IEEE- Fourth International Conference on Advanced Computing, ICoAC 2012

MIT, Anna University, Chennai. December 13-15, 2012

An Artificial Intelligent Controller for a Three
Phase Inverter based Solar PV System using Boost
Converter
Vasantharaj Subramanian', Sasikumar Murugcsan
IpG Scholar, Dept. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Jeppiaar Engineering College, Chennai, India
vasantharajl18@gmail.com
2Professor & Head, Dept. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Jeppiaar Engineering College, Chennai, India
pmsasi77@gmail.com
Abstract: In this paper, the effectiveness ofthe soft switching control
strategies for the Three Phase Inverter based Solar Energy
Conversion system with boost converter was explained. The solar
irradiation and temperature are mainly depends on the output power
produced from the PV conversion process. The Boost Converter is
used to obtain the maximum power and is controlled by the Fuzzy
logic controller. The Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM)
produces the soft switching control strategy for the proposed
topology. The proposed system involves a Stand-Alone Photovoltaic
System, Boost converters, Fuzzy Logic Controller, Three Phase
inverter and a load. The regulated voltage and current from the
boost converter is fed to the inverter circuit which is connected to the
load with a continuous maximum power. The fuzzy logic controller
is used to improve the boost converter efficiency and the sinusoidal
PWM is used to give pulses for the inverter circuit. The inverter
output current for driving a load should be noted such that it does
not carry the harmonic content. However since disturbed sine wave
is unavoidable under various factors it is necessary to reduce the
harmonic level to obtain a highly effective output. The results are
generated in MATLABSIMULINK and are shown.
Keywords: Photovoltaic (PV), Maximum Power Point Tracking
(MPPT), Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC), Stand Alone, Sinusoidal
Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM), Direct Current (DC), Alternating
Current (AC).
I. INTRODUCTION
Among all renewable energy sources, solar power systems
attract more attention because they provide excellent
opportunity to generate electricity while greenhouse emissions
are reduced. The only way of generating electricity from solar
energy will be PV cells or panels. Temperature, insolation,
spectral characteristics of sunlight, dirt, shadow, etc., are the
main factors to be considered for the efficiency of solar cells.
The PV cells are made up of silicon, which is also used in
computer "chips". The radiation produced from the sun will be
converted into direct current (DC) by this Photovoltaic process.
978-1-4673-5584-1/12/$31.002012 IEEE
This point is known as maximum power point (MPP). Due to
this solar irradiation and the cell temperature there will a non-
linear variation in the point of locus. The MPPT is the efficient
way to track the maximum available output power of the PV
system. The PV panel module physically moves to point
directly at the sun and which the MPPT [1], [2] is not a
mechanical tracking system. The battery is directly connected
to the module and it is charging a discharged battery. Hence the
module will be operated at battery voltage. The graph (Fig 1)
shows the PV module Power/Voltage/Current and the
traditional Current vs. Voltage curve for a 75W module for a
standard test conditions of 25C cell temperature and
1OOOW/m
2
of insolation.
Fig.1 Power/voltage/current curve of a 75Watts PV panel.
The above graph also shows the module voltage vs. PV
module power delivered. The original MPPT system in a de-de
converter calculates the voltage at which the module is able to
produce maximum power.
II. MODELING OF PHOTOVOLTAlC ARRAY
SYSTEM
The equivalent circuit of the PV cell is shown in fig 2.
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of the array. The cells connected in parallel which increases the
current and the greater output voltage will be produced by the
cells connected in series. The N
p
parallel connections of cell
composes the array, the PV and saturation currents may be
expressed as,
I pv = Ipv,cen*Np
(5)
(6)
Fig.2 Equivalent Circuit of a PV Cell
The basic equation of I - V characteristic of the ideal PV is
mathematically described from the theory of semiconductors
This equations originate the I-V curve in figure 4 below,
where the three outstanding points are highlighted: short circuit
(O,l
sc
), Maximum Power Point (Vmp- Imp), and open circuit
(V
oc
, 0).
(1)
(2)
(3)
Fig.4 Characteristic I-V curve of a practical PV module
The PV panel is modeled as an equivalent current source.
