New Approach of Multi-Cell Stacked Cell Inverter for Solar Photovoltaic System

In this paper, a new inverter topology dedicated to isolated or grid-connected PV systems is proposed. This inverter is based on the structures of a stacked multi-cell converter (SMC) and an H-bridge. This new topology has allowed the voltage stresses of the converter to be distributed among several switching cells. Secondly, divide the input voltage into several fractions to reduce the number of power semiconductors to be switched. In this contribution, the general topology of this micro-inverter has been described and the simulation tests developed to validate its operation have been presented. Finally, we discussed the simulation results, the efficiency of this topology and the feasibility of its use in a grid-connected photovoltaic production system.

Soiling Effect and Remedial Measures of Solar Photovoltaic System Performance in Kuwait

The Gulf Cooperation Countries have the advantages of fundamental characteristics and abundant natural resources due to the high proportion of solar radiation, which helps to expand the transition to renewable energy, especially in solar projects. The Kuwait location was chosen for this research because of its high dust levels and average daily sunshine of 9.4 hours. The soiling map of Kuwait was then created using PVsyst software. A theoretical and mathematical model for 100 MW was developed based on many environmental and technical parameters. The model was run with Kuwait parameters and 100 MW solar PV power plant capacity. The results show that more than 25% of total generated electricity could be lost annually without any mitigation strategy. Furthermore, the efficiency loss could increase by around 50% during the seasons with sandstorms and high soiling rates. Additionally, manual and automatic cleaning methods were found to increase energy production from 112,092 MWh to 207,300 MWh. Moreover, manual cleaning reduced energy costs by 4.9%, but automated cleaning resulted in a 17.34% higher energy-saving cost than a system without cleaning. In addition, when using the automatic cleaning system, the system’s payback period was reduced from 9.22 to 7.86 years. Therefore, an automated cleaning system is recommended for use in Kuwait.

Distributed Virtual Inertia Based Control of Multiple Photovoltaic Systems in Autonomous Microgrid

The large inertia of a traditional power system slows down system's frequency response but also allows decent time for controlling the system.Since an autonomous renewable microgrid usually has much smaller inertia,the control system must be very fast and accurate to fight against the small inertia and uncertainties.To reduce the demanding requirements on control,this paper proposes to increase the inertia of photovoltaic(PV) system through inertia emulation.The inertia emulation is realized by controlling the charging/discharging of the direct current(DC)-link capacitor over a certain range and adjusting the PV generation when it is feasible and/or necessary.By well designing the inertia,the DC-link capacitor parameters and the control range,the negative impact of inertia emulation on energy efficiency can be reduced.The proposed algorithm can be integrated with distributed generation setting algorithms to improve dynamic performance and lower implementation requirements.Simulation studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution.

MPPT Design Using PSO Technique for Photovoltaic System Control Comparing to Fuzzy Logic and P&O Controllers

The Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) is the optimum operating point of a photovoltaic module. It plays a very important role to obtain the maximum power of a solar panel as it allows an optimal use of a photovoltaic system, regardless of irradiation and temperature variations. In this research, we present a novel technique to improve the control’s performances optimization of the system consisting of a photovoltaic panel, a buck converter and a load. Simulations of different parts of the system are developed under Matlab/Simulink, thus allowing a comparison between the performances of the three studied controllers: “Fuzzy TS”, “P&O” and “PSO”. The three algorithms of MPPT associated with these techniques are tested in different meteorological conditions. The obtained results, in different operating conditions, reveal a clear improvement of controlling performances of MPPT of a photovoltaic system when the PSO tracking technique is used.

Study on the Photovoltaic System with MPT and Supercapacitors

The paper makes survey of operating principle of power management of photovoltaic system with supercapacitors and a maximum power tracker （MPT） control to achieve the maximum efficiency. Supercapacitors are well suited to replace classical batteries and conventional capacitors in photovoltaic applications to improve a dynamic behaviors and life-time. It describes the advantages of a supercapacitors solution and shows the results of comparison with convenient batteries. The paper presents different topologies of basic photovoltaic concepts with dc-dc converters and supercapacitors according to the power dimension. The mathematical equations describing the photovoltaic cells, temperature analyses and mathematical solution of MPT are shown in the paper and supported by measurements. The mathematical models were applied in the design of 50 W and 6 kW photovoltaic sources with MPT and supercapacitors. Both models were verified using experimental measurements on the photovoltaic setup.

