This study first explored the effect of shading on the output characteristics of modules in a photovoltaic module array. Next, a modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) method was employed to track the maximum power point of the multiple-peak characteristic curve of the array. Through the optimization method, the weighting value and cognition learning factor decreased with an increasing number of iterations, whereas the social learning factor increased, thereby enhancing the tracking capability of a maximum power point tracker. In addition, the weighting value was slightly modified on the basis of the changes in the slope and power of the characteristic curve to increase the tracking speed and stability of the tracker. Finally, a PIC18F8720 microcontroller was coordinated with peripheral hardware circuits to realize the proposed PSO method, which was then adopted to track the maximum power point of the power-voltage (P-V) output characteristic curve of the photovoltaic module array under shading. Subsequently, tests were conducted to verify that the modified PSO method exhibited favorable tracking speed and accuracy.

This study investigated the output characteristics of photovoltaic module arrays with partial module shading. Accordingly, we presented a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method that can effectively track the global optimum of multipeak curves. This method was based on particle swarm optimization (PSO). The concept of linear decreases in weighting was added to improve the tracking performance of the maximum power point tracker. Simulation results were used to verify that this method could successfully track maximum power points in the output characteristic curves of photovoltaic modules with multipeak values. The results also established that the performance of the modified PSO-based MPPT method was superior to that of conventional PSO methods.

This paper proposes a high voltage ratio and low ripple interleaved boost DC-DC converter, which can be used to reduce the output voltage ripple. This converter transfers the low DC voltage of fuel cell to high DC voltage in DC link. The structure of the converter is parallel with two voltage-doubler boost converters by interleaving their output voltages to reduce the voltage ripple ratio. Besides, it can lower the current stress for the switches and inductors in the system. First, the PSIM software was used to establish a proton exchange membrane fuel cell and a converter circuit model. The simulated and measured results of the fuel cell output characteristic curve are made to verify the correctness of the established simulation model. In addition, some experimental results are made to validate the effectiveness in improving output voltage ripple of the proposed high voltage ratio interleaved boost DC-DC converters.

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This study proposes a smart fault-tolerant control system based on the theory of Lorenz chaotic system and extension theory for locating faults and executing tolerant control in a three-level T-type inverter. First, the system constantly monitors the fault states of the 12 power transistor switches of the three-level T-type inverter; if a power transistor fails, the corresponding output phase voltage waveform is converted by a Lorenz chaotic system. Chaos eye coordinates are then extracted from a scatter diagram of chaotic dynamic states and considered as fault characteristics. The system then executes fault diagnosis based on extension theory. The fault characteristic value is used as the input signal for correlation analysis; thus, the faulty power transistor can be located and the fault diagnosis can be achieved for the inverter. The fault-tolerant control system can maintain the three-phase balanced output of the three-level T-type inverter, thereby improving the reliability of the motor drive system. The feasibility of the proposed smart fault-tolerant control system was assessed by conducting simulations in this study, and the results verified its feasibility. Accordingly, after the occurrence of the fault in power switches, the balanced three-phase output line voltage remained unchanged, and the quality of the output voltage was not reduced by using the integration of the proposed fault diagnosis system and fault-tolerant control system for a three-level T-type Inverter.

This study combines extension theory and chaos theory to create a three-level T-type inverter fault diagnosis system that uses single-phase line voltage signals. First, the three-level T-type inverter singlephase line voltage output waveform was measured when faults occurred separately in 12 power transistors. Subsequently, the Lorenz master-slave dynamic error transformation was used to obtain the chaos eye coordinates, which functioned as fault characteristics. Fault diagnosis involved extension theory-based fault categorization. Specifically, fault characteristic values were adopted as the input signal to determine the correlation between chaos eyes coordinates and transistor fault, thereby locating faulty transistors. In summary, this study established a low-cost and fast-operating inverter fault diagnosis system. The system integrates detection results with inverter fault-tolerant control to enable the constant operation of inverters in power generation without derating, thereby greatly enhancing system reliability. Finally, the reliability of the smart fault diagnosis system and fault-tolerant control was verified through measurement results.INDEX TERMS Chaos theory, extension theory, fault diagnosis, fault-tolerant control, T-type inverter.

To avoid penalties on over-contract demand, electricity customers can adopt a demand response strategy to shift or reduce demands from main grid during peak periods or partial peak periods. The direct or indirect load control is a common strategy used to change operational conditions

The purpose of the paper is to analyze and improve the transient stability of an industrial combined heat and power (CHP) system in a high-tech science park in Taiwan. The CHP system installed two 161 kV/161 kV high-impendence transformers to connect with Taipower System (TPS) for both decreasing the short-circuit fault current and increasing the fault critical clearing time. The transient stabilities of three types of operation modes in CHP units, 3G1S, 2G1S, and 1G1S, are analyzed. Under the 3G1S operation mode, the system frequency is immediately restored to 60 Hz after tie line tripping with the TPS. Under the 1G1S and 2G1S operation modes, the system frequencies will continuously decrease and eventually become unstable. A novel transient stability improvement approach using load shedding technique based on the change in frequency is proposed to improve the transient stability.