International Journal of Electrical and

Electronics Engineering Research (IJEEER)

ISSN(P): 2250-155X; ISSN(E): 2278-943X
Vol. 6, Issue 4, Aug 2016, 15-28
TJPRC Pvt. Ltd

EXTRACTION OF MAXIMUM POWER FROM THE PV SYSTEM UNDER

DIFFERENT CONDITIONS CONNECTED WITH DIFFERENT DC DC
CONVERTERS
KOTNI SRIKUMAR & CH SAI BABU
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, UCEK, JNTUK, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India
ABSTRACT
In PV systems, dozens of PV cells are connected in series to form high-voltage strings, and multiple strings are
connected in parallel to build modules with desired output ratings. A relatively large current mismatch between the
component cells of a module is common, due to non-uniform cell optical characteristics, misalignment in the
concentrators, electrical and thermal parameter variations, non-uniform aging, as well as partial shading. Due to this
there is a large drop in PV system output power. In this paper, Delta-conversion concept is introduced that aims at
averaging out differences in output power between groups of PV cells within modules and between modules inside the PV
system and an attempt is made to compare with other existing different converters. This paper describes implementation
details of the delta-conversion concept and compares with other sigma converters.

Original Article

KEYWORDS: Photovoltaic System, Partial Shading, DC/DC Conversion

Received: Jun 05, 2016; Accepted: Jun 28, 2016; Published: Jul 01, 2016; Paper Id.: IJEEERAUG20162

INTRODUCTION
Energy demand across the globe is increasing day by day. The situation has been further complicated by
rapidly diminishing conventional sources, like oil and coal. To further add to the problems of increased demand and
constrained supply, there are serious questions about pursuing a fossil fuel-led growth strategy, especially in the
context of environmental concerns. The challenge is to meet our increasing energy needs while minimizing the
damage to the environment. [2] Moving towards renewable energy supplies is a solution that can solve both the
problems simultaneously. They are green and clean with little or no carbon dioxide emission, and they are
renewable hence sustainable.
Renewable energy is energy generated from renewable natural resources, such as solar radiation, wind,
rainfall, tides, geothermal heat, etc. The main renewable energy technologies include biomass, hydropower, solar
heating, solar electricity, wind power, ocean energy, etc. Compared to conventional fossil fuel energy sources
(coal, oil and natural gas), renewable energy sources have the following major advantages: firstly, they are
replenished from natural resources, therefore they are sustainable and will never run out; secondly, they produce
little or no carbon dioxide. Therefore, using renewable energy will be the key to tackle the hazard of environmental
pollution as well as to achieve sustainable energy. Renewable energy accounted for approximately half of the
estimated 194 GW of new electric capacity added globally during 2012. Renewable power capacity worldwide
reached an estimated 1,320 GigaWatts (GW) in 2013, up almost 8% from 2009 and from there on it is increasing
heavily year after year with huge amount of installed capacities. Renewable capacity now comprises about a quarter

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Kotni Srikumar & Ch Sai Babu

of total global power generating capacity.

The output of the PV system depends on the solar irradiation and temperature as prime factors in generation of
electric output. The efficiencies are up to 20 % for C- Si technology and up to 10 % for thin film technology [1].
The conversion efficiency of the PV system is good enough bt the efficiency also depends on various factors such as
connecting wires, connectors, cables, switches, converter devices etc. But in addition to these the system efficiency also
depends/reduces because of partial shading due to clouds, nearby tree shadows, electric and telephone shadows during
different times of sun movement, hot spots created within the cells leads to PV system output to differ. The different
converters will have different sensing behavior etc. This paper validates by / compares by taking care of these problems
using different power converters to the PV system for extending the maximum output power from the system. Here an
effort is made to see the tracking of output power of all different converters without considering the economic viability of
the converter. But from day to day as the power electronic converters are becoming cheaper, smaller and more reliable the
above comparison may be worth based on to the utility to which it is connected.