A composite controller for grid connected photovoltaic systems

This paper addresses a new composite controller for a boost-buck inverter to interface the photovoltaic array with the power grid. Based on dynamically tracking the maximum power point, two novel control methodologies are proposed to control the DC-bus and the output current for the inverter. First, a new linear cycle discrete control algorithm is introduced to realize linear control of the DC-bus voltage and synchronously get the reference current for the inner current loop with a little calculation. Then, to assure a good adaptability to noise and model uncertainty, an auto-disturbance rejection controller is chosen as the output current controller, which does not depend on precise mathematics model. Thus, output current of PV system to the grid is with low harmonic distortion and unity power factor. Simulations and experiments are performed, and the results show that the system is of excellent robustness and effective.

Efficient Modeling of Photovoltaic Systems Using CMEX S-Function under MATLAB-Simulink Environment

This paper discusses an implementation based on CMEX S-functions to model and to check implementation feasibility of two most commonly used Maximum Power Point Tracking （MPPT） algorithms, namely Hill Climbing/Perturb ＆ Observe （P＆O） and Incremental Conductance. This study can also be generalized to encompass the whole digital techniques family, including artificial intelligence like Neural Network and Fuzzy Logic Control.

Analysis of Energy Saving Achievable through Solar Photovoltaic Systems on School Roofs： A Case of the City of Rome

Embracing renewable energy technology makes a lot of sense for the public sectors and schools as it meets the government sustainability goals and provides a financially viable means of achieving carbon savings while offering income potential. This study is aimed to quantify the achievable energy saving by spread use ofphotovoltaic systems on public building stock in the city of Rome. The installation of PV （photovoltaic） systems in the historic center depends on the feasibility conditions, generally more complex compared to the cases examined in the consolidated city, because they require compliance with the formal and aesthetic characteristics of the buildings, so the choice must be made between compatible components, which allow to minimize the transformation. The suburbs are characterized by large plane roofs in bad conditions and belonging to isolated buildings, so the useful surface, according to shading condition, offers a big potential for renewable technologies. The research provides an evaluation of maximum production of solar energy and the subsequent energy saving and reduction of greenhouse gasses, using parametric data, and an evaluation of the cost-effectiveness, with a rough calculation of return on investment.

Design of Reflective Concentrator Model with Application for Concentrator Photovoltaic System

The nonuniform irradiation in the standard photovoltaic（PV） cells causes their relatively high series resistance,which results in a considerably lowered efficiency of PV cells.Currently the concentrator of uniform irradiation designed for concentrator photovoltaic is rare in China and lack sufficient theoretical research.In this paper,a systematic research on the solar reflective concentrator is conducted.A novel structure for a solar reflective concentrator is designed with the application of a flat mirror matrix to concentrate the sunlight for concentrator photovoltaic（CPV） systems.Sunlight beams are focused through the reflection of the mirror array on the solar cell to generate electricity.The concentrator is capable of producing much more uniform sunlight with a certain concentration ratio.The design scheme includes laying out the flat mirrors,optimizing the optical pathway and the parameters of each mirror.The prototype of the CPV system was installed at Nanjing,China.In the configuration of the prototype,it is composed of 24 pieces parallelogram flat mirrors,which are arranged into a total reflective array of 5 rows and 5 columns.In comparison with the parabolic trough concentrator,the experimental measurements verify such design has high efficiency.The concentrator model of a flat mirror matrix and the proposed new design method will lay a solid foundation for designing the concentrator of uniform irradiation.

State coordinated voltage control in an active distribution network with on-load tap changers and photovoltaic systems

Decreasing costs and favorable policies have resulted in increased penetration of solar photovoltaic(PV)power generation in distribution networks.As the PV systems penetration is likely to increase in the future,utilizing the reactive power capability of PV inverters to mitigate voltage deviations is being promoted.In recent years,droop control of inverter-based distributed energy resources has emerged as an essential tool for use in this study.The participation of PV systems in voltage regulation and its coordination with existing controllers,such as on-load tap changers,is paramount for controlling the voltage within specified limits.In this work,control strategies are presented that can be coordinated with the existing controls in a distributed manner.The effectiveness of the proposed method was demonstrated through simulation results on a distribution system.

