Modeling and simulation of a grid-connected PV system under varying environmental conditions

Abstract

With the rapid increase of the requirement of electricity demand throughout the world, renewable energy resources (RERs) particularly solar photovoltaic (PV) is a viable alternative to mitigate the global energy crisis. With the advantages of being inexhaustible, abundant, and clean, PV is considered as one of the most useful RER. Besides, the power efficiency of SolarPV is highly affected by variations of solar irradiance and temperature of the solar cells. Hence, the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) controller is used to control the switching dutycycle of the power converters which ultimately maximize the output power of the PV array. In this paper, a case study of 240-kW solar PV array is performed in MATLAB/Simulink environment. Simulation is performed on ‘SunPower SPR-400E-WHT-D’ PV array which is comprised of 88 parallel strings and 7 series connected modules per string. The impact of variable weather conditions (irradiance and temperature) is analysed. Moreover, the 240-kW PV array is connected to 20 kV grid using boost converter and Voltage Source Converter (VSC). Inthis way, the inverted AC output power is coupled with the AC grid. This bidirectional output power with unity power factor can be utilized by industrial/commercial consumers to fulfil theirenergy demands. In this study, the results are presented to prove that the maximum power fluctuations during rapid weather changing conditions can be reduced and a collaboration in theinstallation of PV system can be provided.