International Conference on Computer, Communication and Electrical Technology ICCCET 2011, 18th & 19th March, 2011

Design of Optimum Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithm For Solar Panel
A.Thenkani, PG Student, (M.E.Power Electronics & Drives) Dept.Of Electrical & Electronics Engg. Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi-626005, Tamilnadu, India Email:then_kani@yahoo.com
Abstract It is important to track the maximum power point of the Photovoltaic panel, as the electrical power supplied by solar array depends on insolation, temperature and load. Maximum Power Point Tracking ( MPPT) is an Power electronic system that operates the photovoltaic modules to produce maximum power. MPPT varies the electrical operating point of the modules and enables them to deliver maximum available power. Normally Pulse width modulation type dc to dc conveters are used as the impedence matching between the PV arrays and loads. A new modified perturb and observation MPPT control algorithm is proposed to track the maximum power point.Unlike the control of PV voltage or current in normal P&O method the duty ratio of the dc to dc boost converter is directly controlled in the proposed algorithm. The proposed MPPT has the advantages of simplicity and high convergence speed. The algorithm is tested under various operating conditions. The obtained results have proven that the MPP is tracked even under sudden change of irradiation and loading level. Index Terms Photovoltaic (PV), Maximum power point (MPP), maximum power point tracking(MPPT), perturb and observe (P&O), DC-DC converter

Dr.N.Senthil Kumar, Professor, Dept. of Electrical & Electronics Engg. Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi-626005, Tamilnadu,India Email: nsk_vnr@yahoo.com
increase in temperature. Hence on line tracking of the maximum power point of a PV array/module is necessary in order to maximize the utilization of solar power. A variety of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods is developed. The methods vary in implementation complexity, sensed parameters, required number of sensors, convergence speed, and cost [1]. The measurement of open circuit voltage or short circuit current does not require in our straightforward proposed algorithm which calculate the maximum power through direct power control of the power drawn from the PV. Using this new modified perturb and observe algorithm the maximum power is computed online. The instantaneous actual PV power is compared with this computed maximum power, the error between the maximum power and actual power activates perturbation direction of duty ratio of dc to dc boost converter. Therefore, the maximum power is extracted from the PV array during any sudden change in environmental and loading condition.

I.

INTRODUCTION

To combat global warming and the other problems associated with fossil fuels, the most countries must switch to renewable energy sources like sunlight, wind and biomass. All renewable energy technologies are not appropriate to all applications or locations, however. Among the several renewable energy sources, Photovoltaic arrays are used in many applications such as water pumping, battery charging, street lighting and grid connected PV systems From the IV characteristics of PV array (Fig 1.a) and (Fig1.b), the effect of variation of illumination (G) is; both Short circuit current (Isc) and Open circuit voltage (Voc) of PV array increase with increasing the intensity of radiation. Short circuit current and open circuit voltage depends linearly and logarithmically respectively. The effect of variation of temperature (T) is; Increase in temperature causes some increase in short circuit current. The reverse saturation current increases rapidly with temperature. Due to this, the cell voltage decreases by approximately 2.2mV per C rise in its operating temperature. Fill factor decreases slightly with

Fig.1.a Typical solar cell I-V characteristic showing effect of irradiance

978-1-4244-9394-4/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

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International Conference on Computer, Communication and Electrical Technology ICCCET 2011, 18th & 19th March, 2011 Fig.1.b Typical solar cell I-V characteristic showing effect of temperature

II.

PV EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT

A solar cell basically is a p-n semiconductor junction. When exposed to light, a dc current is generated. The generated current varies linearly with the solar irradiance. The standard equivalent circuit of the PV cell is shown in Fig.2.

The method results from the fact that, the current at maximum power point IMPP is approximately linearly related to the short circuit current ISC of the PV array. IMPP k2 ISC (3) Like in the fractional voltage method, k2 is not constant. It is found to be between 0.78 and 0.92. The accuracy of the method and tracking efficiency depends on the accuracy of K2 and periodic measurement of short circuit current. C. Perturb and Observe In P&O method, the MPPT algorithm is based on the calculation of the PV output power and the power change by sampling both the PV current and voltage. The tracker operates by periodically incrementing or decrementing the solar array voltage. If a given perturbation leads to an increase (decrease) in the output power of the PV, then the subsequent perturbation is generated in the same (opposite) direction. So, the duty cycle of the dc chopper is changed and the process is repeated until the maximum power point has been reached. Actually, the system oscillates about the MPP. Reducing the Perturbation step size can minimize the oscillation. However, small step size slows down the MPPT. To solve this problem, a variable perturbation size that gets smaller towards the MPP. However, the P&O method can fail under rapidly changing atmospheric conditions. Several research activities have been carried out to improve the traditional Hill-climbing and P&O methods. Reference [4] proposes a three-point weight comparison P&O method that compares the actual power point to the two preceding points before a decision is made about the perturbation sign. Reference [5] proposes a two stage algorithm that offers faster tracking in the first stage and finer tracking in the second stage. To prevent divergence from MPP, modified adaptive algorithm is proposed in [6]. D. Incremental Conductance The method is based on the principle that the slope of the PV array power curve is zero at the maximum power point. (dP/dV) = 0. Since (P = VI), it yields: I/V = - I/V , at MPP I/V > - I/V , left of MPP I/V < - I/V , right of MPP (4.a) (4.b) (4.c)