Weather Prediction With Multiclass Support Vector Machines in the Fault Detection of Photovoltaic System

Since the efficiency of photovoltaic(PV) power is closely related to the weather,many PV enterprises install weather instruments to monitor the working state of the PV power system.With the development of the soft measurement technology,the instrumental method seems obsolete and involves high cost.This paper proposes a novel method for predicting the types of weather based on the PV power data and partial meteorological data.By this method,the weather types are deduced by data analysis,instead of weather instrument A better fault detection is obtained by using the support vector machines(SVM) and comparing the predicted and the actual weather.The model of the weather prediction is established by a direct SVM for training multiclass predictors.Although SVM is suitable for classification,the classified results depend on the type of the kernel,the parameters of the kernel,and the soft margin coefficient,which are difficult to choose.In this paper,these parameters are optimized by particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm in anticipation of good prediction results can be achieved.Prediction results show that this method is feasible and effective.

Comparative assessment of maximum power point tracking procedures for photovoltaic systems

The fast growing demands and increasing awareness for the environment, PV systems are being rapidly installed for numerous applications.However, one of the important challenges in utilizing a PV source is the maximum power harnessing using various maximum power point tracking techniques available. With the large number of MPPT techniques, each having some merits and demerits, confusion is always there for their proper selection. Discussion on various proposed procedures for maximum power point tracking of photovoltaic array has been done. Based on different parameters analysis of MPPT techniques is carried out. This assessment will serve as a suitable reference for selection, understanding different ways and means of MPPT.

Comprehensive Modulation and Classification of Faults and Analysis Their Effect in DC Side of Photovoltaic System

The first step in automatic supervision, condition monitoring and fault detection of photovoltaic system is recognition, exploration and classification of all possible faults that maybe happen in the system. This paper aims to perceive, classified, simulate and discus all electrical faults in DC side of photovoltaic system, regarding electrical voltage and current inspections. For that, simplified hybrid model of photovoltaic panel in MATLAB environment is used. Investigation and classification of each type of faults is down and the effects of the faults are illustrated in this paper. Flash test are applied to improved electrical model. Current-Voltage curves signature are interpreted and investigated in simulation environment.

Comprehensive review and performance evaluation of maximum power point tracking algorithms for photovoltaic system

A photovoltaic array is environmentally friendly and a source of unlimited energy generation.However,it is presently a costlier energy generation system than other non-renewable energy sources.The main reasons are seasonal variations and continuously changing weather conditions,which affect the amount of solar energy received by the solar panels.In addition,the non-linear characteristics of the voltage and current outputs along with the operating environment temperature and variation in the solar radiation decrease the energy conversion capability of the photovoltaic arrays.To address this problem,the global maxima of the PV arrays can be tracked using a maximum power point tracking algorithm(MPPT)and the operating point of the photovoltaic system can be forced to its optimum value.This technique increases the efficiency of the photovoltaic array and minimizes the cost of the system by reducing the number of solar modules required to obtain the desired power.However,the tracking algorithms are not equally effective in all areas of application.Therefore,selecting the correct MPPT is very critical.This paper presents a detailed review and comparison of the MPPT techniques for photovoltaic systems,with consideration of the following key parameters:photovoltaic array dependence,type of system(analog or digital),need for periodic tuning,convergence speed,complexity of the system,global maxima,implemented capacity,and sensed parameter(s).In addition,based on real meteorological data(irradiance and temperature at a site located in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia),a simulation is performed to evaluate the performance of tracking algorithms suitable for the application being studied.Finally,the study clearly validates the considerable energy saving achieved by using these algorithms.

Evaluation of the Criteria in the Choice of Energy Storage or Non-Storage in Photovoltaic Systems in the Sahelian Zone

In order to have a characterization of the criteria determining the choice of energy storage or non-storage in PV systems in the Sahelian zone, we used the research methodology described as a follow-up. First, we identify the criteria that determine the choice of energy storage or non-storage. In the rest of the work, we establish a prioritization of its criteria. Finally, the two phases written above, allowed us to develop an approach characterized by the weighting of the criticality index, which we implemented using the global decision matrixes of the AMDEC method (Analysis of the Modes of Failures of their Effects and Criticism). The validation of the model followed the rigour of the scientific approach through the methodology used. Thus, the validation of the choice of the specific criteria was made on our personal experience in pv, and the recurrence of its criteria in the literature encountered. The validation of the prioritization of the criteria is based on the quality of the results resulting from the rigorous application of the AMDEC method. This work refers to the problem of whether or not to set up an energy storage method to compensate for the off-peak periods (nights and obstacles that occur in the days) of energy production of the photovoltaic system. A determination of the determining criteria, in the choice of energy storage or non-storage in PV systems in the Sahelian zone, was made. The work also made it possible to establish a prioritization of these last criteria. The results obtained show that the proposed method allows for a prioritization of the determining criteria in the choice of energy storage or non-storage in PV systems in the Sahelian zone.

