Seminar Report on MPPT BASED OPTIMAL CHARGE CONTROLLER

IN PV SYSTEM

Guided by
Dr. Akhilesh swaroop
Professor, School of Renewable energy and Efficiency NIT, Kurukshetra

Submitted by
MALIK SAMEEULLAH
M.Tech 2nd semester Renewable Energy System 3137501

School of Renewable Energy and Efficiency

National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra Session 2013-2014
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SCHOOL OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

KURUKSHETRA-136119

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Seminar Report titled MPPT BASED OPTIMAL BATTERY CHARGE CONTROLLER IN PV SYSTEM is prepared by me. This report has not been submitted earlier in any university or institute and material of report is not copied from anywhere.

( ________________ ) Malik Sameeullah M.Tech (3137501) 2nd Semester Renewable Energy and Efficiency NIT, Kurukshetra

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is the matter of great pleasure and privilege for me to present this seminar report on to MPPT Based Optimal Battery Charge Controller in PV System. I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to Coordinator of School of Renewable Energy and Efficiency, Professor Akhilesh Swaroop for providing me the valuable guidance for searching the topic. And at last I want to thank all my colleagues to help me for completing this seminar report.

Malik Sameeullah M.Tech (3137501)-2nd Semester Renewable Energy and Efficiency

School of Renewable Energy and Efficiency, NIT Kurukshetra

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Contents
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Contents Abstract Introduction Literature Review Solar Power Sector 3.1 Solar PV Sector 3.2 Solar Radiation PV Cell and its Characteristics 4.1 PV Cell 4.2 PV Modules/Array 4.3 Solar PV System 4.4 Photovoltaic Cell Model Battery and its Performance 5.1 Batteries in PV System 5.2 Batteries Type and its Classification 5.3 Lead Acid Battery Chemistry 5.4 Battery Performance characteristics MPPT Charge Controller 6.1 DC-DC Converter 6.2 BUCK-BOOST Converter 6.3 Maximum Power Point Tracker 6.4 Hill Climbing method Optimal Charge Controller Design 7.1 Concept of Optimal Charge Controller 7.2 Battery Voltage Controller 7.3 Proposed Controller Conclusion References

1-3 4-5 6-9

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Abstract
Off grid Solar PV system is best way to provide electricity to end user according to his need. Stand-alone PV systems are designed to operate independent of the electric utility grid, and are generally designed and sized to supply certain DC or AC electrical loads. In India where most of Solar PV plant is grid connected, but due to technical issue and cost, now company look forward toward off grid solution. To provide best service to user, optimal utilization of PV power is required. This report mainly focus on the issue related to design and simulation of a simple but effective charge controller with maximum power point tracker for photovoltaic system. It provides theoretical studies of photovoltaic systems and modeling techniques using equivalent electric circuits. Also detail study of battery characteristics is discussed. Optimal design of maximum power point tracker is discussed and compared with conventional MPPT.

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CHAPTER 1

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Introduction
Energy is essential to sustain life on earth. Main source of energy on earth is in the form of solar radiation. And it help earth to do it function. Actually energy is an amount of ability to do work. One of the basic principles which remind that energy can neither be created nor be destroyed but convert from one form to another. Earth has abundant energy resources in the form of fossil fuel, oil, natural gas and biomass etc. But due to extreme pressure of energy demand, these resources depleted day by day. Also burning of fossil fuel produce carbon dioxide, carbon mono oxide, sulfur and nitrous gasses, which cause environmental pollution and global warming. Climate change is generally accepted as being the greatest environmental challenge facing our world today. Together with the need to ensure long-term security of energy supply, it imposes an obligation on all of us to consider ways of reducing our carbon footprint and sourcing more of our energy from renewable resources. In just one year the Earths surface receives as much solar energy as two times the total reserves of the Earths non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined. Only 15000 sq. km of total 200,000 sq. km of Thar desert on the Western part of Indias State of Rajasthan, can produce from solar radiation, total electricity which would be more than equal to all the installed capacity of coal and other power plants in India. As India and other emerging economies develop, their per capita consumption and carbon emissions are expected to increase dramatically. This has raised serious concerns about their effects on global warming. Even during the global downturn in 2008-09, the Indian economy registered a GDP growth of 6.5%. Its greenhouse gas emissions have risen correspondingly. At present India is the third largest GHG emitting country; however, in per capita terms the contribution (1.8 tons) is much below the global average of 4.2 tons. Solar to electrical energy conversion can be done in two ways: solar thermal and solar photovoltaic. Solar thermal is similar to conventional AC electricity generation by steam turbine excepting that instead of fossil fuel; heat extracted from concentrated solar ray is used to produce steam and apart is stored in thermally insulated tanks for using during intermittency of sunshine or night time. Solar photovoltaic use cells made of silicon or certain types of semiconductor materials which convert the light energy absorbed from incident sunshine into DC electricity. To make up for intermittency and night time storage of the generated electricity into battery is needed. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) is one of the eight missions of Indias National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) 3 that elucidates the nations vision for solar technology: installation of 22GW of solar capacity by 2022 this, by no means is a small task, given that India had a mere 10.28 MW of installed solar capacity in 2010. The objectives and goals of JNNSM are as follows: increase supply of gridconnected solar power to 1GW by 2013, 10 GW by 2017, and to 20 GW by 2022; promote offgrid applications equivalent to 2GW; distribute 20 million solar home lighting systems in rural areas; expand the area occupied by solar thermal collectors to 20 million square meters by 2022. Due to intensive research in PV industry, per unit energy charge decrease day by day. But one of the main limitation of photovoltaic system is it low efficiency. For the fact, maximum efficiency achieve in laboratory is 33% and in actual efficiency of crystalline silicon PV cell is 20-22%. For continuous change in temperature, irradiation operating point of PV shift and it cause de rating effect. For collecting maximum power from, it need solar tracker which change the position according to the motion of earth. But tracking add further complexity to a system. So, for standalone PV system fixed
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position configuration used. Now for the particular setup the efficiency of a solar panel is increased by using Maximum Power point Tracker (MPPT), a power electronic device that significantly increases the system efficiency. By using it the system operates at the Maximum Power Point (MPP) and produces its maximum power output. Thus, an MPPT maximizes the array efficiency, thereby reducing the overall system cost. Battery is also used in standalone PV system and it is one of the critical part of PV system. As the life cycle of battery is 3-4 year and further degraded if proper charging and discharging technique is not used. For the particular requirement, we choose a controller which is capable to extract maximum power and at the same time take care of battery health. In this report, there is a detail discussion on solar PV cell characteristics, battery and its characteristics, DC-DC converter, MPPT technique and technique to design optimal battery charge controller and it benefit.

