Dynamic reconfiguration of photovoltaic energy harvesting system in hybrid electric vehicles

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) energy harvesting system is a promising energy source for battery replenishment in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs.) The PV cell array is installed on different parts of a vehicle body such as the engine hood, door panels, and the roof panel. Non-uniformity of the solar irradiance and temperature on the PV cell array is, however, a serious obstacle to efficient utilization of the PV system in HEVs because such variation, if not managed properly, can result in a significant degradation in the overall output power level of the PV system. This paper presents a dynamic PV array reconfiguration technique with structural support and a dynamic programming-based algorithm with polynomial time complexity to produce the near-optimal reconfiguration of the PV array on the HEV. The goal of this technique is to maximize the PV system output power under any solar irradiance and temperature distribution on the PV array. We demonstrate up to 6X improvement in the output power of a PV system against a conventional fixed configuration PV system.

Improving performance of photovoltaic panel by reconfigurability in partial shading condition

“…Besides that, the embedded computing system will also generate and send the reset and clock signal to all APS switches present in the reconfigurable PV module. Over the years, many different kinds of embedded systems are used, such as computers, 32,33,37 field programmable gate array, 38,39 and Raspberry PI. 42 Algorithm.…”

“…[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] A PV module embedded with complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) switches has recently been proposed as an alternative to the SP-based PV module with bypass diode. [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] Studies have shown that PV modules embedded with switches have better capability for dealing with partial shading, mismatch issues, and faulty conditions. 32,33,35,37 Additionally, such PV modules reconfigure in real-time (i.e., an number of PV cells connected in series × number of cells connected in parallel change), which enables creating a power island.…”

“…[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] Studies have shown that PV modules embedded with switches have better capability for dealing with partial shading, mismatch issues, and faulty conditions. 32,33,35,37 Additionally, such PV modules reconfigure in real-time (i.e., an number of PV cells connected in series × number of cells connected in parallel change), which enables creating a power island. 36 Among all switches, CMOS-based switches are ideal for creating a reconfigurable PV module, since they can be easily integrated with PV cells in a single die, i.e., monolithic CMOS-on-PV.…”

Fast photovoltaic array reconfiguration for partial solar powered vehicles

“…Reference work [6,7] suggested dynamic PV array reconfiguration to combat partial shading. The proposed reconfiguration technique can make both the shaded and lighted PV cells work at or close to their MPPs simultaneously, thereby improving the PV system output power.…”

“…This paper introduces a fast PV cell array reconfiguration for the partial solar powered EV. We borrow the dynamic PV module reconfiguration architecture from previous work [6,7,8]. However, the solar irradiance levels are rapidly changing in the case of PV modules on the vehicle due to nearby shading and direction changes.…”