Relevance of the P ＆ O MPPT Technique in an Original PV-Powered Water Pumping Application

Many papers exploiting the various MPPT （maximum power point tracking） techniques in PV （photovoltaic） applications, from the simple to the most complicated, can be found in literature. However, these techniques may not always be easy to implement in industrial applications. The main challenge of this paper is to model and implement the P ＆ O （perturb and observe） algorithm in a low-cost PV-powered pumping system. To that end, a comparative investigation of the performance characteristics of the most popular MPPT methods, such as FOCV （fractional open circuit voltage）, FSCC （fractional short circuit current）, FLC （fuzzy logic control）, ANN （artificial neural network） and INC （incremental conductance） is presented. This analysis is helpful to highlight the relevance of the P ＆ O technique taking better account of complexity, difficulty of implementation and cost considerations in water pumping applications. The targeted PV-powered pumping system is based on a single-phase induction motor supplied by a three-phase inverter controlled by the DTC （direct torque control） technique. This stand-alone PV system is dedicated to water pumping, especially in rural areas that have no access to national grids but have sufficient amount of solar radiation. Simulation modeling （Matlab/Simulink） and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the relevance of the system.

Importance of Developing Photovoltaics-Powered Vehicles

The development of photovoltaics (PV)-powered vehicles are expected to contribute to reduce CO2 emission of vehicles and create a clean energy society. This paper presents the impact of high-efficiency solar cell modules on reduction in CO2 emission, charging cost reduction for electric vehicles, and reducing storage capacity of PV-powered electric vehicles. In this paper, the effects of solar cell module efficiency upon driving distance of PV-powered vehicles are also shown. Especially, the potential of Si tandem solar cells for PV-powered vehicle applications is discussed. This paper presents that the III-V/Si 3-junction solar cell modules with an efficiency of more than 37% have the potential of longer driving distance of 30 km/day average and more than 50 km/day on a clear day compared to an average 16 km/day driving by vehicles powered by 20% efficiency Si solar cell modules.