A New High-Performance Photovoltaic Emulator Suitable for Simulating and Validating Maximum Power Point Tracking Controllers

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) research is rapidly growing, and the need for controlled environments to validate new MPPT controllers is becoming increasingly important. Currently, researchers face several challenges in testing MPPT algorithms due to the unpredictable nature of solar PV power generation. In this paper, we propose a new photovoltaic emulator (PVE) that could replace solar panels and ensure a highly controllable environment suitable for testing photovoltaic (PV) systems. In this PVE, the complex nonlinear equations of the PV cell/module are fast computed and resolved by a new linearization technique which involves the systematic breakdown of the current-voltage ( I - V ) curve of the PV into twelve linear segments. Based on input environmental conditions, an artificial neural network (ANN) was constructed to assist the linearization process by predicting the current-voltage boundary coordinates of these segments. Using simple linear equations, with the segment boundary coordinates, a reference voltage was generated for the PVE. A nonlinear backstepping controller was designed to exploit the reference voltage and stabilize the power conversion stage (PCS). The PVE was optimized using particle swarm optimization (PSO). Several tests have shown that the proposed nonlinear controller provides better dynamic and robust performance than the PI controller, the most reputable and recurrent control method in the area of PVE. The PVE was coupled with a recently proposed integral backstepping MPPT controller and analyzed under several dynamic conditions, including the MPPT test specified by EN 50530. It was found that the accuracy of the proposed PVE measured by its relative error is less than 0.5%, with an MPPT efficiency of greater than 99.5%. The attractive results achieved by this PVE make it especially suitable for simulating and validating MPPT controllers.

Solar irradiance estimation and optimum power region localization in PV energy systems under partial shaded condition

“…The existing works of literature report several techniques for modeling solar panels [ 17 ]. The single-diode model has been consistently adopted for several PV studies due to its simplicity and satisfactory accuracy [ 17 ].…”

Enhanced control strategy for photovoltaic emulator operating in continuously changing environmental conditions based on shift methodology

“…This is due to the fact that restricting the number of iterations provides an appealing guarantee of enhanced performance for such systems. Reference generation in PVE through linearization is able to bridge the gap of iterations, as evidenced in the four segments 35 , 36 and 12 segments linearization 6 , 7 computation strategy. Linearization approaches, in their pursuit of simplicity, undermine the accuracy of the PVE, thereby constituting its primary drawback.…”

“…In the realm of solar and renewable energy in general, the requirement for a completely controlled environment to test PV systems becomes an absolute necessity when confronted with this stochastic operation 2 , 3 . The photovoltaic emulator (PVE) has been emphasized in numerous recent publications as a highly effective tool for simulating the operational characteristics of a real solar panel 4 – 7 . According to Razman,et.…”

“…A high bandwidth controller was developed to emulate the characteristics of 60W PV module using backstepping methodology 7 . Backstepping, which is classified as a nonlinear controller, is highly suitable for mitigating nonlinearity in PVE systems.…”

Trio-PV Monitor: A Smart IoT-Based Instrument for Continuous and Reliable Monitoring of Solar PV Installations

“…Faced with such a situation, the integration and accommodation of other energy sources into the grid emerges as a reliable and promising energy solution. Currently, several attempts are being made to explore renewable energy sources as potential alternatives [2,3]. During the last few years, several studies have consistently established that the entire territorial distribution of Cameroon is endowed with a great potential of solar energy, noticeably with about 900 trillion kWh of solar energy reaching its land per annum [4].…”