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CHAPTER 2

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Literature Review
Sunlight can be converted to electricity due to the photovoltaic effect discovered in 1839 by Edmund Becquerel, a French scientist. Historically, it has been 50 years since the first operational silicon cell was demonstrated. However, the last 20 years have seen large improvements in the technology, with the best confirmed cell efficiency being over 24% [4]. PV cell is basically an edited form of p-n semiconductor. Under dark condition, cell behaves as diode. But when illuminated under solar radiation, it absorb photon energy and cause generation of charge (short circuit current) [3]. To experiment with PV cells in the laboratory is a time consuming and costly task. So, to overcome this problem, simulation techniques are used to simulate the behavior of PV cells under different conditions. Several simulation softwares are available nowdays. Matlab based simulation model of PV cell allow to test converter virtually before implementing it on hardware [7]. Current and voltage at PV cell terminal depend upon the value of resistive load. The output load also decides the amount of power extracted from cell. It is found that for optimal load power is maximum and known as Maximum Power Point (MPP)[2]. For utilizing maximum power DC-DC converter is used with a specific duty cycle d decided by MPPT, so that input side resistance is optimal [1]. Various type of DC-DC converter topologies available in market. Buck Boost converter is a one of the simple step UP/DOWN converter. For testing the model buck boost converter is the first choice of researchers [5]. One of the main components of standalone PV system is battery. Battery is a costlier component of system and need to take proper care. For an average battery life cycle is 3-4 year and it is further degraded if proper charge controlling is not done during charging and discharging. Charge controller continuously checks for overvoltage and under voltage at battery terminal and control the charge flow [7]. For standalone PV system, renewable energy side converter and voltage side converter is used.The use of output voltage controller to maintain the battery voltage equal to its maximum value during excess power flow case. However, such controllers might make the system unstable. Moreover, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm is always active. This might result in race condition between the MPPT and the constant voltage controller. And system operates in unstable mode. For that scheme of designing system in which battery and solar PV parameter simultaneously measure and control action is taken in cooperation. [1].

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CHAPTER 3

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Solar Power sector

3.1 SOLAR PV SECTOR Being one of the fastest growing economies and the second largest populated country, India represents an attractive destination for the power industry. The working age population is increasing at a rapid pace, thereby creating a strong demand for electricity. The rising consumption of energy validates the fact. In the past few years, there has been a splendid growth in the power generation and capacity and with the proper enactment of several policies; the trend is likely to continue in the coming future. Reforms such as, the Electricity Act and National Electricity Policy will provide the necessary impetus to the Indian power sector. The Indian solar energy sector has been growing rapidly, in the past few years, majorly due to Governments initiatives such as tax exemptions and subsidies. Due to technical potential of 5,000 trillion kWh per year and minimum operating cost, Solar Power is considered the best suited energy source for India. Today the Solar power, has an installed capacity of 9.84 MW which is about less than 0.1 percent of the total installed renewable energy of Indias~ currently total installed renewabl e energy stands at 13,242.41 MW as per MNRE. India's power sector has a total installed capacity of approximately 228721 Megawatt (MW) of which 58.75% is coal-based, 17.39% hydro, 13.32% is renewables and the balance is the gas and nuclear-based. Power shortages are estimated at about 11% of total energy and 15% of peak capacity requirements which is likely to increase in the coming years. The cost of production range is Rs 15 to Rs 20 per unit for the solar energy, which is very high when compared to, Rs 2 to Rs 5 per unit for other conventional sources in India. Much of the country does not have an electrical grid, so solar power will indeed be a boon for water pumping, to begin replacing India's four to five million diesel powered water pumps, each consuming about 3.5 kilowatt of off-grid lighting. Solar energy technology consists of solar thermal technologies, which utilize suns energy and solar photovoltaic technology, which convert solar energy directly into electricity. According to the 11th five year plan, the government of India projects a massive expansion in installed solar capacity, and aims to reduce the price of electricity generated from solar energy, to match that from fossil fuels like coal and diesel by 2030. 3.2 SOLAR RADIATION PRINCIPLES Sunshine reaches the earth as a type of energy called radiation. Radiation is composed of millions of high-energy particles called photons. Each unit of solar radiation, or photon, carries a fixed amount of energy. Depending on the amount of energy that it carries, solar radiation falls into different categories including infrared (i.e. heat), visible (radiation that we can see) and ultraviolet (very high energy radiation). The solar spectrum describes all of these groups of radiation energy that are constantly arriving from the sun, and categorizes them according to their wavelength. Different solar cells and solar energy collecting devices make use of different parts of the solar spectrum. Solar energy arrives at the edge of the Earths atmosphere at a constant rate of about 1350 watts per square meter (W/m2): this is called the solar constant. However, not all this energy reaches the Earths surface. The atmosphere absorbs and reflects much of it, and by the time it reaches the Earths surface, it is reduced to a maximum of about 1000W/m2. This means that when the sun is directly overhead on a sunny day, solar radiation is arriving at the rate of about 1000W/m2. Northern

