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PV Applications
Moacyr A. G. de Brito, Leonardo P. Sampaio, Luigi G. Jr., Guilherme A. e Melo, Carlos A. Canesin*
*So Paulo State University UNESP, Power Electronics Laboratory Electrical Engineering Department,
Av. Prof. Jos Carlos Rossi, 1370, 15385-000, Ilha Solteira, SP, Brazil, canesin@dee.feis.unesp.br
Abstract--This paper presents a careful evaluation among conditions. The photovoltaic power characteristics is
the most usual MPPT techniques, doing meaningful nonlinear, as shown in Fig.1, which vary with the level of
comparisons with respect to the amount of energy extracted solar irradiation and temperature, which make the
from the photovoltaic (PV) panel, PV voltage ripple, extraction of maximum power a complex task,
dynamic response and use of sensors, considering that the
considering load variations. To overcome this problem,
models are first implemented via MatLab/Simulink, and
after a digitally controlled boost DC-DC converter was several methods for extracting the maximum power have
implemented and connected to an Agilent Solar Array been proposed in literature [3-14], and a careful
simulator in order to verify the simulation results. The comparison of these methods can result in important
prototype was built, the algorithms are digitally developed information for the design of these systems. Therefore,
and the main experimental results are also presented, this paper aims to assess the main MPPT techniques
including dymanic responses and the experimental tracking presented in the literature using models in
factor (TF) for the analyzed MPPT techniques. Matlab/Simulink, doing depth comparisons between
them with regard to the amount of required sensors,
Index Terms--MPPT Techniques, PV Applications, voltage ripple in steady state, startup of the method and
Tracking Factor for MPP, Digital Control.
amount of energy extracted.
I. INTRODUCTION
The growing energy demand coupled with the
possibility of reduced supply of conventional fuels, along
with growing concerns about environmental preservation,
has driven research and development of alternative
energy sources that are cleaner, renewable and produce
little environmental impact. Among the alternative
sources the electrical energy from PV is currently
regarded as the natural energy source more useful, since
it is free, abundant, clean, distributed over the Earth and
participates as a primary factor of all other processes of (a)
energy production on Earth [1]. Moreover, although the
phenomena of reflection and absorption of sunlight by the
atmosphere, it is estimated that solar energy incident on
the surface of earth is of the order of ten thousand times
greater than the world energy consumption. According to
expertises previsions the PV energy will became the most
important reneable energy source until 2040, reaching
almost 28% off all world energy consumed [2]. In this
context, the concept of distributed energy generation,
became a real and present technical possibility, promotin
various researches and standardizations in the world.
(b)
Despite all the advantages presented by the generation of Fig. 1. (a) PV Current versus Voltage Characteristic, and (b) Power
energy through the use of PVs, the efficiency of energy Characteristic for Different Levels of Irradiation.
conversion is currently low and the initial cost for its
implementation is still considered high, and thus it II. MAIN MPPT TECHNIQUES
becomes necessary to use techniques to extract the
This paper covers the Fixed Duty Cycle, Constant
maximum power from these panels, to achieve maximum
Voltage, Perturb and Observe (P&O) and Modified P&O,
efficiency in operation. It should be noted that there is
Incremental Conductance (IC) and Modified IC, Ripple
only one point of maximum power (MPP - Maximum
Power Point), and this varies according to climatic Correlation and System Oscilation methods, which are
briefly described in this section. The Fixed Duty Cycle
represents the simplest of the methods and it does not
require any feedback, where the load impedance is
This work was supported by FAPESP, CAPES and CNPq.
i i i i i i
= (a), > (b), < (c) (2)
v v v v v v
Fig. 3. Flowchart of the IC Algorithm.
Where (2.a) represents the condition at MPP, (2.b)
represents the condition in the left and (2.c) in the right of
MPP.
