Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Sol a r Cha rg e Controll l er to im prove the effic ienc y of Sta nda l one
Photovol ta ic Sy stem s using PSIM
A PROJECT REPORT
Submitted by
ARUMUGAM.R (97408105701)
KUTHALINGAM.C (97408105022)
PATTUSELVAM .S (97408105035)
THIRUVENGADAM.M (97408105059)
Certified that this project report Desig n & Im pl em enta tion of va rious
MPPT a l g orithm s for Sol a r Cha rg e Controll l er to im prove the effic ienc y of Sta nd -
a l one Photovolta ic Sy stem s using PSIM is the Bonafide work of
ARUMUGAM.R (97408105701),KUTHALINGAM.C (97408105022),
PATTUSELVAM .S (97408105035),THIRUVENGADAM.M (97408105059) , who
carried out the project work under my supervision.
Desig n & Im pl em enta tion of va rious MPPT a l g orithm s for Sol a r Cha rg e
Controll l er to im prove the effic ienc y of Sta nd - a l one Photovol ta ic Sy stem s using PSIM
Submitted by
ARUMUGAM.R (97408105701)
KUTHALINGAM.C (97408105022)
PATTUSELVAM .S (97408105035)
THIRUVENGADAM.M (97408105059)
The reports of the project work submitted by the above students in partial
fulfillment for the award of Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electrical and
Electronics Engineering, Anna University Chennai were confirmed and evaluated.
Our first and foremost praises and thanks to God, the almighty for his valuable
grace upon us to complete this project.
We also offer special thanks to our parents who have sacrificed greatly in making
this project possible. We thank all those who have helped directly and indirectly in our
project.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
CHAPTER
NO
LIST OF FIGURES
(ii)
1 1
INTRODUCTION
2 5
PV ARRAY MODELLING
6
2.1 Photovoltaic modules
7
2.2 Equivalent circuit of a solar cell
8
2.3 Open circuit voltage, short circuit current and
maximum power point
9
2.4 Fill Factor
10
2.5 Temperature and irradiance effects 15
5.1 PSIM 35
5.8 Conclusion 47
ABSTRACT
fossil fuels and climate change a lot of attention is being been focused on
renewable forms of energy such as photovoltaic (PV) cells. The Photovoltaic cell is
a semiconducting device that absorbs light and converts it into electrical energy in
the form of DC. The DC power extracted from the PV array is synthesized and
and loads. The aim of this project work is to study the design of Solar Charge
Controller using various Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithms. Further, the
various design techniques are simulated in the Power SIM Software Environment
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
We believe that the clean and inexhaustible power of sunlight will be the most
promising resource in mankind's quest to develop sustainable energy in the 21st
century and beyond."
-Hirofumi Tezuka, director and general manager
Kyocera Corporation, Solar Division
1.1 Introduction
We have only one planet that we can call home. Yet, we are slowly destroying this
home with every litre of fossil fuel that we burn every day. No option, you say?
Of course there's an option. The Sun. India is one of the sunniest countries in the
world, with 250 300 sunny days every year. And we let this wonderful bounty of
nature go to waste.
solar energy to electrical power and store it for use whenever we need it. Solar
energy is free, virtually inexhaustible and does not pollute the planet. Surprisingly,
As people are much concerned with the fossil fuel exhaustion and the
energy sources and among them photovoltaic panels and wind-generators are
on the technology available, it may require better components, which can increase
drastically the cost of the installation. Instead, improving the tracking of the
maximum power point (MPP) with new control algorithms is easier, not expensive
and can be done even in plants which are already in use by updating their control
current characteristic with a unique point where the power produced is maximum.
This point depends on the temperature of the panels and on the irradiance
conditions. Both conditions change during the day and are also different depending
on the season of the year. Furthermore, irradiation can change rapidly due to
MPP accurately under all possible conditions so that the maximum available power
is always obtained.
In this project, the perturb and observe (P&O) and incremental conductance
(InCond) algorithms are analyzed in depth and tested according to the standard
conditions mentioned above. After that, improvements to the P&O and the InCond
changing irradiance.
To test the MPPT algorithms according to the irradiation profiles proposed in the
standard, a simplified model was developed, because the simulation time required
in some of the cases cannot be reached with the detailed switching model of a
power converter in a normal desktop computer. The reason for that is that the
computer runs out of memory after simulating only a few seconds with the
complete model. Finally, each method is evaluated and their strengths and
PV ARRAY MODELLING
2.1 PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES
semiconductor. In the dark, the I-V output characteristic of a solar cell has an
When exposed to light, photons with energy greater than the band gap energy of
the semiconductor are absorbed and create an electron-hole pair. These carriers are
swept apart under the influence of the internal electric fields of the p-n junction
and create a current proportional to the incident radiation. When the cell is short
circuited, this current flows in the external circuit; when open circuited, this
current is shunted internally by the intrinsic p-n junction diode. The characteristics
of this diode therefore set the open circuit voltage characteristics of the cell.
