Photovoltaic Systems - Background

 These days, the Governments of many Countries are striving to exploit the vast
potential of renewable energy to meet the growing energy requirements.
 Photovoltaic (PV) system is one of the primary renewable energy source which
converts solar light into electricity.

Mechatronics Laboratory – Politecnico di Torino

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 Photovoltaic Systems - Background

 According to Z. Liang et al. [1], the high penetration of PV systems in

electricity generation is evident from the fact that the PV system is expected to
be the largest energy source among all the available renewable energy sources.

Mechatronics Laboratory – Politecnico di Torino

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 Photovoltaic Systems – Inherit Problem

 As nothing is perfect in nature, Photovoltaic systems has inherit dis-advantage

that it will not deliver the maximum power automatically.
 A major challenge in the use of PV is posed by its nonlinear current–voltage (I–
V ) characteristics, which result in a unique maximum power point (MPP) on its
power–voltage (P–V ) curve. The matter is further complicated due to the
dependence of these characteristics on solar insolation and temperature [2].

Mechatronics Laboratory – Politecnico di Torino

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Photovoltaic Systems – Inherit Problems
Max Power

With changes in
weather conditions
like Irradiance &
Temperature.
This Maximum
Power Point also
changed its position.

Mechatronics Laboratory – Politecnico di Torino

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 Photovoltaic Systems – Focus of Research

IV – PV Curves for
longer period

Considering
> The high initial capital cost of a PV Plant
> Low energy conversion efficiency from sunlight
It is imperative to operate the PV source at MPP so that maximum power can be
extracted. (Focus of Research)

Mechatronics Laboratory – Politecnico di Torino

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Photovoltaic Systems - Partial Shading Conditions

Mechatronics Laboratory – Politecnico di Torino

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 Paramount Drawback of PV and Focus of Thesis Introduction

 The designer has to search the maximum power, by regulating the voltage.
 If global maxima is not detected , power loss can go upto 70%.
 Focus of thesis is to develop the robust MPPT techniques for both kinds of
weather conditions.

Mechatronics Laboratory – Politecnico di Torino

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