This method searches the MPP in the same way as
P&O, and also features a modified version, but it is not
necessary to calculate the PV output power and presents
very good transient performances when subjected to
rapidly changes in atmospheric conditions. The flowchart
of the IC algorithm is presented in Fig. 3.
Fig. 4. Implementation of Beta Method.
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The System Oscillation method is based on the steady state (time of the order of 0.2 s). Just to highlight
principle of maximum power transfer and it uses the the methods IC and P&O had almost the same indices of
oscillations to determine the optimum point of operation. quality, since they are based on the same principle of
At the MPP the ratio of the amplitude of the oscillation searching for MPPT, which is dP/dV null at MPP.
and the average voltage is constant. This method requires
only the sensing of the array voltage and its
implementation is basically characterized by the use of
filters. So, this method can be easily implemented with
only analogical circuitries.
The Ripple Correlation is also based on the principles
of maximum power transfer and it uses the oscillations in
power throught all pass filters to obtain the optimal point.
In other words, the high-frequency ripple in power and
voltage is then captured using high-frequency filters,
which are used to compute dP/dV. Then, the sign of this
derivative is used in a signum function to indicate the
right region of operation and an integrator also ensures
the MPP.
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Tracking Factor (%)
P & O Mod
Correlation
Oscilation
IC Mod
Fig. 8. Experimental Arrangement - Laboratory Setup.
P&O
D Cte
V Cte
Beta
IC
(a)
Power (W)
Power (W)
Power (W)
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In order to compute the Tacking Factor (TF), an
aquicstion management system was implemented through
C++ Builder. Using this system it was possible through
remote program for the Array Emulator with a set of
irradiation and temperature curves emulating some
profiles of power. These profiles of power can be aleatory
adjusted or follow some irradiation or temperature
settings, according to environmental conditions from a
specific region. The communication was done through
GPIB-USB to exchange data from Computer and Array
Emulator.
The evaluation of power extracted from the
Photovoltaic Emulator (E4350B) through the converter
with the MPPT algorithms can be observed in Figs. 13 to
15, where PMAX (red chart) represents the maximum
available power of the Photovoltaic Emulator and PMPPT
(green chart) represents the energy that could be
Fig. 10. Dynamic Behavior of Vcte Method. (a) Negative Step (200W- converted by the converter. The analyzed methods were
100W); (b) Positive Step (100W-200W); (c) Inicialization (0W-200W). adjusted to provide its best performance with the same set
Scales: Voltage (20V/div); Current (5A/div); Power (100W/div) and
Time: (a) e (b) (20ms/div) e (c) (200ms/div). of irradiation and temperature steps. In this context, the
Beta method stands out with 98% of energy extracted, the
P&O method reach 96% and Vcte stays at 92%. The
experimental results are almost the same as the simulated
ones, showing the potential of the analytical procedure.
The commercially specifications for the photovoltaic
module applied to the Array Simulator are presented in
Table I.
120
100
80
60
40
Fig. 11. Dynamic Behavior of P&O Method. (a) Negative Step (200W- 20
100W); (b) Positive Step (100W-200W); (c) Inicialization (0W-200W). 0
Scales: Voltage (20V/div); Current (5A/div); Power (100W/div) and 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time: (a) e (b) (20ms/div) e (c) (200ms/div). Time (s)
(a)
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Time (s)
(b)
Fig. 13. (a) and (b) Experimental Power Extracted using Beta Method.
Fig. 12. Dynamic Behavior of IC Method. (a) Negative Step (200W-
100W); (b) Positive Step (100W-200W); (c) Inicialization (0W-200W).
Scales: Voltage (20V/div); Current (5A/div); Power (100W/div) and
Time: (a) e (b) (20ms/div) e (c) (200ms/div).
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Data Acquisition - Power Curves
IC and P&O, also deserve mention as an alternative for
220 PMAX good PV performance.
PMPPT
200
180 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
160
140 The authors would like to thank FAPESP, CAPES and
Power (W)
104