2.2 Equivalent circuit of a solar cell
The solar cell can be represented by the electrical model shown in Figure.
where I and V are the solar cell output current and voltage respectively, I0is the
and RSH are the series and shunt resistances of the solar cell. RS is the resistance
offered by the contacts and the bulk semiconductor material of the solar cell. The
origin of the shunt resistance RSH is more difficult to explain. It is related to the
non-ideal nature of the pn junction and the presence of impurities near the edges
of the cell that provide a short-circuit path around the junction. In an ideal case RS
would be zero and RSH infinite. However, this ideal scenario is not possible and
considered, i.e. RSH is infinite, so the last term in the above equation is neglected.
A PV panel is composed of many solar cells, which are connected in series and
parallel so the output current and voltage of the PV panel are high enough to the
expressed by an equation, where np and ns are the number of solar cells in parallel
2.3 Open circuit voltage, short circuit current and maximum power point
Two important points of the current-voltage characteristic must be pointed out: the
open circuit voltage VOC and the short circuit current ISC. At both points the power
generated is zero. VOC can be approximated from (1) when the output current of the
cell is zero, i.e. I=0 and the shunt resistance RSH is neglected. It is represented by
equation (3). The short circuit current ISC is the current at V = 0 and is
( ) (3)
(4)
The maximum power is generated by the solar cell at a point of the current-voltage
characteristics, where the product VI is maximum. This point is known as the MPP
and is unique, as can be seen in Figure 2.3, where the previous points are
represented.
Using the MPP current and voltage, IMPP and VMPP, the open circuit voltage (VOC)
and the short circuit current (ISC), the fill factor (FF) can be defined as:
(5)
(ISCVOC), which is actually not obtainable. The reason for that is that the MPP
voltage and current are always below the open circuit voltage and the short circuit
current respectively, because of the series and shunt resistances and the diode
depicted in Figure 2.2. The typical fill factor for commercial solar cells is usually
over 0.70.
Two important factors that have to be taken into account are the irradiation and the
the MPP varies during the day and that is the main reason why the MPP must
constantly be tracked and ensure that the maximum available power is obtained
The effect of the irradiance on the voltage-current (V-I) and voltage-power (V-P)
characteristics is depicted in Figure 2.4, where the curves are shown in per unit, i.e.
the voltage and current are normalized using the VOC and the ISC respectively, in
order to illustrate better the effects of the irradiance on the V-I and V-P curves. As
generated current. Moreover, the short circuit current is directly proportional to the
When the operating point is not the short circuit, in which no power is generated,
the photon generated current is also the main factor in the PV current, as is
expressed by equations (1) and (2). For this reason the voltage-current
In contrast, the effect in the open circuit voltage is relatively small, as the
(3).
Figure 2.4 shows that the change in the current is greater than in the voltage. In
practice, the voltage dependency on the irradiation is often neglected . As the effect
on both the current and voltage is positive, i.e. both increase when the irradiation
rises, the effect on the power is also positive: the more irradiation, the more power
is generated.
The temperature, on the other hand, affects mostly the voltage. The open circuit
equation:
( ) ( ) (6)
negative, i.e. when the temperature raises, the voltage decreases. The current
increases with the temperature but very little and it does not compensate the
decrease in the voltage caused by a given temperature rise. That is why the power
also decreases. PV panel manufacturers provide in their data sheets the temperature
coefficients, which are the parameters that specify how the open circuit voltage,
the short circuit current and the maximum power vary when the temperature
changes. As the effect of the temperature on the current is really small, it is usually
neglected.
Figure 2.5 shows how the voltage-current and the voltage-power characteristics
change with temperature. The curves are again in per unit, as in the previous case.
Fig 2.5V-I and V-P curves at constant irradiation (1 kW/m2) and three different temperatures.
As was mentioned before, the temperature and the irradiation depend on the
atmospheric conditions, which are not constant during the year and not even during
a single day; they can vary rapidly due to fast changing conditions such as clouds.
This causes the MPP to move continuously, depending on the irradiation and
temperature conditions. If the operating point is not close to the MPP, great power
losses occur.
Hence it is essential to track the MPP in any conditions to assure that the
maximum available power is obtained from the PV panel. In a modern solar power
A maximum power point tracker (or MPPT) based Solar Charge Controller is a
for a photovoltaic (PV) cell, most commonly for a solar panel or array, and
converts the power to a voltage or current level which is more suitable to whatever
Controls maximum power extraction from a panel by tracking the MPP and
cans be either:
Buck only the PV voltage must be higher than the battery voltage
Buck-boost both the PV voltage and battery voltage can be variable values
with the system switching between buck and boost based on the relative voltages.
