Article

Journal of
Copyright © 2014 American Scientific Publishers
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
All rights reserved Vol. 14, 1–6, 2014
Printed in the United States of America www.aspbs.com/jnn

Improved Photo-Detection Using Zigzag TiO2

Nanostructures as an Active Medium
A. K. Tiwari1 , A. Mondal1
∗ , B. K. Mahajan1 , B. Choudhuri1 , T. Goswami1 ,
M. B. Sarkar1 , S. Chakrabartty1 , C. Ngangbam2 , and S. Saha1
1
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology
Agartala, Jirania, Tripura 799055, India
2
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology
Manipur, Takyelpat, Imphal, Manipur 795001, India

Zigzag TiO2 nanostructures were fabricated using oblique angle deposition technique. The field
emission gun-scanning electron microscope (FEG-SEM) image shows that the TiO2 zigzag nano-
structures were ∼ 500 nm in length. Averagely two times enhanced UV-Vis absorption was recorded
for zigzag structure compared to perpendicular TiO2 nanowires. The main band transition was
observed at ∼ 3.4 eV. The zigzag TiO2 exhibited high turn on voltage (+ 11 V) than that of nanowire
(+ 2 V) detector under dark which were reduced to + 0.2 V and + 1.0 V under white light illu-
mination, respectively. A maximum ∼ 6 fold photo-responsivity was observed for the zigzag TiO2
compared with nanowire device at + 1.0 V applied potential. The maximum photo-responsivity of
0.36 A/W at 370 nm was measured for the zigzag TiO2 detector. The TiO2 zigzag detector showed
slow response with rise time of 10.2 s and fall time of 10.3 s respectively. The UV (370 nm) to visible
(450 nm) wavelength rejection ratio of photo-responsivity was recorded ∼ 4 times for the detector.
Keywords: Zigzag TiO2 Nanostructures, Microscopy, Optical Device Fabrication,
Photodetectors.

1. INTRODUCTION which basically enlarges the photon scattering between

Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) is one of the most investigated
materials in the last decade for its applications in the fields
of optoelectronics,1 photocatalysis,2 biosensors,3 cancer
therapy4 and UV detectors.5 The nanostructures of TiO2 ,
due to its high surface to volume ratio can enhance the effi-
ciency of the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting
devices, sensors as well as the UV detectors by increas-
ing the absorption of light in the active medium compared
to the bulk material. The perpendicular TiO2 nanowires
arrays (NWs) on the substrate are studied for the effi-
cient UV sensors.6 In case of perpendicular NWs arrays
(Fig. 1(a)) some of the incident photons can possibly fall
on the gap between adjacent TiO2 NWs, which causes
a significant photon loss by reflection from the substrate
and may not be favorable for light harvesting.7 The sig-
nificant photon absorption can be obtained by introduc-
ing the dye-nanoparticles (NPs) inside the NWs structure,8
∗
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
two consecutive NWs and therefore the absorption. But the
zigzag TiO2 morphology (Fig. 1(b)) produced high surface
to volume ratio as compared to perpendicular TiO2 NWs
and its wavy structure introduced large scattering of the
incident light and hence effective light absorption.
On the other hand the structural anisotropy of
zigzag TiO2 nanocolumnar structure reveals birefringence
property.9 It is a property of a material, which is respon-
sible for the phenomenon of double refraction. When a
ray gets incident upon a birefringent material, it splits by
polarization into two rays taking slightly different paths.10
Therefore two pairs of carriers may be generated from sin-
gle photon inside such materials, depending on the nature
of polarizations of the photons. Normally, each photon
generates one electron–hole pair, all of which cannot reach
to the electrodes and the external quantum efficiency of the
detector gets limited. The absorption of photons into the
active layer of thin film (TF) technology is restricted due
to its low thickness as well as photon reflection from the
inactive layers of the device. The fabrication of different

J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 2014, Vol. 14, No. xx 1533-4880/2014/14/001/006 doi:10.1166/jnn.2014.9821 1

 Article
Journal of
Copyright © 2015 American Scientific Publishers
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
All rights reserved Vol. 15, 1–5, 2015
Printed in the United States of America www.aspbs.com/jnn

TiO2 Nanowires/Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Based Hybrid

Photodetector: Improved Light Detection
S. Saha1 , A. Mondal2
∗ , B. Choudhuri3 , T. Goswami3 , M. B. Sarkar3 , and K. K. Chattopadhyay4
1
National Institute of Technology Agartala, Department of Electrical Engineering, Jirania, Agartala, Tripura (West) 799046, India
2
National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Department of Physics, Durgapur, West Bengal 713209, India
3
National Institute of Technology Agartala, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering,
Jirania, Agartala, Tripura (West) 799046, India
4
Department of Physics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal 700032, India

Hybrid photodetector with a maximum external quantum efficiency of ∼3.08% in the UV region
at 370 nm, was fabricated by spin-coated poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer onto glanc-
ing angle deposited (GLAD) vertically aligned TiO2 nanowire (NW) arrays. The TiO2 NWs/PMMA
detector shows excellent rectification and constant 1.3 times photo-responsivity in the reverse bias
condition from −1 V to −10 V. The photodiode possesses a low ideality factor of 5.1 as compared
to bared TiO2 NWs device of 7.1. The hybrid device produces sharp turn-on of ∼0.8 s and turn-off
transient of ∼0.9 s respectively.
Keywords: Microscopy, Nanotechnology, Optical Device Fabrication, Photodetectors.

