Design and Performance Analysis of An On-Grid Photovoltaic Power System Under Iraqi Solar Circumstances
Design and Performance Analysis of An On-Grid Photovoltaic Power System Under Iraqi Solar Circumstances
Design and Performance Analysis of An On-Grid Photovoltaic Power System Under Iraqi Solar Circumstances
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Vol. 21, No.04, July 2017
ISSN 2520-0917
Lecturer, Electrical & Electronic Engineering Department, University of Kerbala, Karbala, Iraq.
Abstract: Solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems are one of the best renewable energy sources in Iraq
due to longer daily and annual sunshine hours. In this paper, an on-grid PV power system is designed to
operate in parallel with the local grid (only during sunshine hours) to either supply household appliances,
or to back-feed the grid when the output power of a PV system is greater than household demand. The
proposed system includes a PV array with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm, a boost
converter, an inverter and an LC filter. The main challenge of designing the proposed system is the ability
to combine the power electronic converters with the corresponding control method to achieve best
performance. A current controller and a voltage controller are proposed for respectively achieving
maximum power and controlling AC voltage. The aim of this research is to demonstrate the performance
analysis of on-grid PV array system under real daily irradiance for Baghdad during June. The simulation
results show that in case of using MPPT algorithm, the percentage power yield from PV array system is
95%, while in case without MPPT algorithm, it is 38%. In addition, the waveform of load current is
sinusoidal with low total harmonic distortion (THD), i.e. 0.67%.
Keywords: Photovoltaic power system, Boost converter, Grid-connected inverters, Voltage mode
controller, Current mode controller
تصميم وتحليل اداء نظام توليد كهروضوئي مربوط بالشبكة الكهربائية تحت ظروف الطقس
العراقية
تعتبر انظمة توليد القدرة الكهربائية باستخدام االلواح الكهروضوئية من افضل مصادر الطاقة المتجددة في العراق وذلك لطول:الخالصة
تم تصميم نظام توليد كهروضوئي مربوط بالشبكة الكهربائية الوطنية وبدون، في البحث الحالي.ساعات االشعاع الشمسية اليومية والسنوية
استخدام وحدات خزن (بطاريات) ويمكن االستفادة من النظام اعاله لتشغيل احمال االنارة في بناية معينة او تغذية الشبكة الكهربائية عند
تم تنفيذ خوارزمية تتبع القدرة العظمى لتحسين كفاءة المنظومة الشمسية وكذلك تم تثبيت فولتية الحمل حسب.وجود فائض في التوليد
من الضروري االشارة الى انه تم تنفيذ النظام المقترح باستخدام بيانات عملية لمستويات االشعاع الشمسي.متطلبات الشبكة الكهربائية
لقد تم التوصل الى انه في حالة.وذلك لتحليل اداء نظام التوليد الشمسي عند حاالت تشغيل حقيقية، لمدينة بغداد خالل شهر حزيران
مقارنة مع عدم استخدام خوارزميات%59 استخدام خوارزميات السيطرة فان القدرة الكلية المتناوبة المستحصلة من المنظومة هي تقريبا
.%7..0 ً لقد وجد ان نسبة التوافقيات في موجة تيار الحمل جدا قليلة وتساوي تقريبا،ً اخيرا.%83 ً السيطرة تقريبا
46
Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
1. Introduction
The use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energies can be
extended to power residential and transportation applications due to environmental
benefits. Nowadays, cheaper PV panels can be got from China but their performance
affect with load voltage. For high voltage applications, the solar cell type must be
considered, which is classified into three main groups: monocrystalline (single-crystal
construction), polycrystalline (semi-crystalline), and amorphous silicon thin film [1].
Solar power systems can be categorized into two types: off-grid and on-grid. For off-
grid solar power systems, the main electricity is only fed from PV panels and battery
bank. These systems are suitable for remote area which are typically isolated from local
grid. To maximize the power withdrawn from PV panels, maximum power point
tracking (MPPT) charge controller is used by converting the variable DC voltage into
maximum power point voltage. The important device in off-grid solar systems is the
grid inverter which takes the DC power from both PV panels and batteries then converts
it into AC power to directly supply the building. The inverters are classified into two
types: grid tie inverter and normal inverter. The former one converts the solar power
directly to main electricity. While, the latter one converts the DC power from both PV
panels and batteries to local grid. Moreover, the latter one is also used for charging
batteries [2].