CONFIGURATION OF PV SYSTEM
The equivalent model of a PV cell can be given as

Figure 1: Equivalent Circuit of Solar Cell

The current source Iph represents the cell photocurrent. Rsh and Rs are the intrinsic shunt and series resistances of
the cell, respectively. Usually the value of Rsh is very large and that of Rs is very small, hence they may be neglected to
simplify the analysis. PV cells are grouped in larger units called PV modules which are further interconnected in a
parallel-series configuration to form PV Systems. Mathematical modelling of PV module is being continuosly updated to
enable researcher to have a better understanding of its working [12]-[16].
The photovoltaic panel can be modelled mathematically as given in equations [1]-[4]
Module photo current:
I

= I

+ K T 298

(1)

Module reverse saturation current:

I

=I

/ exp

! "#$

%1

(2)

The module saturation current I varies with the cell temperature, which is given by
I =I

$ (

$'

exp

Impact Factor (JCC): 6.1843

)*+
,"

$'

.
$

(3)

NAAS Rating: 2.40

Extraction of Maximum Power from the Pv System Under Different

Conditions Connected with Different Dc Dc
Dc Converters

17

The current output of PV module is

I/

N/ I

Where V/

N/ I exp -

V23 , N/

1, N

89 :;89 <!
! #"$

(4)

36

Two important points of the current-voltage

current voltage characteristic must be pointed out: the open circuit voltage V23 and
the short circuit current I53 approximated from above equations. When the output current of the cell is zero, i.e. I=0 and the
shunt resistanceR 57 is neglected. It is represented by equation (3). The short circuit current I53 is the current at V = 0 and is
approximately equal to the light
ight generated curren I/7 as shown in equation (4).
The maximum power is generated by the solar cell at a point of the current-voltage
current voltage characteristic where the
product V*I is maximum. This point is known as the MPP and is unique.

Figure 2: Simulink Model Of PV Module

The electrical connections within a module can be arranged in any desired combination of series and parallel
connections, remembering the importance of the matching of the units in any series or parallel string. This means, for
example, that parallel connection of series strings should be made using similar strings with the same number and type of
cells. The series/parallel configurations will determine the current and voltage values obtained from the module under
given illumination and load
oad conditions. Panel data analysis is an increasingly popular form of longitudinal data analysis
among social and behavioral science researchers. A panel is a cross-section
cross section or group of people who are surveyed
periodically over a given time span. Panel methods
methods will be summarized along with their related disadvantages and
advantages.
Panel data analysis is a method of studying a particular subject with multiple sites periodically observed over a
definite time, be it behavior of firms, ministries, wages or characteristics
characteristics of groups of people on health matters
(Gujarati, 638). The analysis endows regression with both a spatial and temporal dimensions. The spatial dimension
pertains to a set of cross-sectional
sectional units of observation while the temporal
temporal dimension pertains to periodic observations of a
set of variables characterizing these cross-sectional
cross sectional units over time. Panel data logically looks like a Time Series
Cross-Sectional
Sectional data (TSCS). The difference is while panels have large number of crosscros -sections (N) usually between

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Kotni Srikumar & Ch Sai Babu

5-100 and few time periods (T), TSCS has reasonable sized time (T) usually between 20-50 and not very large N
(Nathaniel, 2009). In panel data, asymptotic are in N, while T is fixed while in TSCS data, asymptotic are in T while N is
fixed. Panel data set generally include sequential blocks or cross-sections of data, within each of which resides a time
series. It relates cross-sectional data over time, explicitly takes heterogeneity into account. It gives more informative data,
more variability, less collinearity, helps to study dynamics of change, detect and measure effects and enables us to study
complicated behavioral models.

REDUCED PV-SYSTEM OUTPUT POWER IN PRACTICE

In day to day used PV Systems, the output power varies especially decreases due to various reasons like partial
shading due to clouds, shades on PV systems due to adjacent poles and trees during different timings of the day, soiling
due to dust, unequal distribution of irradiance, manufacturing defects of the overall PV system. To show the change of
irradiance, let us take 3 PV modules connected in series as a PV System. The system is illustrated in Figure 3(a), where all
the substrings experience the same irradiance, due to which all the characteristic remain unique in all substrings. The Photo
Voltaic system under normal conditions will have 3 times the each substring output which is 300 W and each substring
gives an output of 100 W. The Figure 3 (b) represents that one substring is partially shaded due to the reasons already
mentioned and there by the power has reduced to a some extent due to the cause of partially shaded condition. So the
output power is significantly reduced due to limitations of these conditions.
PV characterstics under partial shading conditions

