is as shown in Fig. 10. The output voltage is almost the
same as the voltage at maximum power (voltage at Pm).
The voltage on the DC bus (Vbus) is 24.5 V as shown in
Fig. 12. This voltage is slightly higher than the 24 V battery
voltage. This indicates that, the power in this Vbus is supplied
from the solar module, charging the battery and supply the
load.

Fig. 10 Generator SPWM 24.5V

Voltage (V)
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The test results of the solar module are separate from the
system (physical model) for irradiance 400 W/m2, 550 W/m2,
700 W/m2, 850 W/m2, and 1000 W/m2. The maximum power
(Pm) is obtained as in Table 2.
Table 2 Maximum power at solar module test Fig. 12 Voltage at DC bus (Vbus).
2)
No Irradiance (W/m Pm (W) Ppv (W) The output voltage from the boost converter-2 (Vsl) is
1 400 132.32 17.73 maintained at 36 V, the voltage waveform shown in Fig. 13.
2 550 178.36 17.38 This voltage corresponds to the nominal load voltage (Osram
3 700 221.73 17.01 Ledenvo Led street lamp).
4 850 262.63 16.63
5 1000 300.00 16,24
Voltage (V)

36V
The power and output voltage of the solar module by P&O
MPPT algorithm on the PV DC distribution system is shown
in Fig. 11. The maximum power from the solar module based
on sun irradiance ( $ ) and the power that produced by solar
module ( '( ) is shown in Fig. 10a. The $ power is almost the
same as the '( as shown in table 2. The difference between
2 2
$ and '( from 400 W/m to 1000 W/m irradiance
respectively is 0.2 W, 0.6 W, 0.6 W, 0.1 W and 0.1 W. Thus
the MPPT efficiency can be calculated: Fig. 13 Voltage at VSL

'(
The full bridge DC converter is level up the DC input
%&
= 100% = 100% voltage (Vbus) from 24.5 V at receiving end to 339.6 V at the
$ sending end (Vds). The voltage drop in the distribution line A
(132.1 + 177.6 + 220.9 + 261.9 + 299.9 ) W x100% is measured at 0.22 V, hence the voltage at receiving end line
η= A (Vsa) is accounted for 339.4 V. In line B, the voltage drop
(132.3 + 178.2 + 221.5 + 262 + 300 ) W in the is measured at 1.72 V resulting the voltage at receiving
= 99.8% end of line B (Vsb) is at 337.8 V. The Block diagram of solar
PV distribution system is shown if Fig. 3 Voltage waveform
Vds, Vsa and Vsb can be seen in Fig. 14.
Power (W)

Pm
Vdis
Ppv Zoom
Voltage (V)

Vsb
Vsa Vdis=339.6V
Vsa=339.4V
(a)
Vsb=337.8V
17.75V 17.35V 16.93V 16.60V 16.27V
Voltage (V)

Fig. 14 Voltage at Vds, Vsa dan Vsb

Both of the inverter is installed near to the load a (RLa) and
load b (RLb) is used to converts DC voltage into AC voltage.
(b) The output inverter voltage at load a is measured at 220 Vrms.
Fig. 11 (a) Pm with PPV comparison; (b) VPV, PV module output The current measured at load A(Ila) is 0,15 Arms. The
voltage waveform of voltage Vla and current Ila is as shown in Fig. 15.
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