DESIGN, SIMULATION AND HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION OF EFFICIENT SOLAR POWER CONVERTER WITH HIGH MPP TRACKING ACCURACY FOR DC MICROGRID APPLICATIONS

Abstract

This work includes a high step up voltage gain DC-DC converter for DC microgrid applications. The DC microgrid can be utilized for rural electrification, UPS support, Electronic lighting systems and Electrical vehicles. The whole system consists of a Photovoltaic panel (PV), High step up DC-DC converter with Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) and DC microgrid. The entire system is optimized with both MPPT and converter separately. The MPP can be tracked by Incremental Conductance (IC) MPPT technique modified with D-Sweep (Duty ratio Sweep). D-sweep technique reduces the problem of multiple local maxima. Converter optimization includes a high step up DC-DC converter which comprises of both coupled inductor and switched capacitors. This increases the gain up to twenty times with high efficiency. Both converter optimization and MPPT optimization increases overall system efficiency. MATLAB/simulink model is implemented. Hardware of the system can be implemented by either voltage mode control or current mode control.