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countries (i.e. Europe) have lower annual solar radiation levels than countries nearer the Equator mainly because they have shorter days in winter. Solar Irradiance: Solar irradiance refers to actual radiation energy striking on per unit area. It is measure in KW per meter square. Value of irradiance depends upon the angle of incidence rays, geographical location and weather condition at that time.

Fig 3.1

Insolation: Insolation is a measure of energy received on a specified area over a specified period of time. For a particular location and month, Irradiance value change continuously and its value is maximum at noon time. Due to this, insolation value is not a constant quantity. For designing a system, we calculate the average insolation of month. For the rating of Solar PV modules irradiance of 1000 W/ is used. For calculation purpose, Insolation is represent in PSH (Peak Sun Hour). A Site that receives a 5 PSH a day receives the same amount of energy that would have been received if sun had shone for 5 hours at 1000 W/ .

Fig 3.2 Insolation map of India School of Renewable Energy and Efficiency, NIT Kurukshetra Page 13

Insolation Measurement S.No Method Abbreviation Definition 1. kWH per sq m2 per day kWh/ Quantity of solar energy, in kilowatt-hours, falling on a square meter in a day. 2. Daily Peak sun hours PSH Number of hours per day during which solar irradiance averages 1000W/m2 at the site.

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CHAPTER 4

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PV Cell and its Characteristics

4.1 PV CELL Photovoltaic or solar cells, at the present time, furnish one of the most-important long duration power supplies. This cell is considered a major candidate for obtaining energy from the sun, since it can convert sunlight directly to electricity with high conversion efficiency. It can provide nearly permanent power at low operating cost, and is virtually free of pollution. Since a typical photovoltaic cell produces less than 3 watts at approximately 0.5 volt dc, cells must be connected in series-parallel configurations to produce enough power for high-power applications. Cells are configured into module and modules are connected as arrays. Modules may have peak output powers ranging from a few watts, depending upon the intended application, to more than 300 watts. Typical array output power is in the 100-watt-kilowatt range, although megawatt arrays do exist. Photovoltaic cells, like batteries, generate direct current (DC), which is generally used for small loads (electronic equipment). When DC from photovoltaic cells is used for commercial applications or sold to electric utilities using the electric grid, it must be converted to alternating current (AC) using grid inverters, solid-state devices that convert DC power to AC. 4.1.1 Structure of Photovoltaic Cells A photovoltaic (PV) cell converts sunlight into electricity, which is the physical process known as photoelectric effect. Light which shines on a PV cell, may be reflected, absorbed, or passed through; however, only absorbed light generates electricity. The energy of absorbed light is transferred to electrons in the atoms of the PV cell. With their newfound energy, these electrons escape from their normal positions in the atoms of semiconductor PV material and become part of the electrical flow, or current, in an electrical circuit. A special electrical property of the PV cell, called built -in electric field, provides the force or voltage required to drive the current through an external load such as a light bulb. For photovoltaic there are two main requirements: 1. Generation of charge carrier (electron/holes) 2. Separation of charge (creating voltage difference)

Fig 4.1 cross section view of solar cell

To induce the built-in electric field within a PV cell, two layers of different semiconductor materials are placed in contact with each other. One layer is an n-type semiconductor with an abundance of electrons, which have a negative electrical charge. The other layer is a p -type semiconductor with an abundance of holes, which have a positive electrical charge. Although both materials are electrically neutral, n-type silicon has excess electrons and p-type silicon has excess holes. When solar radiation absorbed in P-N diode, electron hole pair generated. Minority carrier crosses the junction as they move from high energy to low energy side. Minority electron from p side comes to n
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side. Minority hole from n side come to p side. There is net increase in potential difference. This generation of photo voltage is known as photovoltaic effect. Minority carrier after generation travel average length L (diffusion length) before die. Minority charge generated within the distance L from junction help in photovoltaic effect.

Fig 4.2 electron/holes flow in solar cell under illumination and I-V curve of PV cell

4.2 PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES/ARRAY A PV or solar cell is the basic building block of a PV (or solar electric) system. An individual PV cell is usually quite small, typically producing about 1 or 2W of power. To boost the power output of PV cells, they have to be connected together to form larger units called modules. The modules, in turn, can be connected to form larger units called arrays, which can be interconnected to produce more power. By connecting the cells or modules in series, the output voltage can be increased. On the other hand, the output current can reach higher values by connecting the cells or modules in parallel.

