Maximum-Power-Tracking Using Positive Feedback

A. S . Kislovski
Ascom Energy Systems Ltd. Murtenstrasse 133 3000 Berne, Switzerland Tel.: +41 31 999 14 77 Fax.: +41 31 999 24 20 R. Red1 ELF1 S. A. Derrey-la-Cabuche 1756 Onnens (FR), Switzerland Tel.: +41 37 30 24 83 Fax.: +41 37 30 2 79 3 because the new MPP is in Q,, where the converter input voltage is E,, which is equal to one half of Eml. With the help of Fig. 2 we conclude that, if we want to increase the extracted power, the converter input voltage should be increased, which, by a fixed

Abstract - Certain recent publications report the use of switching power converters, supplied by photovoltaic arrays and employing positive feedback, as maximum power trackers. This paper explains the principle applied, and compares it to other known approaches. A simplified mathematical model that can be used for evaluation of the performance, is derived. Possible improvments are suggested.
1.

Introduction

Several recent papers, [1]-[4], report an original method of tracking the maximum power point (MPP) in applications of photovoltaic power sources. The hardware required by that method is extremely simple and inexpensive. In this paper the principle of that method is described, and compared to some of the approaches presented in 181. The principle will be explained with the help of Figs. 1 and 2.

ElEO
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leo

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Fig. 2. Operating points of the converter of Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. A buck converter supplied by a power-limited some.

An ideal source E, connected in series with a resistor r represents a power-limited generator that supplies power to a buck converter in which all losses can be neglected. The output of the converter is connected to an ideal dc source, (a battery), the voltage of which is constant. In the following we shall assume that the converter operates in continuous conduction mode. If the open-circuit voltage of the source is E we can, by choosing some value of the duty , ratio d, fix the operating point of the system "power-limited-source plus a buck converter" anywhere on the straight line E-&,, as shown in Fig. 2. The duty ratio can be chosen so as to make the system operate at its maximum power point (MPP) which is at EJ2. In this point a certain dc current I, is injected by the converter into the battery connected to its output. We shall now perform a mental experiment starting by increasing the voltage of the generator from E to EWI. , As the duty ratio did not change, the input voltage to the converter as remains the same and the operating point moves from Q. to shown in Fig. 2. This point is no longer a maximum power point,
QOI,

voltage, means that the duty ratio must be decreased. In the point the output current of the converter is I, and is larger than the current I., corresponding to the point Q.. The difference I,-Io can be used to modify the duty ratio so that the aperating point shifts from Qo,,along the straight line E,,-I,,, toward the new maximum power point Q,. It can be shown that for a perfect tracking (1) should be satisfied.
QOI

To summarize: If the system is adjusted to operate in the maximum power point Qo, and if the duty ratio depends on the converter output current as shown by (1). the system will move to the new maximum power point Q,when the source voltage changes from E, to E-1.
The relation (1) depends on E, and is difficult to realize exactly. However, an acceptable "tracking" can be achieved if the expected changes of E are small, so that the right side of (1) is a constant. The tracking efficiency can be easily calculated. The tracking efficiency, defined in [ ] is the ratio of the power extracted from 9, the photovoltaic generator and of the power available.

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' 1994 IEEE

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The description of the method reveals that it would be suitable to call it "curve-fitting" rather than "maximum-point-power-pointtracking. " This is exactly the same tracking method that is used in [ 11-[4]. Simply, the power-limited source is a photovoltaic panel. The procedure is to adjust the duty ratio to maintain the system in the maximum power point at given noninal conditions. Knowing how the MPP moves, the term, correcting the duty ratio in function of the converter output current is adjusted.

be modelled by (2), relating the panel output voltage e to the i current . that it supplies.

The physical constants and their values in the SI system of units are: Charge of an electron, q = 1.6*10l9 Boltzmann's constant, k = 1.38*10= Absolute temperature, T The parameters related to the concrete photovoltaic cells constituting the photovoltaic generator are: Inverse diode saturation current, I, = O.l*lO" Short circuit-current of the photovoltaic cell, (a strong function of the insolation), I,, Number of the photovoltaic cells, connected in series, n = 55

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Fig. 3. Circuit diagram of the power tracker after [51.