1. INTRODUCTION substrate, the opening between two consecutive NWs pro-

The combinations of inorganic and organic materials to
fabricate the efficient optoelectronic devices are attractive
for last decades due to low production cost, room tem-
perature processing and flexible electronics. The concept
of smart window1 and flat panel display can be made
by combining the organic and inorganic semiconductors.2
The development of such hybrid devices opened up the
new generation low power electronic devices for the
applications in daily life. The organic–inorganic semicon-
ductor heterostructure based diodes were studied.3
4 The
photon energy conversion of the devices can be enhanced
by 1D inorganic nano-structure embedded into electron
donor organic bulk. A series of studies have been made on
the GaAs nanowire (NW)/P3HT,5 InP (NW)/P3HT,6 ZnO
(NW)/P3HT and TiO2 (NW)/P3HT7 based light energy
conversion devices. But a small numbers of research have
been carried out on the combination of TiO2 NWs and
poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) organic. The photo
conversion efficiency was enhanced by using layer of both
P3HT and PMMA on TiO2 nanoporous thin film (TF).7
In case of perpendicular TiO2 NWs fabricated on the
∗
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
duces photon loss. If the surface of NWs is terminated by
using -conjugated polymers, it can substantially improve
the carrier lifetime in nanowire hybrid heterojunctions,
which is applicable for photovoltaics and nanoscale pho-
todetectors. The high band gap organic, surrounding the
inorganic semiconductor, may also act as a guided layer
for electrons through the 1D inorganic to the electrodes.
Therefore, TiO2 NWs coated by high band gap PMMA
trap more photons, which created more electron–hole pairs
having longer lifetime. So, it is required to investigate the
TiO2 NWs/PMMA structure for the application of high
efficiency detectors and solar cells.
Herein, we have disclosed the fabrication of TiO2
NWs/PMMA based ultra violet (UV) Schottky detector.
The enhanced optical absorption has been recorded for
the TiO2 NWs/PMMA structure compared to bared TiO2
NWs. The enhancement in optical absorption in the UV-
visible region has been discussed. Enlarged light detection
and fast realization was investigated for the device.
2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
The TiO2 NWs were fabricated on the 50 nm TiO2 TF
inside the chamber of e-beam evaporator system (15F6,

J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 2015, Vol. 15, No. xx 1533-4880/2015/15/001/005 doi:10.1166/jnn.2015.10788 1

 Impact of Temperature on Performance of Photovoltaic System at NIT Agartala Campus-A Case Study

Impact of Temperature on Performance of Photovoltaic System at NIT

Agartala Campus-A Case Study
Samima Akter, Saptadip Saha and Priyanath Das
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Agartala, Tripura, India
E-mail-samima.akter1989@gmail.com; saptadip.saha@gmail.com; priyanath70@gmail.com

Abstract: Now-a-days, renewable energy is used due to limited sources of fossil fuels. The performance of the
photovoltaic (PV) system is mainly decreased due to shading and temperature variation. The objective of this work is
to study the characteristics of the power-voltage curve (P-V curve), open circuit voltage (VOC) and maximum power
profile (Pmax) with the variation of the temperature of a small PV system at National Institute of Technology Agartala
campus (NITA), India. Simulation is done by using PSCAD/EMTDC. The experimental setup is installed on the
rooftop of G plus 6 block of National Institute of Technology Agartala campus to validate the results of the simulation.
The results reveal that the performance of the system deteriorates with increase in temperature.
Keywords: Power improvement, Solar irradiation, Solar photovoltaic, Temperature effect, Voltage improvement
Electricity

I. INTRODUCTION
Now-a-day, many countries widely promoted renewable energy for generation of power due to rising demand
for electricity along with rising fossil fuel prices. Solar energy is the most important clean energy in the world
among all renewable sources. Solar irradiance can be converted into electricity without using any external
link by using the photovoltaic effect. We can utilise the solar power with minimum cost due to less generation
cost. Photovoltaic (PV) cell is the most basic component of solar panel in a PV system. The performance
characteristic curve of PV system directly varies with global irradiance, ambient temperature and other
environmental conditions. The most important issue is the temperature increment, which causes the significant
reduction in the panel output power, voltage and efficiency, etc. Electricity produced by PV panels in
photovoltaic system is inversely affected by their operating temperature. It is the product of the level of
sunlight and ambient air temperature, which was described by the author in [1-3]. An article on solar panel
cooling techniques was reviewed in [4] and observed that evacuated tube collectors are the best option for
solar cooling. In ref. [5] different types of solar cell’s characteristics are analysed and observed that both the
maximum power point position and current flows through the system are increased due to the radiation intensity
growth of solar.

327 International Journal of Control Theory and Applications

Electron. Mater. Lett., Vol. 10, No. 5 (2014), pp. 975-980
DOI: 10.1007/s13391-014-3325-1

2D Like Photonic Crystal Using In2O3-SiOx Heterostructure Nanocolumn

Arrays and Humidity Sensing

Naorem Khelchand Singh,1 Bijit Choudhuri,2 Aniruddha Mondal,2,* Jay Chandra Dhar,1
Tamal Goswami,2 Saptadip Saha,2 and Chitralekha Ngangbam3

1
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology,
Nagaland, Chumukedima, Dimapur-797103, India
2
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Agartala,
Jirania, Tripura (West) 799055, India
3
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Manipur,
Imphal (West) 795001, India
(received date: 19 November 2013 / accepted date: 14 February 2014 / published date: 10 September 2014)

Abstract: 2D like photonic crystal was fabricated with the help of GLAD synthesized In2O3-SiO heterostructure
x

nanocolumnar arrays. Different dielectric media like air and water were used to demonstrate the optical charac-
teristics and band gap of the crystal. Nearly 33 nm red shift of the band gap was observed for wet sample as com-
pared to dry. Broad band UV-Vis absorption has been observed for the dry In2O3-SiO heterostructure
x

nanocolumnar arrays, which decreases in wet condition. The device shows low current conduction at lower
humidity, which enhances at higher humidity condition due to the absorption of water molecules from the envi-
ronment by the porous surface. The device possesses 5.6 × 10−3 mA/cm2 current at 10%, which increases to 1.4 ×
10−1 mA/cm2 at 99% humidity under applied potential of 2 V. The sample shows the color alteration from black
(dry) to brown (wet) due to changes in its effective refractive index.
Keywords: GLAD, photonic crystal, heterostructure, FEG-SEM, TEM, humidity sensor