The maximum power point tracking is basically a load matching problem. In order
to change the input resistance of the panel to match the load resistance (by varying
It has been studied that the efficiency of the DC to DC converter is maximum for a
buck converter, then for a buck-boost converter and minimum for a boost converter
but as we intend to use our system either for tying to a grid or for a system which
requires 230 Vat the output end, so we use a boost converter. Fig 3.2 shows the
When the switch is closed the inductor gets energized through the battery and
stores the energy. In this mode inductor current rises (exponentially) but for
simplicity we assume that the energizing and the de - energizing of the inductor are
linear. The diode blocks the current flowing and so the load current remains
constant which is being supplied due to the discharging of the capacitor. Fig 3.3
In mode 2 the switch is open and so the diode becomes short circuited. The energy
stored in the inductor gets utilized through opposite polarities which charge the
capacitor. The load current remains constant throughout the operation. Fig 3.4
The power output from the solar panel is a function of insolation level and
temperature. But for a given operating condition, we have a curve which gives the
voltage level maintained by the panel for a particular value of current. This plot is
known as the characteristics of the cell. From the characteristics plot, we will be
able to derive the power output with respect to the output current. We adopt the
method to find the current which has to be extracted so as to fix the operating point
line with the source characteristic plot shown in fig 4.1. What we attempt here to
power point i.e., nothing but the solution for impedance matching problem. The
PV modules have a very low conversion efficiency of around 15% for the
manufactured ones. Besides, due to the temperature, radiation and load variations,
In fact, the efficiency of any semiconductor device drops steeply with the
temperature. In order to ensure that the photovoltaic modules always act supplying
a strategy that allows imposing the photovoltaic module operation point on the
Maximum Power Point (MPP) or close to it. On the literature, many studies
DC-DC converters family, the best one to operate as MPPT, thus, in most cases,
the designers are tempted to use the simplest DC-DC converters namely buck
There are different techniques used to track the maximum power point. Two of the
The choice of the algorithm depends on the time complexity the algorithm takes to
Perturb & Observe (P&O) is the simplest method. Fig 4.2 shows the algorithmic
flowchart of Perturb & Observe method for MPPT. In this we use only one sensor,
that is the voltage sensor, to sense the PV array voltage and so the cost of
implementation is less and hence easy to implement. The time complexity of this
algorithm is very less but on reaching very close to the MPP it doesnt stop at the
MPP and keeps on perturbing on both the directions. Fig 4.3 shows the Illustration
of MPPT Algorithm When this happens the algorithm has reached very close to the
MPP and we can set an appropriate error limit or can use a wait function which
ends up increasing the time complexity of the algorithm. However the method does
not take account of the rapid change of irradiation level (due to which MPPT
calculating the wrong MPP. To avoid this problem we can use incremental
conductance method. The Perturb & Observe algorithm states that when the
changes in power P is positive, then we are going in the direction of MPP and we
from the direction of MPP and the sign of perturbation supplied has to be changed.
Start
P = P(k)-P(k-1)
NO YES
P > 0
YES NO YES
NO
Update history
V(k-1)= V(k)
P(k-1)= P(k)
Fig 4.2 Algorithmic flow chart of Perturb & Observe method for MPPT
Figure 4.1 shows the plot of module output power versus module voltage for a
solar panel at a given irradiation. The point marked as MPP is the Maximum
Power Point, the theoretical maximum output obtainable from the PV panel.
Consider A and B as two operating points as shown in the figure above, the point
A is on the left hand side of the MPP. Therefore, we can move towards the MPP by
On the other hand, point B is on the right hand side of the MPP. When we give a
direction of the terminal voltage for PV modules by measuring and comparing the
the output power is proportional to the terminal voltage. That means the output
(slope of the power curve is positive, dP/dV> 0). When the operating point of
PV modules passes through the maximum power point, its operating behavior is
similar to constant voltage. Therefore, the output power decreases linearly with the
dP/dV< 0). When the operating point of PV modules is exactly on the maximum
power point, the slope of the power curve is zero (dP/dV= 0) and can be further
expressed as,
( )
( )
( )
dI and dV represent the current error and voltage error before and after the
increment respectively. The static conductance (Gs) and the dynamic conductance
( )
( )
The maximum power point (operating voltage is Vm) can be found When
(11)
When the equation in (8) comes in to existence, the maximum power point is
tracked by MPPT system. However, the following situations will happen while the
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
Equations (12) and (13) are used to determine the direction of voltage perturbation
when the operating point moves toward to the maximum power point.
The main difference between incremental conductance and P&O algorithms is the
is found.