For on-grid solar power systems, the building is fed from both local grid and a PV
array in order to cover the consumer’s own power demand and decrease electricity bills
[3]. The PV panels are connected with a grid tie inverter that directly converts DC
power into AC power (220 V, 50 Hz). For on-grid solar systems with a storage system,
a MPPT charge controller, i.e. DC-DC converter, is used for charging the bank of
batteries that connects with a separate inverter. The building in these systems can be
supplied during power grid failure. The drawbacks of these systems are the big losses in
power electronic converters and the high cost of maintenance. Basically, there are two
types of grid tie inverter topologies: central inverters and micro inverters. Central
inverter is the typical choice for high power solar systems.
Its efficiency is better than the other type, but it misses MPPT operation for each PV
panel due to the fluctuations in atmosphere, e.g. shading and clouding. For micro
inverters, each PV panel has its own small size inverter, which achieves optimal power
conversion for each PV panel. For these inverters, if any PV panel is shaded or is not
completely pointed to the sun, the total DC power is not highly affected [4].
Several studies have been conducted to design and analysis of on-grid solar power
systems with or without energy storage devices. In [5],a grid-connected mini-solar
power plant was designed and constructed. Each part of the solar plant is modelled and
analyzed in order to estimate the behavior of the grid under various operating conditions
[5]. In [6], power electronic circuits including a buck-boost converter with a full-brig
inverter was presented to supply AC power with high power factor. In [6], the
waveform of the output AC voltage was improved by selecting a high switching
frequency for a buck-boost converter that operates in the discontinuous-current
conduction-mode (DCCM) to avoid additional input inductor current controller. It is
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
worth noting that most of on-grid PV inverters have been assessed by using unreal sun
irradiance profile such as steps and ramps or triangle ramps. Although this test
evaluation is easy to perform, it may not be representing the dynamic response of the
system under actual conditions [7].
In this paper, an on-grid PV power system is designed for suppling a stable ac power
without batteries. The system includes a PV array connected to grid via a boost-inverter
and an LC filter. Both the array current and the boost DC voltage are respectively
adjusted by controlling the duty cycles of a boost converter and modulation index of an
inverter. The purpose of controlling the input current and DC voltage is respectively, to
prevent the over-current passing through a PV array and to supply a constant ac voltage.
The proposed PV array system is evaluated using Matlab/Simulink under real sun
irradiances for Baghdad (e.g., using of measured sun irradiances over a day in June,
2014) as a case study.
P
Ar V Boost On-Grid LC
ray
Converter Inverter Filter
PWM1 PWM2
L Local
O Grid
Real Irradiance PV Side Grid Side A
Profile Controller Controller D
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
260 W/m2 and 330 W/m2, respectively. It is worth noting that the average sun irradiance
is above 650 W/m2, which is considered a sunny day [8].
1000
900
800
Irradiance Level (W/m 2)
700
600
500
400
300
Practical
4th degree
200
8:00am 10:00am 12:00pm 2:00pm 4:00pm 6:00pm
Time (hr)
V pv
I PV I sc [1 C1{exp( ) 1}] (1)
C2Voc
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
I V
mpp mpp (2)
C (1 ) exp( )
1
I C V
sc 2 oc
Vmpp
( 1)
Voc
C2 (3)
I mpp
ln(1 )
I sc
where Voc, Isc, Vmpp and Impp are described in Table 1; C1and C2are constants; is the
per-unit sun irradiance at 1000 W/m2.
Note that a PV panel can be also simulated as a dependent voltage-source, Vpv, by
rearranging Eq. (1). It is clear from Eq. (4) that the PV current, Ipv, is firstly measured
then entered to the proposed PV simulator [10].
I pv
1 C1 ( )
I sc (4)
V C2 Voc ln{ }
PV C1
1/z
I
PV_Panel V s +
1 Irr + + -i 1
-
Irr
Embedded_M atlab
2
-
+
-
Irr
Irr
Irr
Irr
Irr
Irr
1
Sun
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
V (5)
pv
D 1
V
dc
V I
dc load
I (6)
pv
V
pv
V D
s
L (7)
min
I f
pv sw
4. Repeating steps 1-3 for computing the maximum boost inductance, Lmax, with
maximum PV voltage.