1. INTRODUCTION Therefore, the 2D photonic crystal has advantages in

The research on optical devices has been inspired by the
existing structures of the lives in nature like butterfly wings,
beetle cuticles, fish, and peacock feathers. The different
colors in a single body of insects were described with the
physical phenomenon of light.[1] The changes in color of
biological species under different environmental conditions
have further extended the idea of making electronic sensors
for a wide range of applications.[2] The basic structures of the
insect’s body surface, which able to show the color changes
can be fabricated by using the modern nanotechnology.[3]
The artificial structure of the exo-skeleton of the Hercules
beetle that acts as three dimensional (3D) photonic crystals
(PC) was fabricated by Kim et al.,[4] which show the color
changes under dry and wet conditions. The two dimensional
(2D) photonic band gap crystals consist of periodic dielectric
arrays. The nanosized holes in the layer between two dielectric
columns can be occupied with mediums of different refractive
indices. Depending on the effective refractive index of the
system, the variation in the visible colors can be obtained.
*Corresponding author: aniruddhamo@gmail.com
©KIM and Springer
developing the sensor, which can change the color that can
be visualized to human eye by simply altering the refractive
medium into the nanoholes. The symmetric periodic arrays
of dielectric columns can be considered as an ideal 2D PC.
However, the challenge of fabricating the structures is that
the lattice constant of the photonic crystal must be comparable
to the wavelength of light. To meet the requirements, it needs
state-of-art nanolithography techniques, such as electron-
beam lithography and x-ray lithography. The techniques are
not viable for batch production and therefore costlier. To
overcome the limitation of 2D PC fabrication, the nanoparticles
assisted optical lithography techniques have been used to
serve the purposes.[5] The oblique angle deposition (OAD)[6]
and glancing angle depositions (GLAD) techniques have
been employed to fabricate the 1D photonic crystal using
period arrangements of different dielectrics in one direction.
But there is no report on the fabrication of 2D like PC with
the help of GLAD technique using In2O3-SiOx dielectric
heterostructure nanocolumnar arrays.
In this paper, we use the In2O3-SiOx heterostructure nano-
columns to fabricate 2D PC, with nearly periodic arrays of
the columns. The different dielectric media (air and water)
were used into the nanoholes to demonstrate the optical
characteristics and the changes in the band gap of the crystal.
 Fabrication of hybrid ultraviolet photodetector using
organic polymer thin-film-coated TiO2 nanowires

Saptadip Saha,* Priyanath Das, Ajoy Kumar Chakraborty,

Sharmistha Sarkar, and Ruchira Debbarma
National Institute of Technology Agartala, Department of Electrical Engineering,
Jirania, Agartala, West Tripura 799046, India

Abstract. Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) thin film (TF) was employed on TiO2 nanowires
(NWs) to fabricate organic–inorganic hybrid UV photodetector (PD), and its properties were
studied and compared with bare TiO2 NW-based PD. A maximum photoresponsivity of
20 × 10−3 A∕W and a maximum external quantum efficiency of ∼3.15% were observed in
the UV region at 370 nm (∼3.35 eV). Enhanced photon absorption was observed in the hybrid
detector. The TF of PMMA, which is a π-conjugated polymer, increased the carrier lifetime and
reduced recombination rate. The PMMA TF∶TiO2 NWs hybrid UV detector shows excellent
rectification, and light current/dark current ratio was measured to be ∼1.46 times in comparison
to bare TiO2 NWs photodetector in the reverse bias condition from −1 to −10 V. © 2016 Society
of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) [DOI: 10.1117/1.JNP.10.026011]
Keywords: photodetector; organic; hybrid; nanotechnology; ultraviolet; thin film.
Paper 15189 received Dec. 10, 2015; accepted for publication Apr. 11, 2016; published online
May 2, 2016.

1 Introduction
In recent days, UV photodetectors (PDs) are largely used in space applications,1 military ser-
vices, biotechnology,2 water purification,3 ozone layer measurement,4 and industrial applica-
tions. The nanostructured UV PDs have shown a satisfactory improvement in performance
in comparison with traditional UV photodetectors.5 Also, the concept of organic–inorganic
hybrid structured devices is gaining much popularity and attractiveness due to low cost, avail-
ability, flexibility, and eco-friendliness.6 These hybrid devices have created a promising field for
low-power electronic device technology. In present days, organic materials are widely used for
fabricating flexible organic light-emitting diodes,7 organic PDs,8 organic solar-blind PDs,9 con-
ducting polymer laser,10 organic thin-film (TF) transistor,11 tunable photonic crystal,12 tunable
laser,13 and photonic liquid crystal.14 The combination of nanostructured inorganic semiconduc-
tor with organic materials has increased the photoenergy conversion and quantum efficiency,
enhancing the overall device performance. A good amount of research work has been carried
out on organic materials and inorganic semiconductor-based hybrid structures like InP nano-
wires (NWs):P3HT,15 TiO2 TF:poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA),16 and InGaP TF:
PMMA,17 for fabricating photodetectors and solar cells. But a very few research works have
been carried out on TiO2 NWs:PMMA TF-based hybrid UV detector.
When TiO2 NWs are fabricated on Si substrate, the gap between the NWs incurs photon loss.
But when a TF of π-conjugated polymer like PMMA is coated on TiO2 NW arrays, the absorp-
tion of photons is enhanced, increasing the carrier lifetime and reducing the recombination rate.
Moreover, the organic material with high bandgap like PMMA, surrounding the semiconductor
(TiO2 ), acts like a guided path for electrons to reach the junction through the electrodes. The
PMMA layer acts as a buffer layer in the device.18 Therefore, TiO2 NWs coated with PMMA TF
trap more photons, improving the number of electron hole pairs and their mobility and lifetime.
Other authors also reported about the enhancement of carrier lifetime and mobility due to

*Address all correspondence to: Saptadip Saha, E-mail: saptadip.saha@gmail.com

1934-2608/2016/$25.00 © 2016 SPIE

Journal of Nanophotonics 026011-1 Apr–Jun 2016 • Vol. 10(2)

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH
P.Das et al., Vol.6, No.2, 2016

Fabrication of DSSC with NanoporousTiO2Film and

Kenaf Hibiscus Dye as Sensitizer
SaptadipSaha*‡, Priyanath Das*, Ajoy Kumar Chakraborty*, Sharmistha Sarkar*, RuchiraDebbarma*
*
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Agartala, Jirania, Tripura (West) 799046, India
(saptadip.saha@gmail.com, priyanath70@gmail.com, akcall58@gmail.com,sharmisthabsl@gmail.com, ruchira.debbarma85@gmail.com)
‡
Corresponding Author; SaptadipSaha, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Electrical engineering, National Institute of Technology
Agartala, Jirania, Tripura (West) 799046, India
Tel: +91 9774742327, saptadip.saha@gmail.com

Received: 16.02.2016 Accepted:11.05.2016

Abstract- Here, we have demonstrated the fabrication of a DSSC with much higher efficiency in comparison to others in its
category using nanoporous Titanium Dioxide(TiO 2 )film as active material. The dye which acted as photo sensitizer, was extracted
from Kenaf Hibiscus (Hibiscus Cannabinus)flowerby the indirect hydronic heating method. To the best of our knowledge, dye
extracted from kenaf hibiscus has not been used as photosensitizer for DSSC application till date. The TiO 2 film was fabricated on
Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass and was annealed for 20 mins at 400˚C to remove the lattice defects by recrystallization.
Further it was absorbed in dyeand the dye absorbed TiO 2 film acted as photo anode. Another ITO coated glass was coated with
platinum solution to minimize the resistive loss and better collection of electrons. This served as counter electrode (cathode). The
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used to analyze the morphology of the device which confirmed the presence of TiO 2
nanoparticles (NPs). High Resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HRXRD) study revealed the crystalline structure of TiO 2 film. The
optical absorption study confirmed the working of the solar cell in ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) region. The light intensity vs
voltage and current, current vs voltage studies were used to calculate different parameters, efficiency and overall performance of
the cell.Anoptimal blend of acetonitrile (solvent) (50-100%), 1,3-dimethylimidazolium iodide (10-25%), iodine (2.5-10%) and
lithium iodide, pyridine derivative and thiocyanate was used as electrolytes in the DSSC. The DSSC showed a maximum
conversion efficiency of 2.87 %.

