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Solar Energy Conversion System with Maximum Power Point Tracking

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 Journal of Instrumentation Technology & Innovations
ISSN: 2249-4731 (Online), ISSN: 2347-7261 (Print)
Volume 8, Issue 3
www.stmjournals.com

Solar Energy Conversion System with Maximum Power

Point Tracking
Gourav Kant Sharma*, Ashish Kumar Singhal
Department of Electrical Engineering, Sagar Institute of Technology, Science & Engineering, Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract
This paper presents an algorithm that help to track the maximum power point of the solar PV
module automatically. Perturb and observe algorithm is most popular algorithm. In this
algorithm a slight perturbation is introduced. Due to this perturbation, the power of the
module changes. If the power increases due to perturbation then the perturbation is continued
in that direction. After the peak power is reached the power at the next instant decreases and
hence after that the perturbation reverses. The simulation results for conventional three and
five voltage source converter (VSC) along with the proposed cascaded H-bridge multilevel
converter (CHBMLC) topology based wind energy conversion systems, i.e., Three phase
Seven Level and Three phase Three Level has been obtained through MATLAB simulation
software, a widely used power system transient analysis tool.

Keywords: Maximum power point tracking, PV module, MATLAB, bandwidth, Voltage source
converter

*Author for Correspondence E-mail: gouravsharma9038@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION application. The modular wind turbine-

The demand for electric power is increasing at
a very fast rate in all aspects of the human life.
However the global mainstay of energy at
present, e.g., fossil fuel reserves is decreasing
and hence there is an urgent necessity of
generating energy without depending on fossil
fuels and without disturbing the ecosystem.
This has encouraged the investigation on the
development of alternative sources of power
generation. Among these the wind energy
conversion systems have become a focal point
in the research of renewable energy sources
due to the rapid advances in the size of wind
generators, turbines as well as the
development of power electronics, multilevel
converter technology, control and their
applicability in wind energy extraction. [1-3]
A wind energy conversion system based on the
cascaded H-bridge multilevel converter
(CHBMLC) topology has been proposed to be
used for the grid interface. This includes the
application of grid compensation. The equal
voltage H-bridge modules have been proposed
to be used to build a suitable three-phase
voltage source converter (VSC) topology for
any medium voltage distribution system
alternator sets and cascaded multi-level
inverter sets suit the distributed wind energy
conversion system interface to the medium
voltage grid. The proposed arrangement of
high power applications are made by using
different factors like equal distribution of
switching stress and power losses, reduced
power ratings of the inverter, redundancy and
high quality of inverter output voltage. The
cascaded topology with phase shifted multi
carrier unipolar PWM has the features of
increasing the effective switching frequency
and reducing the ripple magnitude. [4,5] An
algorithm has been proposed for generating
references for VSC in current control mode in
order to inject real power together with
reactive and harmonic compensation. The
application of a method for current tracking
under wind power transfer to the grid leads to
the higher bandwidth and improved tracking
characteristics
MODELLING OF SOLAR PV
MODULE
In electrical terminology Modeling of
Photovoltaic cell means representing with its

JoITI (2018) 15-20 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 15
Solar Energy Conversion System with Maximum Power Point Tracking Sharma and Singhal

