International Journal of Engineering Research and Development

e-ISSN: 2278-067X, p-ISSN: 2278-800X, www.ijerd.com

Volume 9, Issue 4 (December 2013), PP. 25-29

Development of a MPPT-based Single Phase PWM Solar

String Inverter for AC output for off grid applications
Manisha R. Kandgaonkar1, N.N.Shinde2, P.S.Patil3
1
Department of Energy Technology, Shivaji University, Kolhapur,.Maharashtra, India.
2,3
Department of Energy Technology, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India.

Abstract: A microcontroller based technique of generating a sine wave from the solar panel output is designed
and implemented in this paper using a two-stage topology for a solar string inverter. This paper presents the
development of a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and control circuit for a single phase inverter using a
pulse width modulation (PWM) IC. The attractiveness of this configuration is the elimination of a complex
circuitry to generate oscillation pulses for transistor switches. The controller IC TL494 is able to generate the
necessary waveforms to control the frequency of inverter through proper use of switching pulse. The DC to AC
inversion is successfully achieved alongside the switching signals; the circuit produced inverter output of
frequency nearly 50 Hz. The main objective of the proposed technique is to design a low cost, low harmonics
voltage source inverter essentially focused upon low power electronic appliances using variable solar power as
inputs.

Keywords: AC solar panels, DC-AC converters, MPPT charge controllers, PWM inverters, solar string
inverters.

I. INTRODUCTION
a) Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)
When a solar PV module is used in a system, its operating point is decided by the load to which it is
connected. Also, since solar radiation falling on a PV module varies throughout the day, the operating point of
the module also changes throughout the day. Ideally under all operating conditions, one would like to transfer
maximum power from a PV module to the load. In order to ensure the operation of PV modules for maximum
power transfer, a special method called Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is employed in PV systems
where, electronic circuitry is used to ensure that maximum amount of generated power is transferred to the load.
The maximum power point tracking mechanism makes use of an algorithm and an electronic circuitry. The
mechanism is based on the principle of impedance matching between load and PV module which is necessary
for maximum power transfer. This impedance matching is done by using a DC to DC converter by changing the
duty cycle (d) of the switch.

Fig.1 Block diagram of the MPPT algorithm along with the circuit.

25
 Development of a MPPT-based Single Phase PWM Solar String Inverter

Fig.2 (a) Flow chart of hill climbing method and (b) schematic diagram demonstrating how the operating point
moves towards the maximum power point(MPP)

The power from the solar module is calculated by measuring the voltage and the current. This power is
an input to the algorithm, which then adjusts the duty cycle of the switch, resulting in the adjustment of reflected
load impedance according to the power output of PV module. For instance, the relation between the input
voltage (Vi) and the output voltage (Vo) and impedance of load (RL) reflected at the input side (Ri) of a buck type
DC to DC converter can be given as:
Vo = Vi x d

Ri =
2
Where d is the duty cycle. By adjusting the duty cycle, Ri can be varied which should be same as the
impedance of solar PV module (RPV) in a given operating condition for maximum power transfer [15,16].
b) Inverter: A power inverter, is an electrical power converter that changes direct current (DC) to
alternating current (AC); the converted AC can be at any required voltage and frequency with the use of
appropriate transformers, switching and control circuits. In an inverter, dc power from the PV array is
inverted to ac power via a set of solid state switchesMOSFETs or IGBTsthat essentially flip the dc
power back and forth, creating ac power. Fig.3 shows basic H-bridge operation in a single-phase inverter.
This solid state switching process is known as inversion [6].

Fig.3 An H-bridge circuit performs the basic conversion from dc to ac power.

The inverter will receive input of 12 V dc from the controller circuit and it will convert this to 230 V
ac. The inverter circuit designed as an H bridge inverter with an IC which incorporates PWM technique and
converts, with the help of a 12V/230 V transformer, the obtained 12V dc from MPPT circuit, to the output 230V
ac for use.

26
 Development of a MPPT-based Single Phase PWM Solar String Inverter

Fig. 4 Full bridge single phase inverter

The full bridge (single phase) inverter is built from two half bridges connected to form what is known
as a full bridge or H-bridge inverter. Its arrangement is shown in figure 4. It comprises of DC voltage
source, 4 power switches (usually bipolar junction transistors-BJTs, metal-oxide semiconductor field effect
transistors-MOSFETs, insulated gate bipolar transistors- IGBTs or gate turned on transistors-GTOs) and the
load.
To create a square-wave output voltage, the device pairs Q1Q3 and Q2Q4 are switched
alternatively at a delay of 180 degrees. When Q1 and Q3 are ON with Q2Q4 OFF for a duration t, also
with Q2Q4 ON and Q1Q3 OFF at t. Assuming there is a sinusoidal load current, the load will absorb
power when Q1Q3 and Q2Q4 pairs are conducting alternatively whereas feed backing occurs when the
diode pairs are conducting[22].

II. APPROACH AND METHOD

The block diagram for the circuit is as shown.