Keywords: DSSC, TiO 2 , Kenaf Hibiscus, electrolyte, nanoporous.

1. Introduction biodegradability, short production time and mostly they can

Fossil fuels are getting exhausted day by day very rapidly.
Due to this, the alternative energy sources are gaining much
popularity. Solar energy serves the huge contribution in the
field of renewable and alternative energy resources. Presently,
extensive research works are going on worldwide to make
efficient solar cells, including inorganic and organic types. The
organic material based solar cells find much popularity due to
their low cost, flexibility and eco-friendliness. Depending on
the materials, structures and fabrication techniques, three
generations of solar cells have been evaluated till date[1]. Dye
sensitized solar cells(DSSC) are classified as third generation
solar cells, that converts the light energy to electricity, based
on the sensitization of wide band gap semi-conductors[2].
They are gaing much interest due totheir low cost, flexibility,
produce electricity even in low light. But the main problem
with DSSC is that it shows very less efficiency [3, 4]. Ever
since, O’Regan and Grätzel invented the first DSSC in 1991 in
the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces in Ecole
Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland by the
successful combination of nanostructured electrodes and
efficient charge injection dyes[5]. The performance of the cell
mainly depends on the photosensitizer. The absorption
spectrum of the dye and the anchorage of the dye to the surface
of TiO 2 play an important role for determining the efficiency
of the cell[6]. The DSSC primarily comprised of
photoelectrode, redox electrolyte and counter
electrode[7].Other materials include transparent conducting
oxide and sealing agents. DSSC components have gone under
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH
S. Saha et al., Vol.6, No.2, 2016

Improvement inPower Efficiency of Photovoltaic

ArrayUnder Shading Condition Using Bypass Diode
SaptadipSaha*‡,SamimaAkter*,Kailash Kumar Mahto*,Priyanath Das*, Ajoy Kumar Chakraborty*,Gaurav
Kumar Awasthi*
*
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Agartala, Jirania, Tripura (West) 799046, India
(saptadip.saha@gmail.com, samima.akter1989@gmail.com, kailash8317@gmail.com, priyanath70@gmail.com, akcall58@gmail.com,
gaurav.awasthi65@gmail.com )

‡
Corresponding Author; SaptadipSaha, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Electrical engineering, National Institute of Technology
Agartala, Jirania, Tripura (West) 799046, India
Tel: +91 9774742327, saptadip.saha@gmail.com

Received: 22.01.2016 Accepted:02.04.2016

Abstract- In this paper, we have studied and analyzed the shading effect on solar photo voltaic (SPV) modules connected in series
using four 75 WSPV modules for three different shading conditions: (1) one module is fully shaded, (2) two modules are fully
shaded and (3) three modules are fully shaded. The performance of the modules which decreased due to shading effectare
improved in each case using bypass diodes connected in parallel with each of the modules. This analysis is done by using the
simulation model in PSCAD and an outdoor experiment is also performed to validate the simulation results for the same
configurations. An improvement in open circuit voltage (V oc ), short circuit current (I sc ), maximum power (P max ) and power
efficiency are observed when bypass diodes are used.During an outdoor experiment when one panel is shaded the power
efficiencies are17.96 % and 12.79 % with and without bypass diodes respectively. In case of two modules are shaded these values
are 14.50 % and 9.63 % respectively. When three modules are shaded the power efficiency is 3.59 % in case of without bypass
diode, which is increased to 6.87% with bypass diodes.

Keywords: Solar photovoltaic,irradiation, bypass diode, simulation, efficiency, PSCAD.

1. Introduction faults which reduce performance of the PV system. Two major

The conventional energy resources, which are limited in
quantity, are getting exhausted due to extensive use.This
alsoenhances the rate of change inclimate rapidly. Today the
world is looking for alternative energy resources. Renewable
energy is the remedy to this situation. The solar photovoltaic
(SPV) system is playing the key role in the renewable energy
sector [2] [3].Since solar energy is available to the most part of
the globe, it’s suitable for the distributed energy system in
which we can generate and employ the electric power with
minimum transmission and distribution losses.Apart from this,
a PV system can instantly convert the solar energy to electric
energy without having any intermediate energy
conversions.But PV system also suffers from different types of
types of faults are incorporated in PV systems- Non
recoverable faults and recoverable faults [7]. Non recoverable
faults take placedue to micro-cracks, PV degradation and
breaking of solar panels. In this type of faults, the PV cells or
modules need to be replaced. Recoverable faults arecaused by
dust or any type of shading due to cloud or tree [8].
Theincrease in temperature of PV panels also reduces the
efficiency of the system. Another type of fault associated with
PV system is ground fault. A ground fault is the condition
where the current flowing through the grounding conductor.
The cause of this fault is a short circuit between a current-
carrying conductor in the PV system and the equipment
grounding conductor. These faults degrade the performance of
the SPV connected in an array and also reduces the overall
APPLIED PHYSICS VOLUME: 14 | NUMBER: 3 | 2016 | SEPTEMBER

