Implementation of a Novel MPPT Tactic for PV System Applications on MATLAB/Simulink and Proteus-Based Arduino Board Environments

Abstract

This paper is aimed at harvesting the photovoltaic systems extracting power under difficult irradiance and load conditions, by proposing a novel maximum power point tracking (MPPT). This proposed MPPT tactic has been examined under various climatic and load conditions using two powerful and accurate simulation environments for PV systems, MATLAB/Simulink and Proteus. The first implementation using the MATLAB/Simulink software was carried out to examine the performance of the novel MPPT tactic under sudden insolation and load change, where the second implementation using the Proteus software was carried out in order to prove that the novel MPPT tactic can be easily implemented using low-cost components, Arduino board, and LCD display. The simulation results prove that the novel MPPT tactic has a high convergence speed to locate the MPP, especially at fast solar irradiation and load variation with zero oscillation under steady-state operation, which takes less than 9.6 milliseconds (ms) under the MATLAB/Simulink software and 0.24 microseconds (μs) under Proteus environment. That means it is about six times faster than P&O and five times faster than INC MPPT methods, and its tracking efficiency is between 99.40% and 99.86%. Furthermore, the novel MPPT tactic shows the best tracking accuracy and better ability to mitigate power losses under overall simulation scenarios compared with other traditional MPPT methods.

An Advanced MPPT Scheme for PV Systems Application with Less Output Ripple Magnitude of the Boost Converter

“…Figure 2 illustrates the equivalent circuit of a photovoltaic cell, which contains two resistances and a diode. The R S series resistance signifies the losses of the metal grid, contacts, and the current collecting bus, where the R P parallel resistance characterizes the flow of small leakage current through the parallel path losses [2,8].…”

“…It guarantees a better transfer of energy between the photovoltaic module and the load by matching the OP with the MPP of the photovoltaic module. Figure 4 depicts the circuit of the DC-DC boost converter connected to a load [2,8].…”

“…Proposed MPPT Scheme Principle. The principle of the suggested MPPT scheme is detailed in the previous work of Chellakhi et al [8]. As illustrated in Figure 5, the essential idea of the suggested scheme is based on the P-V characteristics at different levels of insolation with a fixed ambient temperature level, where it should be noted that the interval of the MPPs (zone of MPPs) is very narrow and it is limited by two values of voltage, Vmpp min and Vmpp max [8].…”

“…From these MPPT algorithms, it can distinguish between three categories: direct, indirect, and intelligent MPPT techniques [7]. Direct MPPT schemes, such as perturbation and observation (P&O) [8], increment of conductance (INC) [3,9], and hill climbing (HC) [10], are widely used due to their simplicity, ease of implementation, and photovoltaic panel independence. However, these techniques have serious problems that reduce their tracking performance.…”

“…In this regard, and to address the aforementioned shortcomings, an advanced MPPT scheme published recently by Chellakhi et al [8] is used. This latter can provide a good compromise between MPP tracking and fewer output ripple magnitudes of the boost converter compared to conventional MPPT schemes such as INC MPPT, as reported in a previously published paper [2].…”