Fig. 4.3 images of PV cell, modules and array

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Type of Solar PV modules 1. Monocrystalline Module: Monocrystalline, as the name suggests, is constructed using one single crystal, cut from ingots. This gives the solar panel a uniform appearance across the entire module. These large single crystals are exceedingly rare, and the process of 'recrystallising' the cell is more expensive to produce. 2. Polycrystalline silicon, or multicrystalline silicon, (poly-Si or mc-Si): it is made from cast square ingots large blocks of molten silicon carefully cooled and solidified. Poly-Si cells are less expensive to produce than single crystal silicon cells, but are less efficient. 3. Thin film cell: Thin film modules use non-crystalline PV material that can be deposited in fine layers on various types of surfaces. Although they only accounted for about 10 per cent of all solar PV production in 2008, their portion of the market is growing rapidly. It is expected that thin film technology costs will drop much faster than that of crystalline silicon technology. 4. Organic cell: Organic solar cells are a relatively novel technology, yet hold the promise of a substantial price reduction (over thin-film silicon) and a faster return on investment. These cells can be processed from solution, hence the possibility of a simple roll-to-roll printing process, leading to inexpensive, large scale production. 4.3 SOLAR PV SYSTEM A Photovoltaic system (informally, PV system) is an arrangement of components designed to supply usable electric power for a variety of purposes, using the Sun (or, less commonly, other light sources) as the power source. PV systems may be built in various configurations: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Off-grid without battery (Array-direct) Off-grid with battery storage for DC-only appliances Off-grid with battery storage for AC & DC appliances Grid-tie without battery Grid-tie with battery storage

Fig 4.4 Classification on PV system School of Renewable Energy and Efficiency, NIT Kurukshetra Page 18

StandAlone (Off-grid) solar PV system Standalone PV system is best suited for a location where grid is not available. For low power application like houses, water pump and load of mobile tower, standalone PV system is used. Main difference as compare to on-grid solar PV is that in this system power cannot flow from PV system to grid. Off grid PV system used battery bank for storage of energy.

Fig 4.5 Standalone PV system connection diagram

The major balance-of-system equipments are: 1. Batteries: Batteries accumulate excess energy created by your PV system and store it to be used at night or when there is no other energy input. Batteries can discharge rapidly and yield more current that the charging source can produce by itself, so pumps or motors can be run intermittently. There are two types of batteries; i. Lead Acid Batteries ii. Nickel Cadmium Batteries 2. Charge controller: A solar charge controller is needed in virtually all solar power systems that utilize batteries. The job of the solar charge controller is to regulate the power going from the solar panels to the batteries. Overcharging batteries will at the least significantly reduce battery life and at worst damage the batteries to the point that they are unusable. 3. Inverter: The function of an inverter is to transform the low voltage DC of a lead acid battery into higher voltage AC which may be used to power standard mains appliances. An inverter is necessary where appropriate low voltage appliances are unavailable or expensive or in larger systems where it is necessary to distribute the power over a wide area.

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4.4 PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL MODEL The use of equivalent electric circuits makes it possible to model characteristics of a PV cell. The PV model consists of a current source ( ), a diode (D) and a series resistance ( ). The effect of parallel resistance ( ), represents the leakage resistance of the cell is very small in a single module, thus the model does not include it. The current source represents the current generated by photons ( ), and its output is constant under constant temperature and constant incident radiation of light.

Fig 4.6 PV cell with it equivalent electric circuit Current-voltage (I-V) curves are obtained by exposing the cell to a constant level of light, while

maintaining a constant cell temperature, varying the resistance of the load, and measuring the produced current. I-V curve typically passes through two points: Short-circuit current ( ): is the current produced when the positive and negative terminals of the cell are short-circuited, and the voltage between the terminals is zero, which corresponds to zero load resistance. Open-circuit voltage ( ): is the voltage across the positive and negative terminals under opencircuit conditions, when the current is zero, which corresponds to infinite load resistance. Current voltage relation of PV cell is easily calculated by using the diode equivalent model and given by:

Where, I= output current = short circuit current (A) = reverse saturation current (A) V= voltage across the diode k= electron charge (1.38 * J/K) q= electron charge (1.6 * C) T= junction temperature (K) n= diode ideality factor (1-2)

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Fig 4.7 Matlab Simulink model of PV cell and it output I-V and P-V characteristics

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CHAPTER 5

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Battery and Its Performance

5.1 BATTRIES IN PV SYSTEM
In stand-alone photovoltaic systems, the electrical energy produced by the PV array cant always be used when it is produced. Because the demand for energy does not always coincide with its production, electrical storage batteries are commonly used in PV systems. The primary functions of a storage battery in a PV system are to: 1. Energy Storage Capacity and Autonomy: to store electrical energy when it is produced by the PV array and to supply energy to electrical loads as needed or on demand. 2. Voltage and Current Stabilization: to supply power to electrical loads at stable voltages and currents, by suppressing or 'smoothing out' transients that may occur in PV systems. 3. Supply Surge Currents: to supply surge or high peak operating currents to electrical loads or appliances.