Hybrid Solar Cell with TiO2 Film: BBOT Polymer

and Copper Phthalocyanine as Sensitizer

Saptadip SAHA, Priyanath DAS, Ajay Kumar CHAKRABORTY,

Ruchira DEBBARMA, Sharmistha SARKAR

Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Agartala,

Jirania, West Tripura 799046, India

saptadip.saha@gmail.com, priyanath70@gmail.com, akcall58@gmail.com,

ruchira.debbarma85@gmail.com, sharmisthabsl@gmail.com

DOI: 10.15598/aeee.v14i3.1692

Abstract. An organic-inorganic hybrid solar cell was
fabricated using Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ): 2,5-bis(5-
tert-butyl-2-benzoxazolyl) thiophene (BBOT) film and
Copper Phthalocyanine (CuPc) as a sensitizer. BBOT
was used in photodetector in other reported research
works, but as per best of our knowledge, it was not im-
plemented in solar cells till date. The blend of TiO2 :
BBOT blend was used to fabricate the film on ITO-
coated glass and further a thin layer of CuPc was
coated on the film. This was acted as photoanode
and another ITO coated glass with a platinum coating
was used as a counter electrode (cathode). An opti-
mal blend of acetonitrile (solvent) (50–100 %), 1,3-
dimethylimidazolium iodide (10–25 %), iodine (2.5–
10 %) and lithium iodide, pyridine derivative and thio-
cyanate was used as electrolytes in the hybrid solar cell.
The different structural, optical and electrical charac-
teristics were measured. The Hybrid solar cell showed
a maximum conversion efficiency of 6.51 %.
Keywords
BBOT, CuPc, electrolyte, organic, solar cell.
1. Introduction
Earth contains a finite amount of fossil fuels and con-
tinuous use of these fossil fuels in huge amount is result-
ing in the depletion and high cost of these resources.
Fossil fuels are a non-renewable source of energy, which
means that these resources once depleted cannot be re-
plenished at a sufficient rate for sustainable economic
extraction in meaningful human time-frames. In con-
trast, the many types of renewable energy resources,
such as the wind and solar energy, are constantly re-
plenished.
Solar energy in the direct or indirect form, is the
source of most of the renewable energy, which can be
used for heating homes, generating electricity and a
variety of commercial and industrial uses. Therefore,
to shift the dependency for energy from non-renewable
to renewable resources, renewable energy has become
an important topic for research [14]. Out of all the
renewable energy sources, solar energy has the most
advantages because it cuts down the need for a distri-
bution network since it is possible to place the supply at
or near the consumption area [11]. Photovoltaic effect
was first observed by Becquerel [15]. The conventional
solar cell or first generation based solar cell is made of
crystalline silicon. With further research and modifica-
tion of the first generation solar cell, the thin film solar
cell came into picture. This was based on thin films
of silicon and other materials which reduced the costs,
normally associated with conventional semiconductor
wafer production. Presently, the third generation solar
is still a newly emerging field of research which is based
on solar cell made of organic materials. This organic
based solar cell has the advantage over the previous
generation solar cell as far as the cost of materials and
manufacturing is concerned [1] and [2]. The downside
of the organic solar cell is the low efficiency. To over-
come the major disadvantages of the pure organic so-
lar cell, many significant changes have been made in
the device structure, and also a new choice of materi-
als consisting of both organic and inorganic materials
was incorporated in the device. A solar cell based on
organic and inorganic known as Hybrid solar cell has
attracted attention due to its potential of reaching an
efficiency of about 10 % [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] and [7].

c 2016 ADVANCES IN ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING 345

Journal of Engg. Research Vol. 6 No. (4) December 2018 pp. 1 - 24

Power improvement in PV panel under temperature

variation fault using refrigeration mechanism and its
implementation
Samima Akter, Saptadip Saha and Priyanath Das

Dept. of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Agartala, India

Email: samima.akter1989@gmail.com, Corresponding Author

ABSTRACT
The output power characteristics of solar photovoltaic (PV) system are governed by irradiance (G) and temperature
(T) of ambient environment. As per standard testing conditions (STC) when the PV panel temperature is 25˚C, the
PV system delivers the maximum power. With the rise of each ˚C in temperature, the efficiency of output power
is dropped by approx. 1%. This paper proposes the analysis of the effect of fault due to temperature variation on
PV system and also suggests a practical technique about the cooling of PV panels to increase the output power.
A model was designed in Electromagnetic Transient Design and Control/Power Systems Computer Aided Design
(EMTDC/PSCAD) considering the scenario where there is a change in temperature and accordingly the performance
was analysed. The simulated model was then examined with the practical setup. Among two panels, the first panel is
considered (without cooling) as a reference for comparison and the second panel is considered with cooling to study
the enhancement in the performance of the PV panel. The temperature of the PV panel is controlled by water coolant
using water soaked jute bag on the back side of the panel. The variation of the power–voltage (P-V) curve, current-
voltage (I-V) curve, open circuit voltage profile, short circuit current, maximum power and percentage of power
profile due to the effect of fault during temperature variation on PV panel without refrigeration mechanism, and the
improvement in power due to cooling have been studied using both simulation and experiment for five sets of data.
The experimental setup is installed on the rooftop of G+6 block of the National Institute of Technology Agartala for
the validation of the proposed scheme.
Keywords: Fault analysis, photovoltaic panel, temperature variation, PSCAD, cooling, solar irradiance.

INTRODUCTION
In modern days, renewable energy is extensively promoted by many countries for generation of power. Solar
energy plays a major role among all the renewable sources, as it is more realistic and reliable. Since the output
characteristics of PV system are dependent of certain environmental parameters, analysis of performance and stability
is a great concern. In the solar PV system, solar energy can be directly converted to electrical energy without any
mechanical and thermal link. This electric power, generated from solar systems, can be utilized with less transmission
and distribution losses. Photovoltaic (PV) cell is one of the most basic components in PV panel. The performance
characteristic curve of PV system directly varies with environmental conditions such as solar irradiance, panel
temperature, and spectrum. PV cell converts 15% solar radiation into electrical energy with the rest being transferred
into heat energy (Tian et al., 2013; Maghami et al., 2016; Francis et al., 2016; Hasan et al.,2016). Electricity produced
by the solar panel is a product of the level of sunlight and ambient air temperature (Teo et al., 2012; Makrides et al.,
2012; Hill et al.). The performance of PV system decreases with the increase in solar panel temperature due to various
losses in the individual PV cell (Khan et al., 2016). To mitigate this problem and to enhance system performance
various cooling methodologies were considered by several researchers. Cooling and heating performances of the solar
panel were analysed in detail in a small-scale experimental system and the effects of air gap and coatings were also
studied by Yong et al. (2015). Davidson et al. (2014) presented solar heating and cooling techniques that reflect the
ridiculous history of the relationship between heating and cooling.
© 2022 JETIR November 2022, Volume 9, Issue 11 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162)

DESIGN OF A 13-STAGE MODIFIED H-

BRIDGE HYBRID MULTILEVEL SOLAR
INVERTER
1
Dalia Debbarma, 2 Shivaji Debbatma, 3 Jeetu Debbarma, 4 Dr. Saptadip Saha
1
Assistant Professor, 2Assistant Professor, 3Assistant Professor, 4System Officer
1
Dept. of Electrical Engineering,
1
Tripura Institute of Technology, Narsingharh, Agartala- 799009, West Tripura, India
2
Dept. of Electrical Engineering,
2
Tripura Institute of Technology, Narsingharh, Agartala- 799009, West Tripura, India
3
Dept. of Electronics and Communication Engineering,
3
Tripura Institute of Technology, Narsingharh, Agartala- 799009, West Tripura, India
4
Computer Section,
4
High Court of Tripura, New Capital Complex, Agartala- 799010, West Tripura, India

Abstract : A 13-stage modified H-bridge solar inverter was designed with less numbers of solar photovoltaic modules, switches
and diodes. A multilevel inverter is a device which converts DC to AC with more sinusoidal output. The proposed model is
efficient in terms of output, redundancy and also costing. This inverter is capable to generate AC current directly from the solar
photovoltaic modules. The proposed model used only 3 solar modules, 8 IGBTs, 8 clamping diodes and 3 DC bus capacitors.
PWM signals were used to trigger the Gates of IGBTs. The THD in voltage and current wave has been administered at a
significant low value and as reported by is nearly 2.68% and 2.58% respectively which is quite impressive.

