Renewable Energy Systems

Photovoltaic Systems

Source: Masters (Chapter 9)

Electrical Engineering
Muhammad Jafar
Introduction
We have discussed until now
Solar resource
How the cell behaves
• without any external control
• No consideration of load voltage requirements

We will discuss system development out of solar PV in this chapter

Three main configuration of a solar PV system

Systems that inject power to the grid
Stand-alone systems for battery charging and with generator backup
Direct feed to local loads
Utility-interactive or grid-connected solar PV system

Cells
PV may be on rooftop or part of the wall structure
Several possibilities these days (window panes, driveway)
Utility-interactive or grid-connected solar PV system

Power conditioning unit

 Receives DC power from PV (current controlled to optimize power)
 Converts DC to AC power at constant voltage and frequency for
• Local use
• Export to grid
 Balances power
• import if PV output is not enough to meet local demand
• exports if excess
• No batteries needed in either case (may be used because of grid electricity prices)
Benefits of utility-interactive or grid-connected solar PV system
High reliability because of simplicity
High efficiency (all available solar power can be extracted)
No cost of land use
Max production at daytime (maximum price)

Disadvantages
Low priced competition from conventional sources
• Not a big issue in countries with support schemes
No power if the utility supply is down
Stand-alone systems for battery charging and with generator backup
Benefits
Cost effective compared to generator systems in
off-grid environments because gensets:
• are inefficient and expensive to operate
• Need maintenance
• Produce noise
Grid extension to remote locations can also be
more expensive than such systems
Disadvantages
Batteries (maintenance and efficiency)
Operating point is not optimal – produce what is
needed and not more
Panels usually mounted at steep tilt angles
(uniform energy supply throughout the seasons)
Maximizing energy production in a year is not a
priority
Generally, the system needs more maintenance
effort and expertise
Some effort by electricity users if they don’t want
to run the generator (demand side management)
Direct feed to local loads

No storage in batteries (can be in an overhead water tank)

Benefits
 Very simple
 Reliable
Disadvantage
 Design effort for efficient utilization
Objectives in the upcoming slides
PV system sizing (several factors to take into account)
• Solar intensity
• Spectral variation with overcast conditions
• Ambient temperature and wind speeds
• Load types

Do this while considering which type of system we are looking at

Current-voltage curves for loads
I-V curves of PV panel or module or string does
not dictate the conditions
What does it tell us then?
Load dictates the current and the panel I-V
curve dictates the voltage then

Load I-V curve helps determine the operating

point of the panel
Intersection point of panel and load I-V characteristics determine the operating
point

Load voltage = PV voltage

Load current = PV current
Simple resistive-load I-V curve
Situation

Resistive load equations

Curve: a straight line with slope 1/R

Smaller the resistance, steeper the slope
Intersection point with PV I-V curve
changes
Power output of PV also changes
Point at which power is maximum is
called Maximum Power Point (MPP)
In fact a tool to empirically determine I-V
curve for a PV panel
Measurement of I and V for each setting
of the load resistance
Tabulation of all values give I-V curve for
a particular insolation level

Voltage and current at MPP

Vm and Im
Resistance at maximum power
Remember power delivered at Rm is only
optimal under the rated conditions
1-sun (1 kW/m2)
25 C cell temperature
AM1.5
MPP changes with insolation
The same load resistance value cannot
extract max power at different insolation
levels

Something should be done, MPPT!

DC motor I-V curve
Curve similar to that of a resistor
Circuit: R in series with a back emf proportional to speed of rotation

Equivalent circuit KVL

Speed is nearly constant even with change in load

DC motor I-V curve
 Current is not able to produce enough torque to
put the motor in motion
 After a certain current level, enough torque to
set the motor in motion and the straight-line
slope reduces

Superimposed on PV characteristics
 Clearly non-optimal operation at different
insolation levels
 No motion before solar insolation level hits 400
W/m2
 200 W/m2 is sufficient once the motor starts
moving
 Means early morning sunlight may be unusable
for directly feeding motors
“Linear current booster” (LCB) for utilizing
early morning light
May be enough power when insolation is
200 W/m2
Only a matter of changing the operating
point
LCB is an electronic transformer
Lower voltage means slow rotation
Still it starts pumping
And it will keep working until late in
the afternoon at low speeds compared
to a system without LCB
Battery I-V curves
Standalone systems always need batteries for dark hours
Ideal battery characteristics
Voltage remains constant no matter how much current is drawn
Curve is essentially a vertical line
Real batteries do have a voltage change with current variations
Modelled as a voltage source in series with resistance

Charging characteristics
Voltage increases as current increases
Charging voltage should be > battery voltage
As the battery charges, its internal voltage increases
Characteristics shift to right
Discharging characteristics
As current increases, the output voltage drops
Characteristics shift to left as the battery discharges
Simplistic battery model is not sufficient in certain applications
Open-circuit battery voltage is a function of
• State of charge
• Battery temperature
• Loading history
Battery resistance is also a function of
• Temperature
• State of charge
• Battery age
• Cell condition

Typical 12V battery open-circuit voltage

12.7 V at full charge
11.7 V when almost fully discharged
Example

a. PV voltage
b. Load voltage would be

This is what the PV voltage will be

Direct batteries charging without controller
As a battery charges the characteristic moves right
Battery characteristic moves to the right: less power which is good
As the day goes by, the panel characteristics move right: further reduction
Careful design may eliminate the need for charge controllers (reduction in the
number of cells)
Maximum power point trackers
Equipment which keep PV operating point near the knee of the characteristics
Called MPP trackers
A must for grid-connected systems

