Power tracking for nonlinear PV sources with coupled inductor SEPIC converter

The photovoltaic (PV) generator exhibits a nonlinear i-v characteristic and its maximum power (MP) point varies with solar insolation. In this paper, a V2-based MP point tracking (MPPT) scheme is developed using a buck-boost transformation topology. Although several buck-boost transformation topologies are available we have considered here a coupled inductor SEPIC converter for experimentation. To achieve almost ripple-free array current we have used ripple steering phenomena with the help of integrated inductor. This integrated inductor not only reduces the magnetic core requirements but also improves converter performance. Mathematical models are formulated and tracking algorithm is evolved. A combined PV system simulation model is developed in the SIMULINK. For a given solar insolation, the tracking algorithm changes the duty ratio of the converter such that the solar cell array (SCA) voltage equals the voltage corresponding to the MP point. This is done by the tracking algorithm, which mainly computes the power proportional to square of terminal voltage and changes the duty ratio of the converter so that this power is maximum. The proposed algorithm is implemented in real-time with the help of Analog Device ADMC-401 DSP evaluation module. The tracking program is developed to perform experimental investigations using analog-to-digital converter (ADC) interrupt. Using this processor we are able to track the MP within 200 ms. The proposed peak power tracking effectiveness is demonstrated through simulation and experimental results.     

Feedforward maximum power point tracking of PV systems using fuzzy controller

A feedforward maximum power (MP) point tracking scheme is developed for the interleaved dual boost (IDB) converter fed photovoltaic (PV) system using fuzzy controller. The tracking algorithm changes the duty ratio of the converter such that the solar cell array (SCA) voltage equals the voltage corresponding to the MP point at that solar insolation. This is done by the feedforward loop, which generates an error signal by comparing the instantaneous array voltage and reference voltage. The reference voltage for the feedforward loop, corresponding to the MP point, is obtained by an off-line trained neural network. Experimental data is used for off-line training of the neural network, which employs back-propagation algorithm. The proposed fuzzy feedforward peak power tracking effectiveness is demonstrated through the simulation and experimental results, and compared with the conventional proportional plus integral (PI) controller based system. Finally, a comparative study of interleaved boost and conventional boost converter for the PV applications is given and their suitability is discussed.     

基于预测电流控制的光伏并网系统最大功率点跟踪算法

针对光伏发电的突变性及昼发夜停特性提出一种新型的基于预测电流控制的光伏并网系统最大功率点跟踪(MPPT)算法。根据实际情况考虑光伏阵列的非线性特性,最大功率点周围光伏电压的振荡及逆变器、滤波器的设计等。为了确保系统采用控制算法的稳定性,MPPT的设计应运而生,在此基础上通过改进算法从光伏系统的电压与电流预测基准电流进而控制光伏并网系统。通过与传统的波动相关控制方法对比给出了仿真结果。仿真结果表明:在光照发生突变时,与传统的波动相关控制法相比,提出的改进算法的跟踪速度较之提升9.3%,并能够准确跟踪光伏并网系统最大功率点,且性能稳定可靠。     

MPPT of photovoltaic systems using extremum - seeking control

A stability analysis for a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) scheme based on extremum-seeking control is developed for a photovoltaic (PV) array supplying a dc-to-dc switching converter. The global stability of the extremum-seeking algorithm is demonstrated by means of Lyapunov's approach. Subsequently, the algorithm is applied to an MPPT system based on the "perturb and observe" method. The steady-state behavior of the PV system with MPPT control is characterized by a stable oscillation around the maximum power point. The tracking algorithm leads the array coordinates to the maximum power point by increasing or decreasing linearly with time the array voltage. Off-line measurements are not required by the control law, which is implemented by means of an analog multiplier, standard operational amplifiers, a flip-flop circuit and a pulsewidth modulator. The effectiveness of the proposed MPPT scheme is demonstrated experimentally under different operating conditions.     