Fig.5 Block diagram for a solar power system

MPPT Circuit: The next step is to design and test the MPPT circuit. The voltage and the current
output from the panel array have to be measured and the maximum power has to be supplied to the battery.
+5V
BAT_V U4 BAT_V
BAT+ F1 +5V LCD1 LCD 16x2
1 2 C22
GND

VIN VOUT R12 0.1uF 1

R1 2 GND
J4 10A FUSE LM7805/TO C4 C5 100K 3 Vcc
1 100uF/25V 0.1uF R14 LCD_RS 4 CNT
3

2 BATV 5 RS
1k LCD_EN 6 RW
C1 7 EN
BAT C2 R13 8 D0
100uF/25V 0.1uF 1K C9 9 D1
22K 10 D2
0.1uF LCD_D4 11 D3
LCD_D5 12 D4
LCD_D6 13 D5
+5V LCD_D7 14 D6
C10 15 D7
+5V 16 A
R24 1K C J10 J12 J13 J14
0.1uF R42 33E CON1 CON1 CON1 CON1
8

3
+ B_C
R25 C13 1 J11
0.1uF 2 1 RESET
-
U3A 2
1

+5V
1K LM358 3
4 PGD
4

5 PGC

+5V +5V R26 PROG

J39 100K
CON2

R3 Solar_V
D1 10K
1N4148
R4 1K R9
1
2

RESET
100K
R11
SW1 C25 Solar_ADC
SW PUSHBUTTON 0.1uF
R10 Y1 8MHz
1K
C8 XTAL2 XTAL1
22K
0.1uF
C23 C24
33PF 33PF

LOAD+

R43
100K
R45
BAT_V Load_ADC
Q2 U7
D3 R44
Solar_V 1K RESET 1 40 PGD
IRF9530 MCLR/VPP/RE3 RB7/KB13/PGD
1N5822 C30 BATV 2 39 PGC
D4 D6 22K B_C 3 RA0/ANO RB6/KB12/PGC 38 LCD_RS
0.1uF Solar_ADC 4 RA1/AN1 RB5/KB11/PGM 37 LCD_EN
RA2/AN2/VREF-/CVREF RB4/KB10/AN11
1N5408

1N5822 5 36 LCD_D4
6 RA3/AN3/VREF+ RB3/AN9/CCP2 35 LCD_D5
7 RA4/TOCKI/C1OUT RB2/INT2/AN8 34 LCD_D6
8 RA5/AN4SS/HLVDIN/C2OUT RB1/INT1/AN10 33 LCD_D7 +5V
J2 +5V C7 9 RE0/RD/AN5 RB0/INT0/FLT0/AN12 32
2 R19 R20 1uF 10 RE1/WR/AN6 VDD 31
1 C12 11 RE2/CS/AN7 VSS 30
D5 1000uF/25V 47K 10E 12 VDD RD7/PSP7/P1D 29 J9 C17
Q4 VSS RD6/PSP6/P16
XTAL1 13 28 1 0.1uF
SOLAR 1N5408 R21 R8 XTAL2 14 OSC1/CLKI/RA7 RD5/PSP5/P1B 27 2
BC547 OSC2/CLKO/RA6 RD4/PSP4 +5V
C_CNTRL 4K7 PIN8 15 26 RX RX 3
C_CNTRL 16 RCO/T1OSO/T13CKI RC7/RX/DT 25 TX TX 4
LOAD_CNTRL 17 RC1/T1OSI/CCP2 RC6/TX/CK 24
R22 1K 18 RC2/CCP1/P1A RC5/SDO 23
19 RC3/SCK/SCL RC4/SDI/SDA 22 CON4
R23 3K3 20 RD0/PSP0 RD3/PSP3 21
J6 R31 RD1/PSP1 RD2/PSP2
Q1 1
2
0.1E/1W BAT_V LOAD+ 1K R28
IRF9530
1K
D7 CON2 LED
J5
1 R32
1N4148 J3 2
2
1 CON2 1K
R15 R16 PIN11
J7 R30
47K 10E LOAD 1 PIN11
Q3 2
R17 1K
BC547
Load_CNTRL CON2

1K
R18
3K3

Fig.6 Schematic diagram for MPPT circuit Fig.7 MPPT circuit.

Inverter Circuit: Next is the circuit for the inverter part. For the inverter the IC TL494 is used. The
four MOSFETs IR740 are arranged in a bridge network and will be switched on two at a time alternately by the
two switching MOSFETs IRF50N06 so that two will conduct at a time. The timing is set by using RC network
and IC TL494 controls the waveform. The transformer will convert the output to 230 V a.c.

27
 Development of a MPPT-based Single Phase PWM Solar String Inverter

Fig.8 Schematic diagram for inverter circuit Fig.9 Inverter circuit.

III. TESTING
The MPPT and Inverter circuit:
The circuit of the MPPT is first tested with the help of a D.C. power supply. It is checked whether the
voltage is passed to the battery to charge it. Finding it to work as required, it is then tested with solar panels. The
regulator is also checked by varying the d.c. voltage. It shows the expected readings on the display.

Fig.10 a. Waveform of inverter output. b .Observation of Output on Hyper terminal.

The efficiency of the MPPT circuit is tested and found to be around 80%. It increases with the increase
in intensity. The efficiency of the inverter is tested and found to be as much as 90%. It increases with increase in
load.

IV. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

The time required to charge the battery is tested. This is done first using an SMPS and then with the
two solar panels. The efficiencies of the MPPT and inverter circuits are found to be around 90% and 79.9%
respectively.

V. CONCLUSION
The experiments and observations shows that MPPT based charge controllers are best suitable for solar
systems as they track the maximum power in case of power fluctuations at the input side due to environmental
condition variation. Hence it is recommended to use the MPPT based charge controllers. Use of microcontroller
28
 Development of a MPPT-based Single Phase PWM Solar String Inverter

based systems provide huge computational capability and reduction in the hardware. Microcontroller is a mini
computer and brings much more accuracy in the control of MOSFET and IGBT.
It is recommended to use a single phase PWM inverter with H bridge using IRF740B N-channel
MOSFETs and the TL494 power supply controller. The TL494 incorporates all the functions required in the
construction of a pulse-width-modulation (PWM) control circuit on a single chip. Designed primarily for power-
supply control, this device offers the flexibility to tailor the power-supply control circuitry to a specific
application. Several outstanding features of the developed Sinusoidal PWM inverter are: fewer harmonic, low
cost, simple and compact.

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Issue 4, June 2012

Author profile: Manisha R. Kandgaonkar

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