5.2 BATTERY TYPES AND ITS CLASSIFICATION

Many types and classifications of batteries are manufactured today, each with specific design and performance characteristics suited for particular applications. Each battery type or design has its individual strengths and weaknesses. In PV systems, lead-acid batteries are most common due to their wide availability in many sizes, low cost and well understood performance characteristics. In a few critical, low temperature applications nickel-cadmium cells are used, but their high initial cost limits their use in most PV systems. There is no perfect battery and it is the task of the PV system designer to decide which battery type is most appropriate for each application. In general, electrical storage batteries can be divided into to major categories, primary and secondary batteries. Primary Batteries Primary batteries can store and deliver electrical energy, but cant be recharged. Typical carbon-zinc and lithium batteries commonly used in consumer electronic devices are primary batteries. Primary batteries are not used in PV systems because they cant be recharged. Secondary Batteries A secondary battery can store and deliver electrical energy, and can also be recharged by passing a current through it in an opposite direction to the discharge current. Common lead-acid batteries used in automobiles and PV systems are secondary batteries. Table 1 lists common secondary battery types and their characteristics which are of importance to PV system designers. A detailed discussion of each battery type follows
Battery Type Flooded Lead Acid Lead Antimony Lead-Calcium open vent Lead-Calcium sealed vent Lead Antimony/Calcium hybrid Captive Electrolyte Lead Acid Gelled Absorbed glass Mat Medium Medium Fair Fair Low Low Low Low Low Medium Good Poor Poor Good High Medium Low Medium Cost Deep cycle Performance Maintenance

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Nickel-Cadmium Sintered Plate Pocket Plate High High Good Good None Medium

5.3 LEAD ACID BATTERY CHEMISTRY

Now that the basic components of a battery have been described, the overall electrochemical operation of a battery can be discussed. Referring to Figure 10-1, the basic lead-acid battery cell consists of sets positive and negative plates, divided by separators, and immersed in a case with an electrolyte solution. In a fully charged lead-acid cell, the positive plates are lead dioxide (PbO2), the negative plates are sponge lead (Pb), and the electrolyte is a diluted sulfuric acid solution. When a battery is connected to an electrical load, current flows from the battery as the active materials are converted to lead sulfate (PbSO4). Lead-Acid Cell Reaction The following equations show the electrochemical reactions for the lead-acid cell. During battery discharge, the directions of the reactions listed goes from left to right. During battery charging, the direction of the reactions are reversed, and the reactions go from right to left. Note that the elements as well as charge are balanced on both sides of each equation. At the positive plate or electrode: At the negative plate or electrode: PbPb 22e Some consequences of these reactions are interesting and important. As the battery is discharged, the active materials PbO2 and Pb in the positive and negative plates, respectively, combine with the sulfuric acid solution to form PbSO4 and water. Note that in a fully discharged battery the active materials in both the positive and negative plates are converted to PbSO4, while the sulfuric acid solution is converted to water. This dilution of the electrolyte has important consequences in terms of the electrolyte specific gravity and freezing point.

5.4 BATTERY PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS

Terminology and Definitions Ampere-Hour (Ah): The common unit of measure for a batterys electrical storage capacity, obtained by integrating the discharge current in amperes over a specific time period. An ampere-hour is equal to the transfer of one-ampere over one-hour, equal to 3600 coulombs of charge. For example, a battery which delivers 5-amps for 20-hours is said to have delivered 100 ampere-hours. Capacity: A measure of a batterys ability to store or deliver electrical energy, commonly expressed in units of ampere-hours. Capacity is generally specified at a specific discharge rate, or over a certain time period. The capacity of a battery depends on several design factors including: the quantity of active material, the number, design and physical dimensions of the plates, and the electrolyte specific gravity. Operational factors affecting capacity include: the discharge rate, depth of discharge, cut off voltage, temperature, age and cycle history of the battery. Sometimes a batterys energy storage capacity is expressed in kilowatt-hours (kWh), which can be approximated by multiplying the rated capacity in ampere hours by the nominal battery voltage and dividing the product by 1000. For example, a nominal 12 volt, 100 ampere-hour battery has an energy storage capacity of (12 x 100)/1000 = 1.2 kilowatt-hours. Figure 2 shows the effects of temperature and discharge rate on lead-acid battery capacity.
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Cut Off Voltage: The lowest voltage which a battery system is allowed to reach in operation, defining the battery capacity at a specific discharge rate. Manufacturers often rate capacity to a specific cut off, or end of discharge voltage at a defined discharge rate. If the same cut off voltage is specified for different rates, the capacity will generally be higher at the lower discharge rate. Cycle: Refers to a discharge to a given depth of discharge followed by a complete recharge. A 100 % depth of discharge cycle provides a measure of the total battery capacity.

Fig 5.1 effect of Depth of Discharge (DOD) on life cycle of battery

Rate of Charge/Discharge: The rate of charge or discharge of a battery is expressed as a ratio of the nominal battery capacity to the charge or discharge time period in hours. For example, a 4-amp discharge for a nominal 100 ampere-hour battery would be considered a C/20 discharge rate. Battery Charging Methods and procedures for battery charging vary considerably. In a stand-alone PV system, the ways in which a battery is charged are generally much different from the charging methods battery manufacturers use to rate battery performance. The various methods and considerations for battery charging in PV systems are discussed in the next section on battery charge controllers. Battery manufacturers often refer to three modes of battery charging; normal or bulk charge, finishing or float charge and equalizing charge. Bulk or Normal Charge: Bulk or normal charging is the initial portion of a charging cycle, performed at any charge rate which does not cause the cell voltage to exceed the gassing voltage. Bulk charging generally occurs up to between 80 and 90% state of charge. Float or Finishing Charge: Once a battery is nearly fully charged, most of the active material in the battery has been converted to its original form, and voltage and or current regulation are generally required to limit the amount over overcharge supplied to the battery. Finish charging is usually conducted at low to medium charge rates.