Single-phase grid-connected PV system using three-arm rectifier-inverter

A grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power supply system with on-line voltage regulation capability is presented. It employs the three-arm rectifier-inverter topology with PV modules connected directly on the dc-link. The common-arm is with line-frequency switching and synchronous to the input voltage, aiming for a lower switching loss and decoupling the control of rectifier and inverter portions. As a result, the rectifier and inverter portions can be controlled independently with the rectifier-arm and inverter-arm, respectively. For maximum power point tracking (MPFF) of the PV modules and balancing the power among utility, PV, and the load, a variable dc-link voltage is adopted and controlled by the rectifier-arm based on the MPPT control algorithm. The inverter-arm then regulates the load voltage with good regulation and low distortion. Due to large variation of the dc-link voltage, a feedforward plus feedback control technique with variable gain is developed to keep constant bandwidth of the current loop at any operation condition. Therefore, the performance of the rectifier and inverter portions can be ensured. A system containing a 2 kVA converter and a 1.2 kW PV module is set up, and some experimental results are provided for demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

永磁直驱风电系统中最大功率点跟踪控制优化的仿真研究

分析了风力机特性、永磁直驱电机模型、变换器控制策略及各种功率跟踪控制算法优缺点,并提出一种基于爬山搜索法的最大功率点跟踪(MPPT)控制方法的优化。在MATLAB/Simulink环境下搭建了永磁直驱风力发电系统模型,仿真分析了控制方法对最大功率点的跟踪效果,结果表明当风机起动及风速变化时MPPT控制方法能够使系统快速稳定在新的工作点,捕获得最大功率。由此验证了改进优化后的控制方法及所搭建模型的准确性与有效性。     

基于TS模型的模糊神经网络光伏MPPT控制

为了克服传统最大功率点跟踪(MPPT)方法的一些缺点,使光伏系统更加快速准确地工作在最大功率输出点,提出了基于模糊控制和神经网络控制相结合的自适应控制方法。该方法充分利用模糊神经网络处理非线性问题的优点,通过模糊控制来改变步长,利用神经网络的自学习能力来快速达到平衡,使光伏MPPT在跟踪速度和稳定性之间达到一个较优的平衡。仿真和试验结果表明,基于模糊神经网络自适应控制的MPPT方法具有较强的鲁棒性和自适应能力。     

考虑局部遮挡的太阳能无人机能源控制

针对太阳能无人机在飞行状态下可能出现的太阳能电池局部遮挡情况，开展相应的太阳能电池最大功率点追踪算法和能源控制研究。通过将发光亮度引入相对吸引力计算过程对萤火虫算法进行改进，实现了局部阴影情况下太阳能电池最大功率点的高效追踪。以此为基础，设计了考虑局部遮挡情况下太阳能无人机的太阳能电池/蓄电池混合能源状态机控制规则。以"蒲公英I"无人机为例，建立了太阳能电池阵列模型，开展了考虑局部遮挡情况下太阳能电池最大功率点追踪仿真实验；基于"蒲公英I"飞行剖面，开展了考虑局部遮挡情况的混合能源控制仿真试验。研究结果表明：改进的萤火虫算法可以实现在局部阴影情况下太阳能电池最大功率点的有效跟踪，与萤火虫算法相比收敛时间更短、且功率波动幅度更小；采用改进萤火虫算法和状态机能源管理策略，在考虑局部遮挡的飞行状态下可以实现太阳能电池/蓄电池之间的合理功率分配与控制。     

Predictive & Adaptive MPPT Perturb and Observe Method

The perturb and observe (P&O) best operation conditions are investigated in order to identify the edge efficiency performances of this most popular maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique for photovoltaic (PV) applications. It is shown that P&O may guarantee top-level efficiency, provided that a proper predictive (by means of a parabolic interpolation of the last three operating points) and adaptive (based on the measure of the actual power) hill climbing strategy is adopted. The approach proposed is aimed at realizing, in addition to absolute best tracking performances, high robustness and promptness both in sunny and cloudy weather conditions. The power gain with respect to standard P&O technique is proved by means of simulation results and experimental measurements performed on a low power system. Besides the performance improvements, it is shown that the proposed approach allows possible reduction of hardware costs of analog-to-digital (A/D) converters used in the MPPT control circuitry.     