Voltage Unbalance Mitigation in Low Voltage Distribution Networks with Photovoltaic Systems

This paper proposes a technique to mitigate the voltage unbalance issue caused by the high penetration of photovoltaic （PV） systems into the low voltage distribution networks （LVDN） using a single phase energy storage system （ESS）. The ESS comprises a hi-directional power flow inverter and a battery bank. The system is capable of absorbing the excess power and delivering power to the network in order to keep the voltage unbalance factor （VUF） below the statutory limit of 1%. Investigations are carried out in the experimental small-scale energy zone （SSEZ）. The experimental results demonstrate that the ESS is capable of mitigating the VUF of the network.

Development of Cloud Movement Prediction Method for Solar Photovoltaic System

Variability of power generation due to the prevalence of cloud cover over solar photovoltaics(PV)power plants is a challenge faced by grid operators and independent system operators(ISOs)in the integration of solar energy into the grid.Solar forecasts generated through ground⁃based sky imaging systems are useful for short⁃term cloud motion predictions.However,the cost of sky imaging systems currently available in industries is relatively high.Hence,a ground⁃based camera system utilizing a simple webcam is proposed in this study.The proposed method can produce predictions with high levels of accuracy.Forecasts were generated through video analysis using MATLAB for the computation of cloud motion predictions.The image processing involved in the implementation of the proposed system is based on the detection of cloud regions in the form of a cluster of white pixels within individual frames and tracking their motion through comparison of subsequent frames.This study describes the techniques and processes used in the development of the proposed method,along with the evaluation of performance through analysis of the results.The predictions were carried out over multiple time horizons.The time horizons selected include 5,10,15,20,25,and 30 s.The overall results computed showed promising accuracy levels above 94.60%,which makes it adequate for generating reliable forecasts.

Optimization and Sizing of a Stand-Alone Photovoltaic System and Assessment of Random Load Fluctuation on Power Supply

This study presents an optimization technique and design for a stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) system to provide the required electricity for a single residential household in remote areas. From the basic solar components analysis, the irradiance on tilted surface is derived and compared to that on horizontal surface for Furu-Awa locality to infer the appropriate tilt angle (β) that maximizes the collection of solar energy. Seven optimum values of β applicable to the PV network were then derived depending of the period of the year and this simulation resulted that the panels are to be adjusted seven times a year. The optimization technique for load demand based on total apparent power of the household appliances produces an increase of 18% compared to the simple case of the PV components design using active power but leads to the optimum configuration that meets the real load demand of the household. Following the sizing of the station, reliability tests simulations were conducted for a one year corresponding period to infer the sensitivity of power supply to initial state of charge, to check the system autonomy and to evaluate the effect of random variation of the load on the smooth functioning of the PV system using a pseudo random number generator. This analysis shows that the minimum capacity of the battery for normal run of the Plan is 22.2% and that with random fluctuation of load, there will be periods of the year where the system experiences power failure depending on how important is the variation. The result of the study may imply a small increase in the cost of the entire plant but improves the stability and flexibility of such a station.

Study of Solar Radiation in View of Photovoltaic Systems Optimization

The meteorological data concerning solar radiation are generally not sufficient to allow quantifying all the phenomena which occur when a photovoltaic panel receives solar light. It is therefore, necessary to supplement these data by using astronomical calculation for the sun position and modelling the atmosphere. A simple method to calculate global, diffuse and direct irradiance on vertical and tilted surfaces for all uniform sky conditions (clear sky and overcast sky), developed in Constantine (Algeria) and Louvain-la-neuve (Belgium), has been compared with experimental data obtained at Ghardaia (Algeria). In spite of its simplicity, the method furnishes reasonably good predictions, in comparison with experimental data, and can be proposed as a simpli?ed tool for design purposes. This method relies on the fact that we can calculate the irradiance on a plane with arbitrary orientation and inclination, based on the measurement of a single irradiance value on a reference plane.

Off-Grid Photovoltaic System Design for Haiti School Project

In this paper a Photovoltaic (PV) system was designed for the Port-Margot School Solar Project in Haiti. This off-grid system consists of PV panels, inverter, battery storage and other components such as fuses, dc/ac disconnects and transformers [1]. Sizing the PV to fit on the roof was determined. The battery storage and inverter were chosen to be installed in the school building. The expected energy production was compared with data file from NASA website. The KW PV system was chosen to be the most effective and demonstrating renewable technologies and reducing the electrical load of the school.