From the flow diagram shown in Fig.4.5, it can be observed that the weather
conditions dont change and the operating point is located on the maximum power
point when dV= 0 and dI= 0. If dV= 0 but dI> 0, it represents that the sun
irradiance increases and the voltage of the maximum power point rises.
Meanwhile, the maximum power point tracker has to raise the operating voltage of
On the contrary, the sun irradiance decreases and the voltage of the maximum
power point reduces if dI< 0. At this time the maximum power point tracker needs
modules are located on the left side of the maximum power point in the P-V
diagram, and have to be raised in order to track the maximum power point.
the right side of the maximum power point in the P-V diagram, and has to be
reduced in order to track the maximum power point. The advantage of the
MPPT algorithms, is that it can calculate and find the exact perturbation direction
for the operating voltage of PV modules. In theory, when the maximum power
point is found by the judgment conditions (dI/dV= I/V and dI= 0) of the
algorithms. The value of operating voltage is then fixed. However, it indicates that
perturbation phenomenon is still happened near the maximum power point under
stable weather conditions after doing some experiments. This is due to the reason
Inputs: V(t),I(t),V(t-t),I(t-t)
P(t),P(t-t) calculated from the inputs
V = V(t) V(t-t)
P = P(t) P(t -t)
I = I(t) I(t - t)
V/P = 0 YES
I/P = 0
NO
V/P >0
I/P < 0
NO
YES
Return
slope of the curve power vs. voltage (current) of the PV module is zero at the MPP,
positive (negative) on the left of it and negative (positive) on the right, as can be
By comparing the increment of the power vs. the increment of the voltage (current)
between two consecutives samples, the change in the MPP voltage can be
determined.
CHAPTER 5
motor control. With fast simulation, friendly user interface and waveform
The PSIM simulation package consists of three programs: circuit schematic editor
sensors, and switch controllers. The figure below shows the relationship between
these blocks.
The power circuit consists of switching devices, RLC branches, transformers, and
Components in s domain and z domain, logic components (such as logic gates and
flip flops), and nonlinear components (such as multipliers and dividers) can be
used in the control circuit. Sensors measure power circuit voltages and currents and
pass the values to the control circuit. Gating signals are then generated from the
control circuit and sent back to the power circuit through switch controllers to
control switches.
5.3 SOLAR CELL MODELS
Two types of solar cells models are provided. One is the functional model that
requires the minimum parameter inputs, and the other is the physical model that
can take into account the light intensity and ambient temperature variations.
Simulation Output:
Fig 5.8 Curve showing wrong tracking of MPP by P&O algorithm under rapidly varying
irradiance
In a situation where the irradiance changes rapidly, the MPP also moves on the
right hand side of the curve. The algorithm takes it as a change due to perturbation
and in the next iteration it changes the direction of perturbation and hence goes
However, in this algorithm we use only one sensor, that is the voltage sensor, to
sense the PV array voltage and so the cost of implementation is less and hence easy
to implement. The time complexity of this algorithm is very less but on reaching
very close to the MPP it doesnt stop at the MPP and keeps on perturbing in both
the directions. When this happens the algorithm has reached very close to the MPP
and we can set an appropriate error limit or can use a wait function which ends up
In order to compare the accuracy and efficiency of the two MPPT algorithms
selected in this project, PSIM Software package is used to implement the tasks of
modeling and simulation. The PV module used in the PV system is the product of
cells in series, and the electrical specification tested by the factory under
Ipv
DC to DC
Vpv Vout Load
Converter
Photovoltaic
Vpv
Ipv
MPPT
Controller pulses
power corresponding to the two treated MPPT controlled methods has been
obtained from the output graphs (above) and its comparison details are given
below table
And moreover, from the data points of the MPPT Power output curve, the
The efficiency of two different methods under two different weather conditions are
Time Ripples
Average Power
Response Amplitude
Perturb & Observe Method 4.08ms 53 watt 12 watt
Incremental Conductance
4.37ms 59.52 watt 1.6 watt
Method
Incremental method can calculate the direction, for which the arrays point
Incremental method should not oscillate about the MPP once it reaches it,
Incremental method does not go on the wrong direction when conditions in the
5.8 Conclusion
The sun is at the origin of the quasi-totality of the sources of energies used by the
humanity for its food, domestic and industrial needs. The solar energy is important
because it is non-pollutant energy. In this project, the conversion from solar energy
to electrical one is treated. In this case, the model of a photocell and a solar panel
are presented. The Perturb and observe and the incremental conductance
methods are used to maximize the output power. The flow chart of each method
had been explained and discussed. With the incremental conductance method,
compared to the perturb and observe method, simulation results underline that the
time response is small, the existing ripples have low amplitude and the average