e-ISSN (O): 2348-4470

Scientific Journal of Impact Factor (SJIF): 4.72

p-ISSN (P): 2348-6406

International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research

Development
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017

DESIGN AND SIMULATION OF MPPT OF PV ARRAY USING DC-DC BOOST

CONVERTER
1 Mihir J Parikh, 2Monali M Parikh

Abstract: With the decrease in the price of PV modules and the increase in the price of traditional petrochemical fuels for
generation energy, the employment of PV generator (PVG) becomes more practical, feasible and realizable. To achieve high
step-up and high efficiency DC/DC converters is the major consideration in the renewable power applications due to the low
voltage of PV arrays and fuel cells. This paper presents the simulation of boost converter for solar installation using a
simple maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method. Using maximum power point tracker with the intermediate converter
can increase the system efficiency by matching the PV systems to the load. The simulation is carried out in PSIM.

1. INTRODUCTION

Worldwide use of dependable fossil fuels has resulted in the emission of greenhouse gases, especially emission of carbon-
dioxide and methane that alarms the effects of global warming. Also with the increase of the human population and the rapid
growth in the worldwide economic, the demand of the electricity has increased tremendously. Moreover, we do know fossil
fuel and its possibilities is not a solution to our power crisis; knowing how the cost of fossil fuels is increasing day by day,
and its demerits. So on the basis of global front, creating the use of solar energy, which is clean, sustainable, renewable and
good for Environment seems to be one of the best options. This has given a new opportunity for the renewable energy where
normally the cost of installation and production of energy will be higher. One of this renewable energy
is the energy from the sun or also known as solar energy.
The optimal operation of a PV system is important due to the low efficiency of solar panels. The output characteristic of a PV
system is nonlinear and varies with ambient temperatures and solar irradiance levels. Therefore, a MPPT technique is
required to obtain maximum power from a PV system. MPPT is used in photovoltaic (PV) systems to maximize the
photovoltaic array output power, irrespective of the temperature and radiation conditions and of the load electrical
characteristics with the use of DC-DC converter.
Tracking the maximum power point (MPP) of a photovoltaic (PV) array is usually an essential part of a PV system. As such,
many MPP tracking (MPPT) methods have been developed and implemented. The problem considered by MPPT techniques
is to automatically find the voltage or current at which a PV array should operate to obtain the maximum power output under
a given temperature irradiance.
Peak power is reached with the help pf a DC-DC converter between the photovoltaic generator and the load by adjusting the
duty cycle. The automatic tracking can be performed by utilizing various algorithms. Those algorithms are the heart of the
MPPT controller. This paper presents Perturb and Observe method to extract maximum possible power from solar panel. It
changes the duty cycle of the dc-dc converters to maximize the power output of the module and make it operate at the peak
power point of the module.
2. MPPT

To maximize power extracted from PV module an MPPT is utilized. An MPPT is a device that finds maximum power point
of a PV module and keeps it at that operating point. Perturb and Observe (P & O) method of MPPT is generally used because
of its simplicity and ease of implementation. The switch mode DC-DC boost converter circuit for MPP tracking is designed
to match impedance between load and PV panel and maximum power transfer to load.
To implement P&O, the control objective is to find maximum power point by following an intended array voltage, which is
achieved by modulating the pulse width of control signal. Fig. 1 shows the block diagram of PV system with MPPT. The
input of boost converter is connected to PV array and output is connected to load. MPPT block receives V pv and Ipv signals

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

from PV array. The output of MPPT clock is series of pulses. These pulses are given to boost converter. Converter works
based on these pulses to make the PV system operate at Maximum power point.

Fig. 1: Block diagram of PV system with MPPT

2.1 DC-DC Boost Converter
Switched mode dc-dc converter converts unregulated dc input voltage into regulated dc output voltage at a specified voltage
level. Switching power supplies offer much more efficiency and power density compare to linear power supplies. Converters
are controlled by pulse width modulation (PWM) duty cycle since the output of converter being determined by state of
transistor switch. Thus optimum load impedance of PV module is achieved by varying duty cycle.

Design Specifications for DC-DC converter:

Input power, Pi= 1000 W
Input dc voltage, Vs = 36 V
Input dc current, Ii = 1000/36= 27.77 A
Output dc voltage, Vo = 340 V
Switching frequency, fs = 20KHz
Assuming inductor Current Ripple equal to 5 % and capacitor voltage ripple equal to2 %
Therefore, we get inductor L=1.166 mH
And capacitor C= 18.62uF

2.2 Perturb and Observe algorithm

The efficiency of solar cell is very low. In order to increase the efficiency methods should be undertaken to match the
source and load properly. One such method is MPPT. MPPT technique is used to obtain the maximum possible power from a
varying source. In PV systems V-I characteristics is nonlinear, thereby making it difficult to be used to power a certain load.
This is done by utilizing boost converter whose duty cycle is varied by using MPPT algorithm.