Fig.2 : Equivalent circuit of PV solar cell

The basic equation that describes the (I-V) characteristics ofthe PV model is given by the following equation:

q(V + IRs ) V + IRs I = I PH I O e kT 1 Rsh

Where: I is the cell current (A). IPH is the light generated current (A). Io is the diode saturation current. q is the charge of electron = 1.6x10-19 (coul). K is the Boltzman constant (j/K). T is the cell temperature (K). Rs , Rsh are cell series and shunt resistance (ohms). V is the cell output voltage (V). III. COMMONLY USED MPPT TECHNIQUES

(1)

The problem considered by MPPT methods is to automatically find the voltage VMPP or current IMPP at which a PV array delivers maximum power under a given temperature and irradiance. In this section, commonly used MPPT methods are introduced in an arbitrary order. A. Fractional Open-Circuit Voltage The method is based on the observation that, the ratio between array voltage at maximum power VMPP to its open circuit voltage VOC is nearly constant. VMPP k1 VOC (2) This factor k1 has been reported to be between 0.71 and 0.78. Once the constant k1 is known, VMPP is computed by measuring VOC periodically. Although the implementation of this method is simple and cheap, its tracking efficiency is relatively low due to the utilization of inaccurate values of the constant k1 in the computation of VMMP. B. Fractional Short-Circuit Current

The MPP can be tracked by comparing the instantaneous conductance (I/V) to the incremental conductance (I/V). The algorithm increments or decrement the array reference voltage until the condition of equation (4.a) is satisfied [9]. Once the Maximum power is reached, the operation of the PV array is maintained at this point. This method requires high sampling rates and fast calculations of the power slope. [7], [8]. IV. PHOTO VOLATAIC ARRAY Solar cell is based on the ability of semiconductors to directly convert sunlight to electricity. Basically, a solar cell is a P-N junction that absorbs light, releases electrons and holes, creating a voltage in the cell, which is then applied to a load. Solar cells typically produce only about 0.5v. A number of

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International Conference on Computer, Communication and Electrical Technology ICCCET 2011, 18th & 19th March, 2011

cells are connected in series in a PV module. A Panel is a collection of modules physically electrically grouped together on a support structure. An Array is a collection of Panels.

Fig.4.b P-V Characteristics of PV array for different insolation Fig.3. Circuit diagram obtained for IV characteristics of PV array

For our simulation work, we consider the solar panel Model KC200GT whose specifications are shown in table.1. The circuit diagram obtained for IV characteristics of the PV array is shown in Fig.3. TABLE 1 KEY SPECIFICATIONS OF SOLAR PANEL IN SIMULATION Parameter Maximum Power Pmax Maximum Voltage Vmax Maximum Current Imax Short Circuit Current Isc Open Circuit Voltage Voc Specification 200.1430W 26.3V 7.61A 8.21A 32.9V

The graphs 4.a and 4.b shows the I-V and PVcharacteristics of PV array for three different insolation 1000W/m2, 800W/m2 and 600W/m2 TABLE.2 RESULTS OF SIMULATION Load resistance( ) 28 32 40 Insolation (W/m2) 1000 800 600 Pmax (W) 5.9k 4.7k 3.5k

The solar array module consists of fifteen nos. of serially connected such a panel KC200GT (NSS =15) in order to increase the voltage level and two nos. (NPP=2) in parallel to increase the current rating of the array and hence the array power is 5.9kW

From the simulation results, we conclude that for the insolation level at 1000W/m2, the PV array delivers the maximum power 5.9kW only at the load value 28 . Similarly for the insolation levels 800W/m2 and 600W/m2, it deliver the maximum power 4.7kW and 3.5kW at the load values 32 and 40 respectively. For all the three condition we assume that the temperature is at 25C. V. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION The block diagram of the PV system under testing is shown in Fig.5. The PV system is modeled using Power system Block set under Matlab Simulink. The simulation parameters are summarized in Table 3. TABLE.3 SIMULATION PARAMETERS FOR THE DC/DC BOOST CONVERTER

Fig.4.a I-V Characteristics of PV array for different insolation

Parameter Switching frequency of converter C L Boost chopper switch Load resistor, R

Specification 20 kHz 470F 50mH IGBT 200

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International Conference on Computer, Communication and Electrical Technology ICCCET 2011, 18th & 19th March, 2011

maximum power. The simulink model of new modified P & O method and flowchart is shown in Fig.7. and Fig.8.