Optimized one-cycle control in photovoltaic grid connected applications

The use of one-cycle control (OCC) for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and power factor correction (PFC) in grid connected photovoltaic (PV) applications is discussed. Circuit and operating parameters of the one cycle-based controller of a cost-effective single-stage inverter are optimized in order to obtain the best performances of the system under different irradiance levels. Firstly, design constraints are formulated which allow to get a very efficient OCC operation in terms of power extracted from the PV array, stability, and PFC. Afterwards, such constraints are used to perform the parametric optimization of the one cycle controller by means of suitable heuristic approaches. Various selection criteria of the best parameters set under different conditions are discussed and applied. Finally, a customized perturb and observe (P&O) control is applied to the optimized one cycle controlled single-stage inverter in order to perform a real MPPT in presence of varying irradiance conditions. Subjects described here are covered by the Italian Patent Application SA2005A000014-13.07.2005 and PCT Application PCT/IT2005/000747-20.12.2005     

Large-signal stability analysis of solar array power system

A large-signal stability analysis of the solar array regulator system is performed to facilitate the design and analysis of a low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite power system. The effective load characteristics of various control methods in the solar array regulator system, such as the constant power load, variable power load, constant voltage load, constant current load, and constant resistive load, are classified to analyze the large-signal stability. Then, using the state plane analysis technique, the large-signal behavior of the solar array system is portrayed and the stability of various equilibrium points is analyzed. Thus, this approach can be contributed to organize the optimal controller structure of the system by representing the relationship between the control method of the solar array regulator and the large-signal stability. For the verification of the proposed large-signal analysis, a solar array regulator system that consists of two 100 W parallel module buck converters has been built and tested using a real 200 W solar array.     

Space vector modulation strategy for an eight-switch three-phase NPC converter

A three-phase neutral point clamped (NPC) converter is presented for power factor correction and dc-link voltage regulation. A simplified space vector pulsewidth modulation scheme (SVPWM) is adopted to track line current commands. Using a simplified SVPWM algorithm, the calculated time for the time duration of voltage vector is reduced. The adopted NPC converter has less power switches compared with the conventional three-level NPC converter. Only eight power switches and four clamping diodes with voltage stress of half the dc bus voltage are used in the circuit configuration. Based on the proposed control algorithm, a reference voltage vector is generated on the ac terminal for drawing the sinusoidal line currents with unity power factor. Computer simulation and experimental results based on a laboratory prototype are presented to verify the validity and effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.     

Design and implementation of a sensorless switched reluctance drivesystem

This paper presents a new sensorless switched reluctance drive system. The drive system can perform well when the system is operated in the pulse-width modulated (PWM) region. By suitably shaping an induced voltage in an inactive phase which is adjacent to an energized phase of a switched reluctance motor (SRM), the shaft position of the rotor can be easily obtained. As a result, the position sensor can be eliminated. First, the theoretical analysis of the proposed method is presented. By systematic theoretical analysis, a voltage signal which can easily estimate the shaft position of the motor is derived. This signal is only related to the input dc voltage of the converter, and the self and mutual inductances of the motor. Then, a new method to measure the self and mutual inductances of the SRM is proposed. After that, the design for a simple circuit which can synthesize the required voltage signal for rotor position estimation is presented. Next, how a 32-bit microprocessor system is used to execute the position and speed estimation, speed-loop control, and current-commands generation is shown. A closed-loop drive system is thus achieved. Several simulated and experimental results validate the theoretical analysis. A new direction in the design and implementation of a sensorless switched reluctance drive system is presented     

Novel single-phase AC/DC converter with two PWM control schemes

A novel single-phase AC/DC converter with two pulsewidth modulation (PWM) schemes is proposed to draw a sinusoidal line current with nearly unity power factor, achieve balanced neutral point voltage and regulate the DC bus voltage. With the aid of neutral point clamped scheme, a three-level voltage pattern is generated on the AC side of the proposed rectifier. To track the tine current command derived from a voltage controller and a phase-locked loop circuit, a hysteresis current control scheme is used in the inner loop control. A capacitor voltage compensator is employed to achieve the balanced neutral point voltage. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme, the simulation and experimental results based on a laboratory prototype circuit are performed.     