5. Finally, calculating the minimum capacitance, Cmin, with maximum duty cycle.
D
C
min
V V
dc (8)
( )( )f
sw
I V
load dc
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
According to above steps, the minimum values of the inductance and capacitance are
approximately 4.3mH and 25 µF, respectively. It is worth knowing that these values
may achieve continuous mode operation. In this paper, a typical full-bridge inverter
including four MOSFETs is used for DC to AC conversion. For getting a sinusoidal
output voltage, the inverter frequency (i.e., the PWM frequency of the carrier signal) is
increased.
Also, a sinusoidal filter (i.e., LC filter) is connected between an inverter and grid in
order to obtain a smooth sine wave output voltage. As mentioned above, by increasing
the inverter frequency, the cut-off frequency of an LC filter can be increased in order to
decrease the size of filter inductance, L, and filter capacitance, C. Equation (9) is used
for design an LC filter at 500 Hz and the values of L and C will present in Table 2.
1
f (9)
2 LC
2 Meas
Ipv PU_error PI(s) D Pulses 1
1 Ref
Pulse
Iref PU_error PWM1: 10 kHz
Current Controller
2 Meas
Vdc PU_error PI(s)
1 Ref
Vref PU_error Voltage Controller Uref Pulses 1
12:34 2*pi*50 sin
Pulses
t PWM2: 10 kHz
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
As illustrated in Fig. 5, the reference currents are estimated from the proposed MPPT
algorithm as shown in Fig. 7.
Input: The sun irradiance via a light sensor, the array current Ipv and
array voltage Vpv.
Output: The reference PV array current Impp.
Task: Estimate the reference currents under the variation of sun
irradiance.
1. Initialization: Iref(k)=Ipv(k).
2. Computethe perunit irradiance factor Kirr.
3. Compute the amount of current of a controlled current source that
connects with the exact PV array model (Eq. 1) using the practical
parameters listed in Table 1: Iref(k) = Impp * Kirr
4. Find the perunit current error: Ei(k)=[Iref(k) - Ipv(k)]/ Iref(k).
5. Compute the duty cycle D(k) by adjusting Ei(k) via a PI controller.
6. Bounce the duty cycles between 0.01 to 0.9.
7. Compute the power error: Ep(k)=Pref(k) –[Ipv(k)*Vpv(k)]
8. If | Ep(k)| <, return to 2.
9. IfEp(k) < 0, decrease the reference current, Else increase the reference
current.
10. End.
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
Irr
Varray Pulse Pulse
Iarray +out DC+
PV Array Grid
Controller
+ + -i +in + v
-
5
Current (A)
2
Reference Current
1 Array Current With MPPT
Array Current Without MPPT
0
8:00 AM 10:00 AM 12:00 PM 2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM
Day Hour
Fig. 9 Daily PV array current.
300
250
200
Voltage (V)
150
100
50
Array DC Voltage
0 Boost DC Voltage
Grid AC Voltage
-50
8:00 AM 10:00 AM 12:00 PM 2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM
Day Hour
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
Note that in case of using MPPT algorithm, the array current is very close to reference
current and less than array short circuit current. As seen in Fig. 10, the RMS grid
voltage is close to 220 V.
-5
0.5 0.51 0.52 0.53 0.54 0.55 0.56 0.57 0.58 0.59
Time (s)
30
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Harmonic order
-5
0.5 0.51 0.52 0.53 0.54 0.55 0.56 0.57 0.58 0.59
Time (s)
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Harmonic order
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
1200
1000
800
Power (W)
600
400
Nominal
200 Total AC Power with MPPT
Total AC Power without MPPT
0
8:00 AM 10:00 AM 12:00 PM 2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM
Day Hour
Fig. 13 Daily total AC power.
6. Conclusions
This paper demonstrates the performance of an on-grid PV array power system under
real sun irradiances in Iraq as a case study. A PV array is connected with a boost
inverter in order to control the array current and load voltage (as well as frequency). A
PV side controller and a grid side controller are implemented for improving the power
performance of the proposed PV array system using real sun irradiance for Baghdad
during June. It is found that in case of using the proposed MPPT algorithm, the
percentage power yield from the PV array system is 95% in comparison without using
MPPT algorithm is 38%. In addition, the current THD is about 0.67% with using LC
filter. While without using LC filter is 42.14%.
7. References
1. P. Gevorkian, 2008, Solar Power in Building Design: The Engineer’s Complete
Design Resource, McGraw-Hill Education.
2. G. Balazs, and P. Kiss, 2013, "Effect of Numerous PV Inverters on Power
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Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development Vol. 21, No. 04, July2017 www.jeasd.org (ISSN 2520-0917)
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