Simulation of Photovoltaic Power Generation Systems

Chisha Ignitius Mwila          

2017-2021

Bachelor in Electrical Engineering and Its Automation

ABSTRACT

Solar photovoltaic power generation is an alternative renewable energy source and has had a rapidly growing market since the last decade. This is because solar cells are the most viable, most reliable and environmental friendly energy source. Photovoltaic power also has a lot of applications, some include; solar farms, power in space for earth orbiting satellites, for distributed energy applications and in remote locations where constructing a power grid to such places would otherwise be cost ineffective.

This paper provides an in-depth study of a Grid Connected photovoltaic power generation system with Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). The MATLAB simulation presented is a two stage grid connected photovoltaic system with a boost converter and an inverter. The perturb and observation (P&O) algorithm is used to control the maximum power output of the solar array. The goal is to ensure a constant voltage output from the boost converter for varying irradiance. The inverter is responsible for maintaining the DC link voltage constant. To accomplish this, a DC link voltage loop, and the direct axis inverter current, and quadrature axis current components, are used to control the outer and inner control loops respectively. The proportional integral controller (PI) and pulse width modulation (PWM) are also used for control of the DC link voltage. The output of the inverter is passed through a filter and then coupled to a 3-phase grid. For this simulation, the grid is equivalent to a voltage series impedance.

KEY WORDS: PV power generation, MPPT, Grid-connected, Converter