Index Terms - Multilevel inverter, Solar photovoltaic, H-bridge, THD.

1. INTRODUCTION

With the increasing demand of the power, when the traditional resources are being exhausted rapidly, renewable power sources
are getting attention more wisely. Due to the features of green and clean energy, solar photovoltaics are preferred most over others.
A multilevel inverter (MLI) is an electronic control system, capable of supplying desired alternating voltage at the output using
several lower level DC voltages as an input [1-4]. To utilize the solar power in terms of on and off grid conditions the MLIs play a
major role. [5-8]. The MLIs are used in various practical high power [9-10], high voltage [11] and low current applications [12]
because of a huge number of benefits starting from generating almost a pure sinusoidal output to reduced THD[13-14]. On another
hand, they use a greater number of IGBTs and sources, more switches, and hence more connection and switching losses are
encountered. This increases the size of the circuit and also hits the economic stability [15]. A traditional 13 level cascaded H-bridge
MLI would use 24 IGBTs, 6 solar photovoltaic modules and 24 gate triggering pulses are required [16]. This increases the circuit
redundancy and also the energy loss and space for installation are higher. In the proposed model, we have successfully attained the
13-level output with a lesser loss and distortion than encountered in the orthodox circuit. The new topology uses 8 IGBTs & 3 solar
photovoltaic modules thus making it more economic, compact, faster and efficient.
2. MULTILEVEL INVERTER: DEMARCATION
The waveform for the three, five and seven level inverters is shown in the figures below (Fig.1) where we clearly see that as the
levels are increasing, waveform becoming smoother. The Multilevel inverters can be exhaustively stemmed down to these types
[17]. Amongst all the types that are listed here, our proposed model roughly falls under the Hybrid MLI demarcation of Modified
H-Bridge bifurcation [18-21].