From the MATLAB Simulink library the mathematical model
for the various equations describing the PV panel
characteristics are modeled. The below fig 5 shows the
equivalent circuit model of the PV panel. This simulation is
done for standard test condition (STC) when temperature is 25
C and Irradiation is 1000 W/m
2
.
=
Where,
Ipv,cell is the ~ u r r e n t generate? b ~ t ~ e incident light (it is
directly proportional to the Sun irradiation),
Id is the Shockley diode equation,
10cell is the reverse saturation or leakage current of the
diode, q is the electron charge (1.60217646 x 10-19 C),
k is the Boltzmann constant (1.3806503 x 10-23 J/K),
T (in Kelvin) is the temperature of the p-n junction, and
a is the diode ideality constant.
Ipv t, I
.....---....
v V V
Fig.3 Origin of I -V equation of an Ideal PV cell.
The fig 3 shows the origination of the I - V curve for the
equation (2). Practical arrays are made up of multiple modules.
The observation of the characteristics at the terminals of the PV
array requires the inclusion of additional parameters to the
basic equation.
Fig.5 Equivalent circuit of solar PV using MATLAB
V = NskT/q is the thermal voltage of the array with N, cells
connected in series.
Rs & Rp is the equivalent series and parallel resistance
Fig.6 Maximum current (1m) of Solar PV using
MATLAB
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Fig.7 Current generated by the incident light (I
pv)
of PV using
MATLAB
Fig.8 Reverse saturation current (10) using MATLAB
III. BLOCK DIAGRAM AND CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
FOR DC - DC BOOST CONVERTER
The maximum available power will be extracted by the
operation ofPV generator at its MPP, by the role of the MPPT.
The fig 9 shows the general block diagram for a MPPT solar
PV system, using a general DC/DC converter [11]. This one is
connected to the PV generator, a battery and a load profile
(such as a resistance, DC/DC motor). The main objective of
this MPPT technique is to obtain the maximum power from the
PV generator.
Fig.9 Block diagram of proposed method.
In a boost converter [9], [11] the output is greater than the input
voltage, hence the name "boost". A boost converter circuit is
shown in the fig 1O. The operation of boost converter is divided
into two modes.
Fig.l0 Boost Converter Circuit
The operation of boost converter can be divided into two
modes. Mode 1 begins, the MOSFET Mj is switched on at t=O
and hence the input current rises, flows through inductor Land
MOSFET MI. Mode 2 begins when the MOSFET M1 is
switched off at t=tl and hence the current flowing through the
MOSFET would now flow through inductor L, capacitor C,
load and Diode D
m
. The inductor current falls until MOSFET
M1 is turned on again in the next cycle. The load which
receives the energy from the inductor L.
IV. FUZZY LOGIC CONTROLLER (FLC)
The main components which are used in fuzzy logic [5]
based MPPT [3], [6] controller are fuzzification, rule-based,
and inference and defuzzification which is shown in the below
fig 11. The input variables to the controller are the change in
PV array power (Al'pv) and change in voltage (Avpv) whereas
the output of the controller is the step change of boost converter
voltage reference This is used to drive the boost
converter to maximize the output from solar PV panel.
Fig.ll Structure of Fuzzy Logic Controller.
The variation of power will be in positive or in the
negative direction. The value of can also be small or
large. By increasing or decreasing the reference photovoltaic
voltage variation the power Ppv will be increased in a
small or large way in the direction.. The control rules are
indicated in Table 1 with and as inputs, while
represents the output. These inputs and output
variables are expressed in terms of linguistic variables (such as
NB (negative big), NS (negative small), Z (zero), PS (positive
small), and PB (positive big). From these linguistic rules, the
FLC proposes a variation of the reference voltage V according
to equations (vii-ix).where Ppv[k] and Vpv[k] are the power
and voltage of the photo-voltaic generator at sampled times (k),
and Vpv,ref[k] the instant of reference voltage.
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V. THREE PHASE VOLTAGE SOURCE INVERTER
The circuit diagram for three-phase VSI topology is shown
in fig 12 and the eight valid switch states are given in Table 2.