Fig.5. block diagram of the PV system Fig.7 Simulink Model of new modified Perturb and Observe algorithm

The graph Fig.6.shows the variation of PV array power(W) with duty ratio() of the boost converter. From the graph we conclude that at particular environmental condition the PV array deliver maximum power at only a particular duty ratio of the boost converter.
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1000W/m2 1432 1783 2283 3019 4123 5628 5481 4711 1766 800W/ m2 600W/ m2 1388 1725 2201 2889 3873 4787 4270 3488 1138 1329 1644 2082 2689 3412 3355 3043 2159 640

duty ratio ()

Fig.6 Duty ratio Vs Power

VI. PROPOSED MPPT METHOD Among the different maximum power point algorithms, perturb and observe algorithm is simple and also gives good results [7], [8]. This algorithm is selected and certain changes are made in the present work. This is known as new modified perturb and observe algorithm. Most MPPT techniques attempt to find the PV voltage that result in the maximum power point Vmpp, or to find the PV current Impp corresponding to the maximum power point. The proposed algorithm tracks neither the Vmpp nor the Impp. However, it tracks directly the maximum possible power Pmax that can be extracted from the PV through the duty ratio of boost converter. The flowchart of the proposed MPPT method is shown in Fig.8. The proposed modified Perturb and Observe MPPT algorithm starts by setting the computed power to an initial value (50% of the duty ratio). Actual PV voltage V(k) and current I(k) are measured. Then the instantaneous value of PV power P(k) is computed. The error between P(k) and P(k-1) determine the sign of perturbation step size and duty ratio of boost converter. The output of the MPPT controller is used to drive the IGBT of the Boost Converter such that the P(k) tracks

Fig.8. Flowchart of the proposed MPPT Algorithm

VII. SIMULATION RESULTS In Fig.9. the curve shows the output load power under constant insolation 1000W/m2, 25C. The load power attains stable maximum power after 0.2 seconds. From the fig.9., computed Pmax is 5.9kW, while the actual simulated value at 1kW/m2, 25C was 5.9kW(from table.2). Hence high convergence speed and 100% accuracy and tracking efficiency is obtained by the new modified P & O algorithm. The details of the tracking performance is presented in fig.9., while the steady state performance of the tracker is shown in fig.10. At the steady state maximum power oscillates between 5.865kW and 5.870kW and it is clear that the ripple of power is less than 5W.

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International Conference on Computer, Communication and Electrical Technology ICCCET 2011, 18th & 19th March, 2011

Moreover, to evaluate the performance the proposed MPPT, the PV is exposed to different levels of loadings 100 , 150 , and 200 at constant illumination level 1000W/m2.

Fig 9: Output load power/Panel output power wave form for constant insolation 1000W/m2 Fig.12.a.: Output load current waveform showing the varying the load

The obtained results presented in Fig. 12a.,12.b 12.c., the MPPT algorithm tracks the new values of maximum power of 5.9kW. In each level, the power extracted from the PV is well controlled. The results prove that the convergence speed is relatively high.

Fig10.: Ripple of output power waveform

Moreover, to evaluate the performance the proposed MPPT, the PV is exposed to different levels of irradiance 600W/m2, 800W/m2, and 1000W/m2. The obtained results presented in Fig. 11.a.&Fig.11.b. the MPPT algorithm tracks the new values of maximum power of 3.5kW, 4.7kW, and 5.9kW respectively. In each level, the power extracted from the PV is well controlled. The results prove that the convergence speed is relatively high.

Fig.12.b.: Output load voltage waveform showing the varying the load

F ig11.a.: Varying input insolation

Fig .12.c.: Output load power /panel output power wave form for varying load condition

According to the obtained results, the tracking efficiency is near 100 %. Therefore, the proposed method guarantees good tracking efficiency under different operating and loading conditions.
VII. CONCLUSION

Fig 11.b.: Output power wave form for varying insolation

The paper proposes a straightforward new modified P & O MPPT algorithm that requires only measurements of PV voltage and current with the no need to any irradiance measurements. The principle difference between the proposed method and any other tracking method is that the proposed

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International Conference on Computer, Communication and Electrical Technology ICCCET 2011, 18th & 19th March, 2011

method attempts to track and compute the maximum power directly through duty ratio of the dc to dc boost converter. While, any other method attempts to reach the maximum point by the knowledge of the voltage or the current corresponding to that optimum point. The proposed method offers special advantages which are: good tracking efficiency, relatively high convergence speed and simple control for the extracted power. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors are grateful to the Correspondent and the Principal of Mepco Schlenk Engineering College at Sivakasi, for their constant encouragement and support in providing the resources for this research work REFERENCES
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