Battery Discharging Depth of Discharge (DOD): The depth of discharge (DOD) of a battery is defined as the percentage of capacity that has been withdrawn from a battery compared to the total fully charged capacity. By definition, the depth of discharge and state of charge of a battery add to 100 percent. The two common qualifiers for depth of discharge in PV systems are the allowable or maximum DOD and the average daily DOD and are described as follows:

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Fig 5.2 Battery voltage and current waveform during different step of charging obattery Allowable DOD: The maximum percentage of full-rated capacity that can be withdrawn from a

battery is known as its allowable depth of discharge. The allowable DOD is the maximum discharge limit for a battery, generally dictated by the cut off voltage and discharge rate. In standalone PV systems, the low voltage load disconnect (LVD) set point of the battery charge controller dictates the allowable DOD limit at a given discharge rate. Furthermore, the allowable DOD is generally a seasonal deficit, resulting from low insolation, low temperatures and/or excessive load usage. Depending on the type of battery used in a PV system, the design allowable depth of discharge may be as high as 80% for deep cycle, motive power batteries, to as low as 15-25% if SLI batteries are used. The allowable DOD is related to the autonomy, in terms of the capacity required to operate the system loads for a given number of days without energy from the PV array. A system design with a lower allowable DOD will result in a shorter autonomy period.

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CHAPTER 6

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MPPT Charge Controller

6.1 DC-DC CONVERTER
A DC-DC converter is an electronic circuit which converts a source of direct current (DC) from one voltage level to another. The DC-DC converters are widely used in regulated switch-mode dc power supplies and in dc motor drives applications. Often the input of these converters is an unregulated dc voltage, which is obtained by rectifying the line voltage, and therefore it will fluctuate due to changes in the line voltage magnitude. Switch-mode DC-DC converters are used to convert the unregulated dc input into a controlled dc output at a desired voltage level. The heart of MPPT hardware is a switch-mode DC-DC converter. MPPT uses the converter for a different purpose: regulating the input voltage at the PV MPP and providing load matching for the maximum power transfer. Topologies There are many topologies are used as DC-DC converter. They are categorized into isolated or nonisolated topologies. The isolated topologies use a small-sized high-frequency electrical isolation transformer which provides the benefits of DC isolation between input and output, and step up or down of output voltage by changing the transformer turns ratio. They are very often used in switch mode DC power supplies. Popular topologies for a majority of the applications are: 1. Flyback 2. Half-bridge 3. Full-bridge. In PV applications, the grid-tied systems often use these types of topologies when electrical isolation is preferred for safety reasons. Non-isolated topologies do not have isolation transformers. They are almost always used in DC motor drives. These topologies are further categorized into three types: 1. Step down (Buck) 2. Step up (Boost) 3. Step up & down (Buck-Boost) The buck topology is used for voltage step-down. In PV applications, the buck type converter is usually used for charging batteries. The boost topology is used for stepping up the voltage. The gridtied systems use a boost type converter to step up the output voltage to the utility level before the inverter stage. There are topologies able to step up and down the voltage such as: 1. Buck-Boost 2. SEPIC (Single Ended Primary Inductor Converter) and 3. Cuk. For PV system with batteries, the MPP of commercial PV module is set above the charging voltage of batteries for most combinations of irradiance and temperature. A buck converter can operate at the MPP under most conditions, but it cannot do so when the MPP goes below the battery charging voltage under a low-irradiance and high-temperature condition. Thus, the additional boost capability can slightly increase the overall efficiency.

6.2 BUCK BOOST CONVERTER

To obtain a stable voltage from an input supply (PV cells) that is higher and lower than the output, a high efficiency and minimum ripple DC-DC converter required in the system for residential power production. Buck-boost converters make it possible to efficiently convert a DC voltage to either a lower or higher voltage. Buck-boost converters are especially useful for PV maximum power tracking purposes, where the objective is to draw maximum possible power from solar panels at all times, regardless of the load. The buck boost converter can be obtained by the cascade connection of two basic converters: step up (Boost) and step down (Buck) converter.
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In PV applications, the buck type converter is usually used for charging batteries. The boost topology is used for stepping up the voltage. The grid-tied systems use a boost type converter to step up the output voltage to the utility level before the inverter stage. The input output voltage conversion ratio is the product of the conversion ratios of the two converters in cascade (assuming that the switches sin the both converters have the same duty ratio).

Fig 6.1 BUCK-BOOST converter circuit diagram

This the output voltage to be higher or lower than the input voltage based on the duty ratio. The cascade connection of the step up step down converters can be combined into single buck boost converters, when the switch is closed the input provides energy to the inductor and the diode is reversed biased. When the switch is open the energy stored in the inductor is transferred to the output. No energy is supplied to the output in this interval. The output capacitor is considered to be very large which results in a constant output voltage . The basic principle of the buckboost converter is fairly simple. While in the On-state, the input voltage source is directly connected to the inductor (L). This results in accumulating energy in L. In this stage, the capacitor supplies energy to the output load. While in the Off-state, the inductor is connected to the output load and capacitor, so energy is transferred from L to C and R.