JETIR2211223 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org c239
 International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
A New Algorithm Based Charge Controller for
Global MPPT of Si Solar Cell
Sajal Debbarma, Shivaji Debbarma, Saptadip Saha
 obtainable power from the module. Although there are
Abstract: This work illustrates the development of a new hybrid
MPPT algorithm and the construction of an efficient charge
controller based on this algorithm. The existing perturb & observe
(P&O) methodology and incremental conductance (IC) method
are unable to trace the global maximum power point (GMPP)
once there's a frequent modification in solar irradiance. These
algorithms stick to local maxima in such scenario so the
controller efficiency drops. Here a new hybrid MPPT algorithm
was designed to track the GMPP efficiently, which involves the
concept of Savitzky Golay digital filter technique. This filter is
employed to swish a collection of digital information points that
additional will increase the S/N of the signal while not greatly
distorting it. The substitute sub-sets of niggardly observations fact
are passable about a low-degree polynomial by the come nigh of
neat least squares by means of convolution. This algorithm first
smoothens the output of photovoltaic using the described
technique and removes the local maxima and then further applies
the P&O method to find out the GMPP. The circuit was simulated
using Proteus and later on, an experimental setup was built using
Arduino UNO (ATMEGA328P) to run the algorithm in real-time
environment. The controller successfully tracked the GMPP
voltages for variable irradiance both in simulation and real-time
environment.
Index Terms: maximum power point trackers, Photovoltaic
systems, perturbation methods, solar panels, microcontrollers.
I. INTRODUCTION
Out of different types of solar cells, Si solar cells are most
widely used in the world due to their stability and higher
efficiency reported till date. In general, the output power of a
solar cell is far less as compared to its price, and secondly,
the power is varying at every instant due to constantly
changing solar irradiance and temperature [1-2]. Due to the
nonlinearity of a solar cell, when the irradiance (G) changes
the maximum power point (MPP) also changes. By chasing
the maximum point of the operating PV cells at an explicit
instant by implementing varied maximum power point
tracking (MPPT) algorithms [3-8], we will increase the
potency of the PV system by extracting the utmost
Revised Manuscript Received on 30 July 2019.
* Correspondence Author
Sajal Debbarma*, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tripura
Institute of Technology, Narsingarh, Agartala-799009, West Tripura, India.
Shivaji Debbarma, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tripura
Institute of Technology, Narsingarh, Agartala-799009, West Tripura, India.
Saptadip Saha, Department of Electrical Engineering, National
Institute of Technology Agartala, Jirania, Agartala-799046, West Tripura,
India.
© The Authors. Published by Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and
Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the
CC-BY-NC-ND license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Retrieval Number: B3021078219/19©BEIESP
DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.B3021.078219
Journal Website: www.ijrte.org
2631
ISSN: 2277-3878 (Online), Volume-8 Issue-2, July 2019
several MPPT algorithms, such as P&O method [9-12], IC
method [13-15], voltage based peak power tracking method
[16], current based peak power tracking method [17] and
many more, they have some short comes too. Out of them,
perturb & observe technique is generally adopted as a result
of, despite oscillation round the most electric receptacle, it's
one in all the foremost economical MPPT algorithms
because it will even increase the system potency up to 97%
[18-21]. However, in practical cases, for partial shading
condition the output power-voltage (P-V) curve of a PV
array contain a huge number of ripples and complex multiple
peaks which are known as local maxima, thus reducing the
efficiency and stability of the system. Apart from the
conventional MPPT techniques new methods for global
maximum power point (GMPP) tracking were reported like
hybrid MPPT methods using an augmented state feedback
precise linearization (AFL) controller combined with an
artificial neuron network (ANN) [22], Radial Movement
Optimization (RMO) [23] and so on. To extract the utmost
power, GMPP must be tracked with quick and reliable
technique. The conventional MPPT algorithms like perturb
and observe (P&O) and incremental conductance methods
are inadequate to trace the GMPP because of the presence of
native maxima. This work proposed the development of a
fast, reliable and efficient technique based on Savitzky
Golay filter [24]. The filter is widely used for digital signal
smoothing. But this is the first time the filter is implemented
along with the existing P&O method to build a unique hybrid
algorithm in the proposed work to track the GMPP of Si
solar cell very efficiently. The algorithm was implemented in
association with the microcontroller-based programmable
MPPT charge controller. Apart from tracking the GMPP, the
controller also efficiently converts photovoltaic energy to
electrical energy in the form of DC and charges a 12-volt
battery.
II. PERTURB AND OBSERVE METHOD
In this method arrangement for measuring parameters and
feedback system are made. The maximum output voltage that
can be delivered by solar cells is open-circuit voltage (Voc). In
this process, the module voltage is periodically perturbed and
corresponding power is measured. The change in power (ΔP)
is calculated concerning change in the voltage (ΔV) at every
instant [9]. Theoretically, this value is zero at MPP. The value
of ΔP/ ΔV is positive on the right side and negative on the left
side the slope of the MPP in
the P-V graph.
Published By:
Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
& Sciences Publication
 International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
Design of a Solar Mpp Tracker with Modified
Perturb and Observe Method using Arduino
Shivaji Debbarma, Sajal Debbarma, Saptadip Saha
 power converter which often includes an MPPT system. Solar
Abstract: Design of a fast, improved and reliable solar
Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) is described in this work.
The working algorithm was motivated from the existing Perturb
and Observe method for tracking MPP of Solar Photovoltaic
(SPV). The tracker was developed using an Arduino Uno
development kit which is run by ATMega 328P microcontroller
and clocked at 16MHz. Due to high frequency operation the
model was fast and accurate and consumes very low power and
can be driven by 5V only. Proteus 8.3 simulator was used and
further a hardware model was designed in order to realize the
operation. MPP was tracked very quickly and accurately in
accordance with the change in solar irradiance. The tracker
offered an efficiency of ranging from 96.40% -99.25% at different
irradiance level.
Index Terms: MPPT, Perturb & Observe, Solar Photovoltaic,
PWM microcontrollers, Algorithm.
I. INTRODUCTION
Among the two types of energy sources-conventional and
non-conventional, renewable sources are gaining popularity
now-a-days. The increasing pollution level and depleting
levels of conventional energy sources have created a demand
for clean sustainable source of energy. As a result, the shift
towards renewable energy sources such as solar, hydro and
wind are increasing day by day. Among them, solar energy
has gathered a lot of attention. Its huge abundance and cleaner
nature have motivated scientists, engineers and govt. agencies
to invest in it. Although, currently commercially available
solar cells are only able to harvest in between 10% - 27% of
incoming solar radiation [1-6]. Thus, it is very crucial to
operate the PV panels at optimum level and extract maximum
power. The output of a PV panel tends to fluctuate with
varying atmospheric temperature and incoming solar
radiation [7-13]. Thus, in order to obtain a continuous flow of
maximum power at output at any conditions, a MPPT
technique is used [14-16].
A solar PV system contains an array PV module and a
Revised Manuscript Received on 30 July 2019.
* Correspondence Author
Sajal Debbarma, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tripura
Institute of Technology, Narsingarh, Agartala-799009, West Tripura, India.
Shivaji Debbarma, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tripura Institute
of Technology, Narsingarh, Agartala-799009, West Tripura, India.
Saptadip Saha, Department of Electrical Engineering, National
Institute of Technology Agartala, Jirania, Agartala-799046, West Tripura,
India.
© The Authors. Published by Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and
Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the
CC-BY-NC-ND license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Retrieval Number: B3205078219/19©BEIESP
DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.B3205.078219
Journal Website: www.ijrte.org
4031
ISSN: 2277-3878 (Online), Volume-8 Issue-2, July 2019
charge controllers follow an MPPT algorithm to extract the
maximum possible power generated from a PV array. There
are numerous MPPT algorithms such as Perturb and Observe
(P&O) [17-18], Incremental Conductance method (IC)
[19-20], but each has its own advantages and disadvantages
[21-22]. Among the various MPPT techniques, P&O and IC
are widely used techniques as they are easy to implement and
have high efficiency. However, they suffer from the drawback
of drifting away from the maximum power point due to
changes in incoming solar radiation and their tracking speed is
slow. Implementation of other techniques is relatively
complex and costlier [23-26].
In this paper, a controller for PV panels is designed with
improved MPPT tracking algorithm based on P&O technique.
The new algorithm tracks the MPP quickly and with high
efficiency. Here, the P-V curve is utilized for finding the
MPP. Change in PV panel voltage and current is obtained due
to the change in duty cycle of the DC-DC buck converter. As a
result, PV panel’s output power changes. This change in
output power (ΔP) and voltage (ΔV) is used to calculate the
slope (ΔP/ΔV) at a fixed point of the P-V graph. Based upon
this slope, the next duty cycle is adjusted. This process
continues until the slope (ΔP/ΔV) becomes zero or reaches a
near about value. The tracking direction changes according to
which side the point of slope resides, in accordance with the
MPP. The algorithm tracks constantly any change in
irradiance and repeats the calculation quickly. Due to its
precise nature, the algorithm reaches the maximum power
point with high accuracy. The algorithm uses less iteration
steps and a finely tuned step size to reach the MPP. To
perform the calculation within a fraction of a second, the
Arduino UNO microcontroller board with ATMega 328P
processor is used. It has an on-board clock frequency of
16MHz which results in high processing speed. It also
consumes very small amount of power, which can be provided
by a 5V battery.
II. RELATION BETWEEN SOLAR INSOLATION
AND PV OPERTION
An ideal solar cell can be considered as an ideal current
source where an ideal diode is connected in parallel. As no
solar cell is ideal in nature, hence, to make it more realistic, a
non-ideal solar cell additionally connects a shunt resistance
and a series resistance.
Published By:
Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
& Sciences Publication
 International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
ISSN: 2277-3878 (Online), Volume-8 Issue-4, November 2019

Design of A Solar MPP Charge Controller

using Mamdani FIS with Generalized
Bell-Shaped Membership Function
Kailash Kumar Mahto, Saptadip Saha, Priyanath Das