PV characterstics under normal conditions

200

300

180
250

160
140

200

P o w e r (W )

P o w e r(W )

120
100

150

100

80
60
40

50

20
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

(a)

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Voltage(V)

voltage(V)

(b)

Figure 3: PV System with Three C-Si Modules In Series, with IV and

PV Curves: (a) Ideal Case, (b) One Module with Partially Shaded

VARIOUS DC/DC CONVERSION CONVERTERS

Module-Level DC/DC Conversion

The basic block diagram of the dc/dc converter is shown in figure 4. The usage of module level dc/dc converter is

shown in figure 5. Each module has an individual dc/dc converter along with the individual maximum power point tracker.
Here the dc/dc converters are connected in series [7][8]. Since each system is installed with individual MPPT, the voltage
per substring can be maintained at a fixed value. This feasibility allows us to design the inverter for a single dc input
voltage. The dc/dc converters shown in Figure 5 can be buck, boost, or buckboost. The output current is same for all the
dc/dc converters, but the output voltage is adjusted based on the available power in each module.Examples of applying a
boost converter can be found [8].

Impact Factor (JCC): 6.1843

NAAS Rating: 2.40

Extraction of Maximum Power from the Pv System Under Different

Conditions Connected with Different Dc Dc Converters

19

Figure 4: PV Panel Connected to a Resistive Load through DC/DC Converter

Figure 5: Application of Module-Level Dc/Dc Converters in a PV System.

Boost Converter
A simple boost converter consists of an inductor, a switch, a diode, and a capacitor as shown in Figure 6, the

Boost converter circuit operation can be divided into two phases. Phase 1 begins when the switch SW is turned on at
t = Ton as shown in Figure 6 and [10]. The input current which rises flows through inductor L and switch SW. During this
mode, energy is stored in the inductor. Phase 2 begins when the switch is turned off at t = Toff. The energy stored in the
inductor causes its voltage to swap polarity and maintain current flow in the circuit, which is now directed through inductor
L diode D, capacitor C, load R, and the supply of Vin as shown in Figure 7. The inductor current falls until the switch is
turned on again in the next cycle. The reversing of the inductor voltage polarity in phase 2 allows the Vout to be greater
than Vin
V?@AB

CD

VE

Where Vout is the output voltage, D is duty cycle, and Vin is input voltage which in this case will be the solar
panel voltage.

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Kotni Srikumar & Ch Sai Babu

Figure 6: Basic Diagram of the Boost Converter Operation

In order to operate the converter in continuous conduction mode (CCM), the inductance is calculated such that the
inductor current IL flows continuously and never falls to zero as shown in Figure 6. Thus, L is given by:
L=

GD

H! ;+

Where L is the minimum inductance, D is duty cycle, and f is the switching frequency of switch SW.
The output capacitance to give the desired output voltage ripple is given by:
CK E =

<L '

Where Cmin is the minimum capacitance, D is duty cycle, R is output resistance, f is switching frequency of
switch SW, and Vr is output voltage ripple factor.

Fly back Converter

The fly back converter is an isolated power converter. It is used in both AC-DC & DC-DC conversion.

The fly back converter is a buck-boost converter with the inductor spilt to form a transformer, so that the voltage ratios are
multiplied with an additional advantage of isolation. Low cost multiple output power supplies. The schematic diagram of a
fly back converter is shown in figure 8 [11].The operation of the fly back converter is similar to that boost converter
operation as explained in IV.B. and in Figure 6. and the basic diagram of the flyback converter operation is shown in figure
7

Impact Factor (JCC): 6.1843

NAAS Rating: 2.40

Extraction of Maximum Power from the Pv System Under Different

Conditions Connected with Different Dc Dc
Dc Converters

21

Figure 7: Basic Diagram of the Fly Back Converter Operation

!

CD

Where Vo is the output voltage, D is duty cycle, and Vs is input voltage which in this case will be the solar panel
voltage is the turns ratio.
LK E

EM

CD M <

NL

where L is the minimum inductance, D is duty cycle, and f is the switching frequency of switch SW.R is the
resistance and n is the turns ratio.
The output capacitance to give the desired output voltage ripple is given by.
CK E

<L '

Where Cmin is the minimum capacitance, D is duty cycle, R is output resistance, f is switching frequency of
switch SW, and Vr is output voltage
oltage ripple factor.