6.3 MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKER

In a (Power-Voltage or current-voltage) curve of a solar panel, there is an optimum operating point such that the PV delivers the maximum possible power to the load. This unique point is the maximum power point (MPP) of solar panel. Because of the photovoltaic nature of solar panels, their current-voltage, or IV, curves depend on temperature and irradiance levels. Therefore, the operating current and voltage which maximize power output will change with environmental conditions. As the optimum point changes with the natural conditions so it is very important to track the maximum power point (MPP) for a successful PV system. So in PV systems a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) is very much needed. In most PV systems a control algorithm, namely maximum power point tracking algorithm is utilized to have the full advantage of the PV systems. In this chapter, we attempt to design a charge controllers MPPT by presenting algorithms for different MPPT methods and comparing their advantages and drawbacks.

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Maximum Power Point Tracking

For any given set of operational conditions, cells have a single operating point where the values of the current (I) and voltage (V) of the cell result in a maximum power output. These values correspond to a particular load resistance, R= V/I, as specified by Ohms Law. The power P is given by P = V*I. From basic circuit theory, the power delivered from or to a device is optimized where the derivative of the I-V curve is equal and opposite the I/V ratio. This is known as the maximum power point (MPP) and corresponds to the "knee" of the curve. The load with resistance R=V/I, which is equal to the reciprocal of this value and draws the maximum power from the device is sometimes called the characteristic resistance of the cell. This is a dynamic quantity which changes depending on the level of illumination, as well as other factors such as temperature and the age of the cell. If the resistance is lower or higher than this value, the power drawn will be less than the maximum available, and thus the cell will not be used as efficiently as it could be. Maximum power point trackers utilize different types of control circuit or logic to search for this point and thus to allow the converter circuit to extract the maximum power available from a cell.

Fig 6.2 Maximum Power Point concept and working diagram of MPPT

Methods of MPPT algorithms

Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is used to obtain the maximum power from these systems. There are some conventional methods for MPPT. These methods include: 1. Open Circuit Voltage method 2. Short Circuit Current method 3. Perturb and Observe method 4. Incremental Conductance method 5. Temperature method 6. Temperature Parametric method 7. Hill climbing method

6.4 HILL CLIMBING METHOD

Perhaps, the most popular algorithm is the hill climbing method. It is applied by perturbing the duty cycle d at regular intervals and by recording the resulting array current and voltage values, thereby obtaining the power. Once the power is known, a check for the slope of PV curves or the operating
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region is carried out and then change in d is effected in a direction so that the operating point approaches MPP on the power- voltage characteristics. The algorithm of this scheme is described below along with the help of mathematical expressions. 1. In the voltage source region, > D=D + D 2. In the current source region, 3. At MPP, =0 < D=D - D=D (no change)

Fig 6.3 MPPT operating region

The process is repeated periodically until the MPP is reached. The system then oscillates about the MPP. The oscillation can be minimized by reducing the perturbation step size. However, a smaller perturbation size slows down the MPPT. A solution to this conflicting situation is to have a variable perturbation size that gets smaller towards the MPP. Fuzzy logic control is used to optimize the magnitude of the next perturbation. A two-stage algorithm is proposed that offers faster tracking in the first stage.

Fig 6.4 Algorithm of Hill climbing method based MPPT scheme School of Renewable Energy and Efficiency, NIT Kurukshetra Page 31

CHAPTER 7

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Optimal Charge Controller Design

7.1 CONCEPT OF OPTIMAL CHARGE CONTROLLER Renewable Sources are gaining popularity due to continuously depleting fossil fuels, increasing energy demand and growing concern over climate change due to CO2 emission. To supply the power generated from renewable sources to electronics, variable speed drives and LED loads, multiple acdc and dc-ac conversions are required. This causes substantial energy wastage before end use. To address this limitation, low voltage dc system is suggested, which offers high efficiency and reliability [1-2]. For standalone dc system application, renewable sources and storage elements are used to provide uninterrupted power to loads. Two category of dc-dc converters are used (i) Renewable Side Converter (RSC), interconnects renewable source to the storage elements and (ii) Storage Side Converter (SSC), interconnects storage elements to the load bus. The SSC maintains the load bus voltage to its nominal value. Objective of RSC is to charge battery using renewable sources. This paper discusses the control issues of the RSC connected between solar photovoltaic (pv) and Sealed Maintenance Free (SMF) lead-acid battery. Considering large cost of solar pv panels, it is suggested in that the converter should extract maximum possible power from solar pv. When the system is partially loaded, excess power flows into battery. If the state of charge (SoC) of battery is high, this power flow increases battery terminal voltage higher than the gassing voltage, Vg. This reduces the life of battery. Furthermore, frequent occurrence of this event can even damage the battery. For long life of the battery, charger should not allow battery voltage to exceed Vg. This voltage for SMF lead-acid battery is 2.4V/cell. One solution is to disconnect the battery from RSC whenever gassing voltage is reached. However, at this stage battery is not fully charged and it has the capacity to store more energy. Therefore, the battery capacity and available power of solar pv is compromised.