Abstract: This research work proposes an innovative control

technique for monitoring the maximum power point of the
standalone photovoltaic system fast and precisely at variable solar
cell temperature and insolation. In this work, the method uses a
Mamdani FIS based fuzzy logic controller which uses bell shaped
membership function to track MPPT of the off grid solar module.
A sampling process is used to measure the PV array power and
voltage that decides an optimal increment of sample which is
required to get the optimal operating voltage that permits
maximum power tracking. This method provides high accuracy
and reliable result around the optimum point. This proposed
controller has shown a better performance compare to existing
methods with a power conversion efficiency of ~100%. Different
steps of designed controller with the proposed method has been
shown along with its simulation.
Index Terms: Photovoltaic, fuzzy, Mamdani, bell shaped
function, MPPT, FIS.
Fig. 1. Mamdani fuzzy interface system
I. INTRODUCTION
A symmetrical structure similar to a bell is the generalized
Mamdani fuzzy inference system (FIS) was first developed as
bell-shaped membership function (Gbellmf). This function
a tool for constructing a control technique by simulating a
uses three parameters as expressed by a specifies the bell's
collection of language command rules [1]. Because Mamdani
length as curve, b is a positive integer, while c sets the center
systems are more intuitive and easier to understand, they are
of the curve in the discourse universe (Fig. 2).
ideal for the intelligent systems where the rules are generated.
Each rule produces a fuzzy set derived from the function of
membership of the output and the FIS system of inference.
Using the FIS aggregation process the fuzzy sets are
aggregated to make a single fuzzy array. The combined output
fuzzy array is then de-fuzzified using one of the methods
described in the Defuzzification Methods to determine a final
crisp output value. A typical Mamdani fuzzy interface system
is described by Fig.1. The main advantages of Mamdani FIS
are intuitive, well-suited to human input, more interpretable
rule base, have widespread acceptance.

Manuscript published on November 30, 2019.

* Correspondence Author
Kailash Kumar Mahto*, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Fig. 2. Bell shaped membership function
and Electronics Engineering, Gaya College of Engineering, Sri Krishna A bell shaped function can be defined as,
Nagar, P.O Nagari Yana, Via Buniyadganij, Pin - 823003, Gaya, Bihar,  
India  
1
bell  x, a, b, c    
Saptadip Saha, Ex. Asst. Professor, Department of Electrical
Engineering, National Institute of Technology Agartala, Jirania,  xc 
2b
Agartala-799046, West Tripura, India.  1 
Priyanath Das, Department of Electrical Engineering, National  a 
Institute of Technology Agartala, Jirania, Agartala-799046, West Tripura,
India.

© The Authors. Published by Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and

Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the
CC-BY-NC-ND license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Retrieval Number: D9011118419/2019©BEIESP Published By:

DOI:10.35940/ijrte.D9011.118419 Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
Journal Website: www.ijrte.org 8343 & Sciences Publication
 International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)
Grid Connected PV Modules in Distributed
Generation System during Irradiance and
Temperature Variation
Dalia Debbarma, Jeetu Debbarma, Saptadip Saha
 As a nonconventional energy resource solar photo voltaic
Abstract: Now a days, photovoltaic (PV) system finds extreme
interest as alternative source of energy and they are integrated
with grids forming distributed generation (DG) systems. But, the
output of PV system is dependent of irradiance and temperature.
As these parameters changes location to location in a very
unpredictable way due to weather and shading and also for some
other reasons, it effects the overall performance of DG system.
Here such three PV systems of each 255 KW was considered to be
located in different locations. These PV systems feed power to the
grid and acts like a DG system. But what if the insolation and
temperature change in random behavior in these different
locations and what will be their impact on the total system. The
model was designed in PSCAD and the possible scenarios are
considered and also the effect of it is analyzed. The comparison
study is done with normal condition and varying condition. The
study reveals the effect on PV, inverter and transformer output.
The stability of overall system is affected and also harmonics are
injected and also the differences in phase and amplitude are
observed which degrades the system performance.
Index Terms: Solar photovoltaic, irradiation, distributed
generation, efficiency, PSCAD.
I. INTRODUCTION
In general, most of the power plant is running by
conventional energy resource such as coal, petroleum,
natural gas, nuclear fuels etc. But these resources are limited
in nature and it is going to be finished after few years.
So Distributed Generation (DG) such as solar energy, wind
energy, geothermal energy etc. has received a huge
illustriousness due to concern about the adverse effect of the
conventional energy resource on the environment.
Manuscript published on 30 September 2019
* Correspondence Author
Dalia Debbarma, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tripura
Institute of Technology, Narsingarh, Agartala-799009, West Tripura, India.
Jeetu Debbarma, Department of Electronics and Communication
Engineering, Tripura Institute of Technology, Narsingarh,
Agartala-799009, West Tripura, India.
Saptadip Saha, Department of Electrical Engineering, National
Institute of Technology Agartala, Jirania, Agartala-799046, West Tripura,
India.
© The Authors. Published by Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and
Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the
CC-BY-NC-ND license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Retrieval Number C5501098319/2019©BEIESP
DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.C5501.098319
ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8 Issue-3, September 2019
(SPV) energy is most efficient and easy to access because it
is available in anywhere. DG units can be used as standalone
system or grid connected system. In case of standalone
system power from the DG units is supplied to the local loads
only [1] but in case of grid connected system the DG
connected to the existing power distribution grid. Small scale
PV system such as 0-10 Kw is generally connected to the
power distribution grid [1][9].
The number of grid-connected SPV system is going to be
increased because government launches so many concession
schemes, provide incentives and reduction in the panel cost
and cost of the electronic equipment. For injecting power
into the grid need to maintain the power quality. Poor quality
power could cause perturbation and various losses to user.
As, the SPV system is connected with the power distribution
grid so fluctuation in PV power may lead to voltage
fluctuation in grid. The power from SPV system is
fluctuating in nature, solar irradiance (G) and temperature
(T) has a vast impact on it. As these two parameter changes
accordingly solar power also changes, for such variation
SPV power is feed to the grid through power electronic
devices and controlling equipment. Shading is an essential
factor for PV power generation, due to the shading effect
there will be change in PV power generation and it also
injected harmonics in the system. As power distribution grid
is already running with non-linear loads, so there already
harmonics is generated, due to this shading effect the total
harmonics distortion (THD) will be more. So, in this paper
we made a grid connected DG system where three
independent PV systems of 255 KW each were considered to
be connected in an array. Theses 3 PV systems were located
in three different locations where the changes in G and T
were also different and random in nature. With EMTDC
blocks different values of G and T were fed to these PV
systems with possible random values and the effect of this on
the overall system was analyzed.
II. SIMULATION MODEL IN PSCAD WITH
EMTDC
In PSCAD, a distributed generation system was designed
with 3 PV systems each of 255 KW connected in an array. It
was considered that 3 PV systems were installed in three
different locations. A total765 KW power was generated
from the PV systems.
Published By:
Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
7447 & Sciences Publication