一种具有电压支撑功能的改进无功注入策略

电压跌落是输配电系统面临的最严重的问题之一。随着分布式光伏电源在电力系统中的渗透率越来越高,国内外最新标准要求光伏逆变器必须具备低电压穿越能力。为了消除有功功率振荡,在传统的正/负序控制基础上提出了一种改进的有功/无功注入策略；针对现有电压支撑方法缺乏电压抬升范围控制,将三相电压幅值作为控制目标,详细推导了适用于不同电压跌落情况下的数学模型,得出为保证各相电压均保持在安全运行范围之内所需注入无功功率参考值。仿真结果验证了所提策略的正确性和有效性。     

Battery charger design for the Columbus MTFF power system

A novel pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) dc-dc converter topology is proposed for the battery charge regulator (BCR) of the Columbus Man-Tended Free-Flyer (MTFF) power system. The system is a regulated bus system. Bus voltage control is implemented at the input of the BCR. The use of a conventional buck topology with PWM conductance control at the input results in a second-order behavior. A study of new PWM dc-dc converter topologies has been made to attain a suitable topology. The proposed converter topology is designed and a breadboard including the control loop has been built and tested. The experimental results show that the converter operates according to the design constraints.     

Self-Adapting dc Converter for Solar Spacecraft Power Supply Selbstanpassender Gleichstromwandler für die Energieversorgung eines Sonnensatelliten

The voltage-current characteristic of solar cells that provide power for a spacecraft can vary over a wide range. For maximum power transfer from the solar cells to the battery system a power converter has to be designed that adjusts its input impedance to a value equal to the output impedance determined by the operating power characteristic of the solar cells. This paper discusses a circuit and calculations for a design to match this condition. The proposed power converter is simple, lightweight, and reliable and will be used in the Sunblazer satellite.     

Resonant inverters for photovoltaic array to utility interface

A number of high-frequency link power converter schemes suitable for interconnecting a photovoltaic (PV) array to the utility line using resonant inverters are presented. Use of high-frequency resonant inverters (HFRI) results in reduced size, weight and cost. Scheme 1 uses the HFRI-cycloconverter, scheme 2 uses the HFRI-rectifier pulsewidth-modulated voltage source inverter, scheme 3 uses the HFRI-rectifier line commutated inverter working with a fixed maximum possible inverting fringe angle, and scheme 4 uses the HFRI-rectifier line-connected inverter (with line current modulation). These schemes are compared. Based on the comparison, scheme 3 was selected for an initial study. To overcome various problems associated with scheme 3, the line current is modulated sinusoidally in scheme 4. In this scheme, the HFRI is controlled appropriately to obtain a rectified sine wave of 120 Hz in the DC link and the function of the line-connected inverter is to unfold this waveform on alternate half cycles to obtain a sinusoidal line current with the line voltage. Methods of commutation of the line connected inverter are explained. Experimental results obtained with scheme 4 are presented     

高空驻留太阳能飞机主动式光伏组件面功率特性研究

 光伏组件面功率特性是影响太阳能飞机性能指标的关键因素之一。首先建立了考虑光伏组件表面温度、太阳能飞机飞行高度、纬度及一年四季等因素的光伏组件面功率模型,分析了光伏组件在一年范围内的日均直射、日均水平面功率随飞行高度、纬度和季节等关键设计指标参数的变化规律,对比研究了3种跟踪采能方式下的主动式光伏组件(TPM)的逐时、日均面功率特性。结果表明:在一天的光照时间内和全年范围内,主动式光伏组件能显著提高光伏组件的面功率特性。然后,参考了典型的太阳能飞机"Helios"和"Zephyr",综合考虑能源与气动特性,初步设计了一种采用主动式光伏组件的高空驻留太阳能飞机布局方案,通过分析其日均净面功率特性得出:合理设计主动式光伏组件,可以显著提高太阳能飞机的日均净面功率约32%~66%,甚至可达116%。这些结论均说明,从采能效率和气动特性两方面综合来说,所提出的基于主动式光伏组件的布局设计思想在高空驻留太阳能飞机总体布局设计时具有良好的应用优势。