The Perturb & Observe algorithm states that when the operating voltage of the PV panel is perturbed by a small
increment, if the resulting change in power P is positive, then we are going in the direction of MPP and we keep on
perturbing in the same direction. If P is negative, we are going away from the direction of MPP and the sign of perturbation
supplied has to be changed. Fig.2 shows the plot of module output power versus module voltage for a solar panel at a given
irradiation. The point marked as MPP is the Maximum Power Point, the theoretical maximum output obtainable from the PV
panel. Consider A and B as two operating points. As shown in the figure above, the point A is on the left hand side of the
MPP. Therefore, we can move towards the MPP by providing a positive perturbation to the voltage. On the other hand, point
B is on the right hand side of the MPP. When we give a positive perturbation, the value of P becomes negative, thus it is
imperative to change the direction of perturbation to achieve MPP.

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

Fig. 2: Solar Panel Characteristics showing MPP and operating points A and B

2.3 Control strategy for implementation of Perturb and Observe method.

Fig. 3 shows the control strategy for Perturb and Observe method for achieving MPP.

Fig. 3: Flow chart of Perturb and Observe Algorithm

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

The variations of the output voltage & power before and after changes are then observed and compared to the reference for
increasing or decreasing the load in the next step. The advantage of the perturb &observation method are simple structure
easy implementation and less required parameter. This algorithm is not suitable when the variation in the solar irradiation is
high. The voltage never actually reaches an exact value but perturbs around the maximum power at MPP.

3. SIMULATION AND RESULTS

Simulation of solar panel with MPPT block is as shown in fig.4. It consists of solar panel block, a boost converter and a
MPPT block.

Fig. 4 Simulation of Solar Panel with MPPT Block

The output of MPPT blocks controls the switching cycle of the MOSFET used in boost converter which acts as a switch.
Initially the voltage and current measured by the voltage sensor and current sensor are used as a input to the MPPT block.
Multiplier block is used to multiply the voltage and current signals and then pass it to integrator block to check dv/dt. Then
output of this is checked whether the change in power is greater than zero or not. If dP/dV is greater than zero then reference
voltage is equal to Vref dV. Otherwise reference voltage is equal to Vref + dV. Later it is compared with triangular wave
signal. If output of the comparator is high then it sends the gating signal to turn ON the MOSFET. Similarly when output of
the comparator is low it sends the gating signal to turn OFF the MOSFET.

Fig. 5Result of output voltage and power at full load of R=125ohms.

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

Fig. 6Result of output voltage and power at Half load of R=250ohms.

Fig. 7Result of step change in output voltage and power at load varying from half to full i.e R=250ohms.to 125 ohms.

Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 shows the output voltage and power respectively with load resistance varying from full load to half load.
Fig. 7 shows the step change in output voltage and power respectively with load resistance varying from full load to half load
at time instant of 0.04 seconds. In both the cases it can be observed that the output power remains constant at its maximum
power point which approximately 1KW.

4. CONCLUSION

This paper presents the simulation of boost converter using Maximum Power Point Tracking method. The maximum power
point tracking technique is used to deliver maximum possible power from the solar array. Using maximum power point
tracker with the intermediate converter can increase the system efficiency by matching the PV systems to the load.Control
strategy of P and O method the boost converter itself changes its duty cycle to track the maximum power point at load.

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 International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development (IJAERD)
Volume 4, Issue 2, February -2017, e-ISSN: 2348 - 4470, print-ISSN: 2348-6406

REFRENCES

1) B. M Hasaneen,Adel A. Elbaset Mohammed:Design And Simulation Of DC/DC Boost Converter,December 2008

2) Comparison of Photovoltaic Array Maximum Power Point Tracking Techniques, TrishanEsram, Student Conversion,vol.
22, no. 2, june 2007.

3) Chowdhury, A.S.K.; Razzak M.A.; Single Phase Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Inverter for Residential Application with
Maximum Power Point Tracking, 2013

4) M D Singh and K B Khanchandani, Power Electronics, 2nd Edition, Tata McGraw-Hill Companies.

5) Improvement of the Perturb and Observe MPPTAlgorithm in a Photovoltaic System under Rapidly Changing Climatic
Conditions Ali Chermitti, OmarBoukli-Hacene International Journal of Computer Applications Volume 56 No.12,
October 2012.

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