Delta Conversion Converter

The idea behind the usage of delta conversion is to make module level dc/dc converter to adjust when the

differences in the PV modules or substring occurs. But it has got its own disadvantages with respect
respe to reliability in
operational time. The total required power to the load is supplied by the series connected strings of PV modules but not the
converter efficiency dependency. So the system can be designed with lower efficiency converters since these converters
co
will have very small effect on the total output power.

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Kotni Srikumar & Ch Sai Babu

Figure 8: Multi-Stage Chopper Circuit

Design Features of Delta Converter

Firstly delta-conversion
conversion concept to PV systems was introduced with a multistage chopper using a coil and a

switch per substring is used to implement this concept. Here the central controller sends the control voltage signals to all
the switches in the multistage
istage which leads to the higher complexity of the system. Figure
ure 8 shows the schematic of
multistage chopper [12]. So as an alternative half-bridges
half bridges converter design was implemented for each set of neighboring
substrings where the control is relatively simple,
simple, thereby reducing the size of the input and output capacitors.

Delta-Conversion
Conversion Implementation
Implementat
With Half-Bridge Converters
The implementation of the delta-conversion
delta
concept is shown in Figure 9, in which the use of c-Si
c modules with

three substrings each is taken in to account. The other elements such as capacitors towards the input and output side along
with the control blocks are not considered to make the understanding simpler. Here we have taken 3 substrings with in a
module and each substring has a half bridge dc/dc converter which equals the voltage of neighbouring substrings to the one
that equalize the neighbouring modules. The overall voltage equalizations can be obtained by series connected modules in
a string along with substring converters making the losses as minimal as possible.

Figure 9: Delta--Conversion Implementation with Half-Bridge

Bridge Converters

Control Scheme
The controller present in half bridge will equal the neighbouring substring voltages. This is achieved with two

control loops,
s, which are voltage dependent and current dependent. The control principle is given in more detail using
Figure 10 for the case of two substrings sub 1 and sub 2 connected in series. Here the mid voltage between the two
substrings is defined as the averagee of the voltages of the two substrings i.e (V1 + V2 )/2. If the average voltage is greater
than low voltage VL and lesser than high Voltage VH,
VH and there will be no difference in values between two substrings
1 and 2, so the controller will nott act further and the switching is not done. Now let the irradiance on substring 1 has
dropped down then the lower voltage comparator trips there by actuating the controller. Then the counter in the current
Impact Factor (JCC): 6.1843

NAAS Rating: 2.40

Extraction of Maximum Power from the Pv System Under Different

Conditions Connected with Different Dc Dc Converters

23

mode controller (CMC) will start the count there by paralleling increasing the current to the required level until it reaches
the normal level. The same process is repeated if it happens in substring 2 making the current direction to flow in a reverse
way.

Figure 10: Basic Principle of the Implemented -Converter Control Scheme

Now the digital controller calculates the efficiency of the converter based on the output current function. To
illustrate this behaviour, consider the simulation result in Figure 11. At t = 0, the the substring Sub 1 experiences a higher
irradiance than the substring Sub 2. As a result, Iout is negative, Iout is low and the converter operates in Discontinuous
Conduction Mode with a single phase only. Then, from t = 2 ms onwards, the irradiance starts decreasing on substring1.
The current becomes zero amperes when the irradiances of sub1 and sub2 are equal. From then onward, Iout becomes
positive and as the difference in irradiance becomes larger, the converter switches to CCM and there by retaining
dual-phase operation. When the difference in irradiance remains constant between t = 4 ms and t = 6 ms, Iout remains
constant. From the figures 11 we have observed that during irradiance changes, the difference in substring voltages is
higher than in steady state. Figure 11 (a) shows the current output in the inductor.figure 11(b) shows the voltages at the two
substrings with one in varying irradiation as shown in the control scheme of figure 10.figure 11(c) shows the currents of
the two substrings one at varying irradiation.
voltages of two substings one in varying irradiation
9.8

9.6

9.4

v o l ta g e ( v o l t s )

current(Amps)

output of Iout
5

9.2

8.8

-1

8.6

-2

8.4

10

Time(sec)

10

Time(sec)

(a)