equivalent circuit. PV cell can be represented tracking is not possible so automatic tracking
in three equivalent circuits. is preferred to manual tracking. An automatic
tracking can be performed by utilizing various
A solar cell can be operated at any point along algorithms.
its characteristic current-voltage cure, as
shown in Figure 1. Two important points on In model I. the PV cell is represented with a
this curve are the open circuit voltage (Voc) current source in parallel with a diode. The
and short-circuit current (Isc). The open- current source generated the photo current Iph,
circuit voltage is the maximum voltage at zero which is directly proportional to the solar
current, whereas the short-circuit current is the irradiance E. The p-n transition area of the
maximum current at zero voltage. Because a solar cell is equivalent to a big diode which is
silicon, solar cells typically produce only also integrated in the Figure 2.
about 0.5V. A number of cells are connected
in series in a PV module. A panel is a The V-I equation of the simplified equivalent
collection of modules physically and circuit could be derived from Kirchhoff’s
electrically grouped together on a support current law.
structure. An array is a collection of panels. I  I ph  I D  I ph  I s  expV / m  vT   1
[6]
With
A plot of power (P) against voltage (V) for this Iph Photo current
device shows that there is a unique point on ID Diode current
the I-V curve at which the solar cell will IS diode reverse saturation
generate maximum power. This is known as current
the maximum power point (Vmpp, Impp). [7] m Diode “ideality factor” m=1 5
vT Thermal Voltage vT= (k.T/e)
With the help of a dc/dc converter the peak k constant of Boltzmann
power is reached by adjusting its duty cycle so k 1.380658*10–23 Jk-1
that the resistance corresponding to the peak T absolute temperature, [T] =K
power is acquired. Now question arises how to (Kelvin)
vary the duty cycle and in which direction so E charge of an electron
that peak power is reached. Whether manual e=1.6021733*10–19 A
tracking or automatic tracking? Manual

Fig. 1: Photovoltaic Characteristics.

JoITI (2018) 15-20 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 16
Journal of Instrumentation Technology & Innovations
Volume 8, Issue 3
ISSN: 2249-4731 (Online), ISSN: 2347-7261 (Print)
PERTURB AND OBSERVE METHOD
In this algorithm, a slight perturbation is
introduced. The power of the module changes
due to this perturbation. If the power increases
then the perturbation is continued in that
direction. After the peak power is reached the
power at the next instant decreases and hence
after that the perturbation reverses (Figure 3).
When the steady state is reached the algorithm
oscillates around the peak point. In order to
keep the power variation small the
perturbation size is kept very small. The
algorithm is developed in a particular manner
that it sets a reference voltage corresponding
to the peak voltage of the module (Figure 4).
A PI controller is moving the operating point
of the module to that specific voltage level. It
can be seen that there are some power loss
because of this perturbation also it fails to
record the power under fast varying
atmospheric conditions. But still this algorithm
is very simple and popular. [8-10]
Fig. 2: PV ideal Model.
JoITI (2018) 15-20 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved
RESULTS
The simulation of solar PV module
characteristics, perturb & Observe (P & O)
algorithm of Maximum power point tracking
(MPPT), cascaded H-Bridge multilevel
inverter and Cascaded H-bridge multilevel
inverter is associated with PV model along
with MPP tracking is done on the
MatLab/Simulink.
Characteristics of Solar PV Module
IV and PV characteristics of Solar PV model
is shown in the Figure 5 and Figure 6.
Open circuit voltage (Voc) = 22.22 V
Short circuit current (Isc) = 5.45 A
Current at Pmax = 4.95A
Voltages at Pmax=17.2 V
Diode “ideality factor” m=2
Thermal Voltage = vT= (k.T/e)
Constant of Boltzmann k= 1.380658*10–23 Jk-1
Charge of an electron e=1.6021733*10–19 As
Insolation= 800W / M 2
Page 17
Solar Energy Conversion System with Maximum Power Point Tracking Sharma and Singhal

Fig. 3: Perturb and Observe.

Fig. 4: Perturb and Observe Algorithm.

JoITI (2018) 15-20 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 18
Journal of Instrumentation Technology & Innovations
Volume 8, Issue 3
ISSN: 2249-4731 (Online), ISSN: 2347-7261 (Print)

Fig. 5: I-V Characteristics of PV Module.

Fig. 6: P-V Characteristics of PV Module.

JoITI (2018) 15-20 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 19
 Solar Energy Conversion System with Maximum Power Point Tracking
CONCLUSION
Power output of module improves with the
MPPT system. It is observed that the module
gives the peak output power up to 82 watts.
Solar PV module is modeled, and simulations
are obtained for verification of its PV
characteristics. Buck converter is designed and
operated as MPP tracker when Photovoltaic is
connected to the three-level inverter and five-
level cascaded multilevel inverter.
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Cite this Article
Gourav Kant Sharma, Ashish Kumar
Singhal. Solar Energy Conversion System
with Maximum Power Point Tracking.
Journal of Instrumentation Technology &
Innovations. 2018; 8(3): 15–20p.
Page 20