As in single- phase VSIs, the switches of any leg of the inverter
(Sr and S4, S3 and S6, or Ss and S2) cannot be switched on
simultaneously because this would result in a short circuit
across the de link voltage supply. Similarly, in order to avoid
undefined states in the VSI, and thus undefined ac output line
voltages, the switches of any leg of the inverter cannot be
switched off simultaneously as this will result in voltages that
will upon the respective line current polarity.
Table. 1 Fuzzy Rule Table
NB NS Z PS PB
NB NB NB NB NS Z
NS NS NS NS Z Z
Z Z Z Z PS PS
PS Z Z PS PS PS
PB Z PS PB PB PB
P
k
-Vk * I
k
pv " pv pv
k k k-l
P pv= P pv" P pv
k k k-l
V pv= V pv" V pv
(7)
(8)
(9)
produce nonzero ac output voltages. The inverter moves from
one state to another to generate a required voltage waveform.
Thus the resulting ac output line voltages consist of discrete
values of voltages that are Vs, 0, and -Vs for the topology
shown in Fig. 9. The modulating technique is used to ensure the
valid states.
Table 2. Valid switch states for a three-phase VSI
State
State Switch
Vab Vbe Vea
No. States
SI, S2,
1 100 Vs 0 -Vs
S3 on
S2, S3,
2 110 0 Vs -Vs
Slon
S3, S4,
3 010 -Vs Vs 0
S2 on
S4, S5,
4 011 -Vs 0 Vs
S3 on
S5, S6,
5 001 0 -Vs Vs
S4 on
S6, SI,
6 101 Vs -Vs 0
S5 on
SI, S3,
7 111 0 0 0
S5 on
S4, S6,
8 000 0 0 0
S2 on
The line to neutral voltage must be determined to find the
line (or phase) current. There are three modes of operation in a
half - cycle and the expression for each mode will be given
below,
During Mode I: (0 ::: rot::: n/3)
R/2 V R ( )
Van = = -R- V = - , V
bn
= - -R- V = -2V/3 10
R+(z) 3 R+(z)
During Mode II: (n/3::: rot::: 2n/3)
R
- V R
V
bn=
V=--,Van=-R-V= 2V/3 (11)
R+ z 3 R+(z)
During Mode III: (2n/3::: rot::: n)
R/2 V R ( )
Van = V
bn
= --R V =- = - -R- V = -2V/3 12
R+(z) 3 R+(z)
Fig.12 Circuit Diagram for Voltage Source Inverter.
During the states 7 & 8 (in table 2) the ac current freewheel
through either the upper or lower component which produces
zero ac line voltages. The remaining states (1 to 6 in Table 2)
VI. SINUSOIDAL PULSE WIDTH MODULATION
The generation of gating signals with Sinusoidal PWM is
shown in fig 13. There are three sinusoidal reference waves
rv., v., and v. each shifted by 120. A carrier wave is
compared with the reference signal corresponding to a phase to
generate the gating signals for that phase. Comparing the
carrier signal Vcr with the reference phases Vra- Vrb- and Vcr
produces SI and S3 respectively as shown in fig 13b. The
instantaneous line - to - line output voltage is V
ab
= Vs(S1 -
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S3). The output voltage as shown in fig 13d is generated by
eliminating the condition that two switching devices in the
same arm cannot conduct at the same time. The normalized
carrier frequency mf should be odd multiple of three. Thus, all
phase - voltage (Van, Vbn- and V
en)
are identical, but 120
0
out of
phase without even harmonics; moreover, harmonics at
frequencies multiple of three are identical in amplitude and
phase in all phases. For instance, if the ninth harmonic voltage
in phase 'a' is,
V
an9(t)
= v9 sin.9mt.
The ninth harmonic in phase b
n
will be,
V
bn9
(t) = v, Sin(9(mt-1200))
= v, Sin(9mt-10800)
= v, Sin9mt
The ideal waveform for sinusoidal pulse width modulation
was given below,
Fig.13 Waveform for SPWM.
VII. SIMULATION, HARDWARE AND SYSTEM
RESULTS.
