Model Predictive Controller Design of a Wavelength-Based Thermo-Electrical Model of a Photovoltaic (PV) Module for Optimal Output Power

Abstract

As it stands, in terms of environmental impact and efficiency, photovoltaic (PV) energy has appeared to be a potential renewable power source that notably contends with the traditional power generation schemes. More so, a noteworthy factor that contrariwise influences the PV module efficiency is the PV module temperature. Therefore, the more the PV module temperature increases, the lesser the PV module efficiency. More importantly, the impact of undesired spectrum wavelengths on the PV module temperature is further reduced by passive optical filters, nonetheless, active optical filters which is more superior to the passive type, based on the PV module temperature and output power during the day, dynamically change the cut-off wavelength. Consequently, the efficiency as well as the lifecycle is both enhanced by controlling the active optical filter so as to attain optimal output power. Therefore, in this paper, a wavelength-based thermo-electrical model of a PV module was designed and simulated, the essence of this model is mainly to predict the impact of each module wavelength on both the temperature and the output power of the PV module. In view of this, since the output power is affluence by the module temperature, it is expedient to design a controller that locates the optimal cut-off spectral wavelength to lessen the module temperature whereas getting the most out of the output power over a period of time. In this vein, we designed a Model Predictive Controller whose objective is to maximize the output power by simply controlling the input power through filtering the spectrum wavelength for a photovoltaic (PV) system. The design and simulation of the plant model as well as the MPC controller were carried-out on MATLAB/Simulink environment.