Control of a DC/DC converter by fuzzy controller for a solar pumping system

Abstract

The exploitation of the solar energy is very significant for the very sunny countries. Moreover the dryness phenomenon in these country is imposes more and more the use of pumping plants. The storage of the water in insulated basins from the wells has a double advantage. On the one hand, it is a technical storage solution of the solar energy collected by the photovoltaic panels. On the other hand, it is a hygienic way out to supply water for the rural population. In our work, we propose a technique for the identification of the maximum power point (MPP) based on fuzzy logic. This method is used to generate the cyclic ratio to operate the switcher within the maximum power of a photovoltaic array (PVA). For simulation purpose we made a complete modeling of the entire system. The system carried out consists of a photovoltaic array supplying, through a DC converter, a direct current (DC) engine coupled to a centrifugal pump. Our experimental bench consists of two principal units. A DC converter module composed of IGBT power transistors. And a processing module connected to a PC serial port, handling the input signals delivered by photovoltaic generator and controlling the power unit. The obtained experimental results confirm the simulation result which is very satisfactory and show the utility of the fuzzy controller for the optimization of the system.