Fig. 7.1 A standalone PV system

7.2 BATTERY VOLTAGE CONTROLLER

Battery voltage controller controller maintains the output voltage equal to the reference value. In case of small change in the solar radiations, output voltage of the converter is regulated to its set value by this controller. Therefore, power output of the converter remains same for change in solar radiations. Assuming efficiency of the converter is constant, power supplied by solar pv remains same. Hence, the converter behaves as a Constant Power Load (CPL) for the solar pv array. Equivalent circuit of the converter behaving as CPL is shown in Fig. 2. It is modelled as ve resistance connected in parallel to the dc link capacitor. Stability of cascaded system is ensured if, | | < where, is the source impedance and is load admittance. | | <| | where, is the load impedance. The above equation is useful in determining the stability of the system at different operating conditions. The load and source characteristics intersect at two points out of which one is unstable.
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In summary, output voltage controller can make the system unstable. However, PV voltage controller ensures stable operation in all conditions. Typically, maximum power extraction is realized using pv voltage controller. MPPT algorithm generates the reference voltage value, which is realized by the PV voltage controller.

Fig. 7.2 Controller for optimal DC-DC converter

7.3 Proposed Controller

The proposed controller is shown in Fig. 7.2 Output of this controller is the reference PV voltage and inputs are actual PV voltage, PV current, battery voltage and battery current. Measuring of battery current provides additional protection against excess current flow in the battery. Typically rating of solar pv and battery are decided such that the current charging the battery is always less than its maximum value. In that case battery current measurement may not be required. In step-b of the algorithm, shown in Fig. 6, maximum limits of battery voltage, and battery current, are defined. Also starting point (initial guess) voltage, Vpv-ref and step in PV reference voltage, k are initialized. This step is executed only during starting of the system. In step-c, battery voltage, , battery current , PV voltage Vpv and PV currents, Ipv are measured. Power extracted from pv array is determined in step-d. In step-e, measured battery voltage and current are compared with their maximum set values. If both the values are less than their maximum then add

Optimal MPPT controller MPPT Controller output Fig 7.3 output waveform comparison of MPPT controller and optimal MPPT controller School of Renewable Energy and Efficiency, NIT Kurukshetra Page 34

A PV voltage controller is shown in Fig. 7.2 The converter regulates the solar PV voltage. Instantaneous change in solar radiations results change in solar PV current, solar PV voltage remains same due to the controller action. Initial power can be used to charge the battery. To achieve this, solar pv power is compared with the power measured in the last sampling period. If is higher than then is further changed in the same direction as in the previous sampling period. In other words, if in last sampling time, was increased then in this sampling time also it is incremented. If is less than then is changed in the reverse direction. Therefore, in case when both conditions of step-e are satisfied, step-f and step-g execute the Perturb and Observe, (P&O) MPPT method. However, if either of the conditions in step-e is violated then step-f and stepg seek to reduce the power extracted from PV. Since power reduces, battery voltage and current also reduce, thereby changing the system operating point such that both conditions in step-e are satisfied. This ensures that battery voltage does not exceed its maximum set value (i.e. gassing voltage). In summary, when battery voltage and current are less than their maximum value, then MPPT is executed. In case battery voltage or current become more than the maximum set values, power extracted from PV is reduced, thereby reducing battery voltage and current.

Fig. 7.4 Flow diagram algorithm of optimal MPPT controller

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CONCLUSION In solar PV based battery charging, MPPT algorithms are used . When the state of charge (SoC) of battery is high and system is on no-load, excess power flows into the battery. This results in low operational life of the battery. Slight variation in design of MPPT improves the charging condition of battery. There is number of MPPT control algorithm. Fuzzy and Neural network based MPPT algorithm are more accurate. No of improved DC-DC converter topologies are in picture like CUK converter, isolated converter etc. By choosing the optimal combination of DC-DC converter and MPPT algorithm better regulation of battery is possible.

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References
1. Sandeep Anand, Rajesh Singh Farswan, Bhukya Mangu, B.G. Fernades, Optimal charging of Battery Using Solar PV in Standalone DC System, Industrial Electronics Magazine , vol.7, no-3,pp.6 20, Sep 2013 2. Trishan Esram, and Patrick L. Chapman, Comparison of Photovoltaic Array Maximum Power Point Tracking Techniques, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, vol. 22, no. 2, June 2007 3. Tom Markvark, Luis Castaner, Solar Cells: Material, Manufactures and operation, Elsevier, ISBN-1856174573 4. Chetan Singh Solanki, Solar Photovoltaic: Fundamentals, Technology and Applications, Eastern Economy Edition, ISBN-9788120343863 5. Simon S. Ang, Power Switching Converters, Marcel Dekker Inc., ISBN-0824796306 6. Paras Karki, Brijesh Adhikary, MATLAB/Simulink based Modeling and Simulation of Gird-connected Solar Photovoltaic System in Distribution Power Network,Fifth International Conference on Power and Energy Systems, Kathmandu, Nepal, pp.28 - 30 October, 2013 7. James P. Dunlop, P. E. Florida, Batteries and Charge Control in Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems Fundamentals and Application, Solar Energy Center1-679, Clearlake RoadCocoa, FL 32922-5703

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