The input to the controller is the voltage and power signals
from the PV panels which are analog signals. The varying duty
cycles for the inverter circuit will be produced by the
Sinusoidal PWM method. This proposed system is used for
maximizing the solar panel PV power output. The
implementation of the MPPT controller, initially modelling and
simulation of the controller employing fuzzy logic (FL) using
the MATLAB/Simulink was carried out. fig 14 shows the
developed PV model system consisting of PV array, boost
converter circuit with a fuzzy logic controller connected to an
inverter and a load. The PV module considered in the
simulation is the 72W PV module. The fuzzy logic based
MPPT [8], [9] controller is simulated and compared without
MPPT controller. The simulation is used for validating the
developed hardware prototype.
Fig.14 Integrated PV Panel with Fuzzy based MPPT
Controller using MATLAB
Fig.15 Pulse for Inverter Circuit
Fig.16 Boost converter output using MATLAB
Fig.17 Inverter Phase voltage using MATLAB
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Fig.IS Inverter current waveform using MATLAB
Fig.20 Hardware Setup for Testing the Prototype MPPT
Controller
Fig.I9 Three phase voltage using MATLAB
The hardware setup for testing the prototype MPPT
controller is as shown in fig 20. A 20-26V DC power supply is
used to replace an actual PV module for the purpose of testing
the controller. Value of the inductor (L) in is 2mH. For
switching device we use MOSFET with diode for protection.
Type of the MOSFET is IRF540N. The value of the capacitor
(C) is 1000 llF and the load resistance is 2 ohm. The DC-DC
converter is controlled by the analog based PID controller. It
calculates the solar watts generated, by reading the voltage and
current of solar panels through the analog device AD633.This
controller compares the power with previous instant and
produce the error signal either positive or negative. The
Regulating pulse-width modulators LM3254 is send
corresponding control signal to the converter with the help of
these error signal. To tum off the converter accordingly the
converter duty cycle will be increased or decreased. The analog
based PID controller tries to maximize the watts output from
the solar panel by controlling the duty cycle to keep the solar
panel operating always at its Maximum Power Point. The
converter is operating at high frequency. The suitable regulators
which acts as an external source delivers the necessary power
for controller and other peripheral devices. Solar Panel is tested
with and without MPPT system at different environmental
condition with a resistive load of 2 ohm. It is observed that the
power extracted by peak power tracker is more than that
without the MPPT system.
Fig.21 PWM Output
VIII. CONCLUSION
In this paper the intelligent controI techniques for the tracking
of MPP were investigated in order to improve the efficiency of
PV systems, under different temperature and irradiance
conditions. The design and simulation of a fuzzy logic based
MPPT controller was proposed using MATLAB. The proposed
method has very good performances, fast responses with no
overshoot and less fluctuation in the steady state, for rapid
irradiance and temperature variations. By using this PWM
technique the harmonics will be reduced. These controllers are
able to maintain very rapidly and the operating point of the PV
systems at the maximum power point hence improving the
amount of energy effectively extracted from the PV modules,
i.e. increasing the efficiency of the PV system.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Mr. S. Vasantharaj has received the Bachelor degree
in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from M.
Kumarasamy College of Engineering, Anna
University, India in 2008. He has worked one year
for Gulfmax International LLC, Dubai and one year
for LMD Electricals and Engineering works, India in
Electrical Maintenance. He is pursuing Master of
Engineering in Power Electronics and Drives from
Jeppiaar Engineering College, Anna University,
India.
Prof. Dr.M.Sasikumar has received the Bachelor
degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
from K.S.Rangasamy College of Technology,
Madras University, India in 1999, and the M.Tech
degree in power electronics from VIT University, in
2006. He has obtained his Ph.D. degree from
Sathyabama University, Chennai. Currently he is
working as a Professor and Head in Jeppiaar
Engineering College, Chennai Tamilnadu, India. He
has published papers in National, International
conferences and journals in the field of power
electronics and wind energy conversion systems. His area of interest includes in
the fields of wind energy systems and power converter with soft switching
PWM schemes. He is a life member ofISTE.