These are electronic circuits which change the voltage level

PV keeps operating at the optimum point

DC-DC converters
Boost converters step up the voltage
Buck converters step down the voltage
Buck-boost converters can step up or step down the voltage
An example of a buck-boost converter

The switch operates at high frequencies (several kHz)

Switch operation controlled by a control system (not shown)
Insights
Inductor current is essentially constant
Capacitor voltage is essentially constant
Switch control
Duty ratio (D): fraction of a switching period for which the switch is on
Capacitor voltage is essentially constant
Switch control
D can be changed based on system conditions and requirements (through PWM)
Assuming ideal components
Power input = power output (practical
converter efficiencies around 95%)

Average power input when switch is on

(assuming constant voltage)

Assuming constant inductor current

 Power output calculations when switch is
off

Current remains constant

Input = output
What does an MPPT do
Control input current (average)
Input voltage settles somewhere on the PV I-V
characteristic
MPPT brings current average to the MPPT
point
Example
 

Maximum power
Desired resistor voltage
MPPT should match these two voltages through varying D.

Solving for D
MPPT comments
Voltage-current product at input and output of MPPT should be the same

I-V characteristics as a function of D

Hourly I-V curves
I-V curves keep shifting throughout the day (insolation and temp. variation)
MPP also keeps shifting

What manufacturers usually provide

I-V curves for various insolation levels and temperatures

Hourly I-V curves would be more useful to be fed to a system in certain cases
Recall
 Current from PV is proportional to
insolation
 Current drops as insolation drops
 Open-circuit voltage also drops slightly
with insolation drop
 MPP happens to be close to the knee of
the curve

Plot
 Two curves, one ideal and the other
practical
 Not very different at the knee of the
curve or close to the operating point
 We can ignore the open-circuit voltage
reduction and draw hourly I-V curves
Example of hourly curves
Also includes I-V curves for
Battery
• Consistently below maximum power
DC motor
• Does well at full insolation but not so well during
other parts of the day
MPPT
Comparison of energy to different load types
Grid-connected systems
Very lucrative these days if proper incentives are given
Arrangement: (There may be batteries for backup in case of grid failure and no
production)
Alternative approach
 Multiple inverters (one each for each module)

 Simple and scalable solution

 Needs synchronization of outputs though
 Serviceability
 Expensive DC cabling avoided
Large scale systems (modular against integrated)
Interfacing with the utility
Main DB at home is fed from the utility and the PV
inverter output(s)
PV operates at MPP
When power produced is more than consumed
locally, it is exported to the utility
Vice versa
Meter runs one way when utility is receiving power
and the other way when the utility is supplying
power
A meter capable of doing that is called “net meter”
 Two one-way meters connected in parallel can
individually energy flows in each direction
 Cumbersome and could force PV owner to sell at lower
wholesale price
In the end, the household pays the difference
between units consumed and units produced by PV.
Requirements for power conditioning unit (PCU)
Should be able to isolate from the grid if there is a grid failure
Serious damage can occur to the PV if not done quickly

Nature of grid interruption

Mostly transient (tree branch)
Utility breakers trip and reclose quickly
Multiple reclosure attempts are usual
An online PV during these events hinders utility recovery efforts
Also a safety hazard for workers maintaining a supposedly dead line
DC and AC rated power
Rated
  DC power under standard test conditions is the starting point
 1-sun insolation
 AM1.5
 25C cell temperature

AC rated power at 1-sun called

 is the sum of rated output of all modules in the array

Inefficiencies include (responsible for reducing the output by 20-40%)
 Inverter
 Dirty collectors
 Mismatched modules
 Differences in ambient conditions
Impact of slight variations in module characteristics

Manufacturing tolerances in modules bring down the efficiency of arrays

Impact of cell temperature
Output goes down with temperature

Standard test conditions are evolving

Measure AC output instead of DC output
Inverter efficiency
Varies with inverter loading
Usual efficiency above 90% except at very low load
Example
Measurements on actual PV systems have revealed AC power to be between 53%
and 70% of DC rated power under standard test conditions
The “peak-hours” approach to estimating PV performance
PV efficiency depends on two things
Component efficiencies (panel, inverter etc.)
Availability of resource (solar insolation)

Insolation data is available or can be measured

Usually provided average daily, monthly, or yearly insolation in kWh per sq. m.
per day
e.g. insolation of 5.6 kWh/sq.m per day means
5.6 h/day with 1-sun insolation
5.6 h/day of peak sun

If we know power delivered by a system under 1-sun condition, we can estimate
the output energy by multiplying insolation value by the panel rated output
 Energy delivered in a day

 Area of PV array
 average system efficiency

Power delivered under 1-sun by a system

 efficiency under 1-sun conditions

 Combine

We get

If
The equation

Assumes system efficiency remains constant throughout the day

Why: MPPT
Example
Capacity factors for PV grid-connected systems
Two important power plant specs.
Rated power
Capacity factor (CF)
• fraction of time for which rated power is supplied
• e.g. a CF of 0.4 means energy equivalent of rated power delivered at 40% of the time in a period
• It also means 40% of rated power delivered for all the time

Equation governing annual performance

Combine

CF for solar PV plant

Sample CFs for various US cities