(b)

currents of two substrings one is in varying irradiation

8
7

current(Amps)

6
5
4
3
2
1
0

10

Time(sec)

(c)
Figure 11: Simulation Results of the Implemented -Converter (a) Output Current (b) Voltages of two
Substrings in Varying Irradiation (c) Currents in two Substrings in Varying Irradiation

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Kotni Srikumar & Ch Sai Babu

In this implementation three substrings are considered where two substrings operates at STC conditions and one
substring is shaded. In the delta converter case, the substrings remain connected in series. The delta converters ensure that
each substring delivers an average power of 80W (240/3W) by means of transferring power from the nonshaded substrings
to the shaded substring, and the module (which consists three substrings) contains three delta converters as shown in delta
converter simulation implementation. By equalizing the output powers from all substrings we get only one maximum
point.

Figure 12: Simulation Implementation of Delta Converter

Simulation output power of PV module with delta converter
250

power(watts)

200

150

100

50

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

Time(sec)

Figure 13: Simulation Result of Delta Converter

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

The figure 12(a) is a case where it is a reference case with no dc dc converter. So out of three substrings one will
not exhibit any power and the total power in this case is 200W out of 300W total input power. In the reference case the
shaded substring is bypassed totally and the total output power will be 200 W which is the output power of two healthy
substrings. The converters in the configuration 12(b),(c) which are called as -converter, since the three substring powers
can be added as the single output with an efficiency of 90 % and the substring 2 and 3 have the output power of 100W and
the substring 1 output power has 40 W due to partially shaded conditions. Therefore the Total output power is 216W.

Impact Factor (JCC): 6.1843

NAAS Rating: 2.40

Extraction of Maximum Power from the Pv System Under Different

Conditions Connected with Different Dc Dc
Dc Converters

25

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure
ure.12: (a) Reference System. (b) Boost Converter
(c) Fly Back Converter (d) Delta Converter
In flyback converter each substring will operate at 93% efficiency and the total output power in substring is 93W,
and in the string 2 is 93 W and in the substring 1 will be giving an output of 37.2W. Therefore the total output power will
be 224W. But wheree as in the Delta power converter the power obtained is 234 W with 80W, 80 W and 34 W as shown
figure 12 (d).
Comparison of all output powers
400
350
a

power(Watts)

300
f

b
250
200
c

150

100
50
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Time(secs)

Figure 13: Simulation Results of Implemented Concepts.Reference

Reference Case

Reference case with shading

Reference case with bypass diode.

Boost converter.

Fly back converter.

Delta converter.

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Kotni Srikumar & Ch Sai Babu

Table 1: Comparison of Power Outputs in Various Converters

S. No
a.
b
c
d.
e.
f.

Type of Converter
Reference case
Reference case with shading
Reference case with Bypass diode
Boost converter
Fly back converter
Delta converter

Output Power
Obtained
300W
240W
200W
216W
224W
234W

Table 2: Simulation Parameters

Parameter
Symbol
Short circuit current
Isc
Maximum power point current of
Impp
module
Open circuit voltage
Voc
Maximum power point Voltage of
Vmpp
module
Applied irradiation
s
Load resistance
Rl
Maximum output power
Pmax
Input capacitance for boost converter
Cin
Inductance
L
Capacitance
C
Inductance for flyback converter
L
Inductance in delta converter
L

Value
6.43A
5.85A
21.75V
17.1V
50%W/m2
3
100 W
F
1
0.8
mH
0.4F
0.1mH
0.1mH

CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, it is illustrated that even with the perfect components used in PV System; the output power can be
reduced to larger extent due to partial shading, soiling, improper maintenance etc. So here the module level dc dc
converters need to be more reliable and sensitive. Here In this delta-conversion concept, dc/dc half-bridge converters are
only active when differences between substring and module output powers occur. This reduces the operation time and
thereby increases the reliability. Moreover, since only power differences are fed through the converters, the converter
efficiency can be lower, leading to lower cost. In this paper, the delta-conversion concept performance has been compared
to the reference case of having no converters. Finally we can conclude that with delta converter the maximum output
power can be achieved under severe and different scenarios that may occur with the PV system.
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Impact Factor (JCC): 6.1843

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Conditions Connected with Different Dc Dc Converters
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