Abstract
DC/DC converters are widely used in photovoltaic (PV) systems to track the maximum power points (MPP) of a photovoltaic generator (PVG). The variation of solar radiation (G) and PV cells temperature (T) affect the power efficiency of these DC/DC converters because they change the MPP, thus a sizing adaptation of the component values in these DC/DC converters is needed. Power loss in the inductor due to core saturation can severely degrade power efficiency. This paper proposes a new method that allows to adapt the inductor values according to the variable output power of the PV array in order to minimize losses and improve the converter power efficiency. The main idea is to replace the DC/DC inductor with a coupled inductor where the DC/DC inductor value is adjusted through an additional winding in the magnetic core that modulates the magnetic field inside it. Low current intensities from the PVG supply this winding through a circuit controlled by a fuzzy logic controller in order to regulate the second winding current intensity. Experimental results show a significant improvement of the power efficiency of the proposed solution as compared to a conventional converter.
Highlights
It is very apparent that the interest in photovoltaic power generation has strongly increased in recent years
To remedy the latter problem, specific control techniques were proposed and developed from 1968 until now in such a manner that these photovoltaic generators (PVG) produce their maximum electrical power [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. This type of control is called Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) where the main function provided by the designed control laws is to ensure to extract the maximum power point (MPP) all the time
It is apparent that the proposed converter maintains a power efficiency as high as 92% when the solar radiation is high, i.e., when the input current saturates the core of the inductor of the conventional converter, and the efficiency of which lowers to 80%
Summary
It is very apparent that the interest in photovoltaic power generation has strongly increased in recent years. PV cells temperature (T) and solar radiation (G) influence this characteristic [3,4,5], which change the electrical power produced by such PVG To remedy the latter problem, specific control techniques were proposed and developed from 1968 until now in such a manner that these PVG produce their maximum electrical power [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. This type of control is called Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) where the main function provided by the designed control laws is to ensure to extract the maximum power point (MPP) all the time. This is generally assured by DC/DC converters [8,9,10,11,12,13] (see Figure 1)
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