A practical realization is shown in Fig. 3. The inductance L of the buck choke is larger than 100pH. The gain in the current loop is adjusted by a variable resistor of 100kn, and then the operating point is positioned close to the MPP in the nominal operating conditions, by the potentiometer of 200n. In some cases oscillations are observed and then a resistor (not shown in Fig. 3), in series with C,, to some extent influences the operation of the system. In the following, as we are interested only in evaluation of the tracking efficiency, we shall concetrate on the steady state. Note that if the buck converter were supplied by a constant-voltage source, it would be proper to call the feedback of the output current "a negative feedback." Indeed, an increase of the output current causes a decrease of the duty ratio, which, if the input voltage were constant, would lead to a descrease of the output current. The situation is, however, different if the source is powerlimited. A decrease of the duty ratio causes an increase of the converter input voltage and the result is that the converter absorbs an increased power. This, obviously, results in an increase of the output current. Thus, it is the nature of the source that permits calling the realized feedback a "positive feedback. " The possibility to qualify the feedback as either "positive" or "negative" is the reason why this method is also called "feedforward of the output current" in [1]-[4]. The evaluation of performance of this tracker can be done using the model presented in the next section. 2. Simplified model of the power tracker The details of a simplified model of the power tracker as shown in Fig. 4, can be obtained as follows. The photovoltaic generator can

Fig. 4. Simplified block-diagram of a maximum point tracker after [2].

Using these data, the output characteristics of the photovoltaic generator are computed and plotted in Fig. 5 with the values e
40

Iscp2

lscpo

lscpl

Fig. 5. Output characteristic of the photovoltaic generator of Fig. 4.

of 1, 2.5 and 5 amperes for I,,. In maximum power points these characteristic curves have a single common point with the corresponding constant-power hyperbole. Let us assume that the MPP with the coordinates &,Eo) is the operating point in nominal operating conditions. In addition, let us assume that we want the system to operate in the MPP with the coordinates &,E,) when the short-circuit current of the photovoltaic generator changes from I , to I,,l due to an increased insolation. In the circuit of Fig. 3 the duty ratio is determined by (3).

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In that equation V, is the offset voltage, p the equivalent resistance of the current sensor, V., the amplitude of the saw-tooth voltage, D is the duty ratio of the buck converter operating close to zero output current, and f is equal to plV,,. By writing (3) for the , MPPs corresponding to , and I,,, the parameters D and f can f , be determined. One obtains (4) and (5).
(4)

permits separation of the "efficiency of the maximum power point tracking" from the efficiency of the converter processing the power. A method permitting such measurements has been presented in [9]. Final conclusions as to the suitability of this method for a particular application can be formulated only after that such measurements have been carried out.

3. Discussion and comparison to other tracking methods of the same kind

The approach described is not a "true-maximum-seeking" approach. It is based on fitting the operating characteristic of the system to the loci of the true maximum power points of the photovoltaic generators. To do this, it i necessary to know the s output characteristics of the photovoltaic generator that will be used. This is a serious drawback because the optimum adjustments will be a function of different generator types, their ageing, and possible breakdowns of individual cells. It will also depend on the battery voltage and on the temperature of the photovoltaic generator. The influence of the temperature and the battery voltage can, in principle, be taken into account by connecting additional feedforward loops for these quantities, as shown in Fig. 7.

(5)

The numerical values of Fig. 5, &=2.381, E0=29.880, 1,,=4.766, and E,=30.360), yield D=0.408 and 1,=%5.723. Using (3) one finds (6),from where, neglecting the losses, one obtains eventually (7).
(6)

CONVERTER
(7)
1

Temp
Figure 6 shows the plots of e from (7) as a function of . together i with the output characteristics of the photovoltaic generator. Function (7).defining the operating points of the system,

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e
40

\
Fig. 7. Additional feedforward loops for the maximum-power-point tracker of [2].

(In [1]-[4] a loop of U is used to protect the battery against overcharging). It is possible to improve the performance by adding these loops. However, the ageing and a possible breakdown of individual cells still would not be taken into account. It is therefore of interest to compare the described tracking strategy to other non-true maximum-power-point-seeking strategies reviewed in [8]. These approaches have been originally reported by Schoeman and van Wyk, [6], and by Boehringer, [7]. In [6] the tracking is based on the fact that the maximum power point of many types of photovoltaic generators is situated at approximately 76% of the open-circuit voltage of the generator. For a short interval the generator is disconnected from the load, its open-circuit voltage is sampled, and used as reference of a closed-loop system that stabilizes the generator voltage at 76%of its open-circuit value [lo]. This approach is a clear feedforward approach. In [7] one chooses two fixed values for the reference of the increments of the generator voltage and current, starting from the known characteristics of the photovoltaic generator to be used. The operating point of the system is let to oscillate between two points on the generator characteristic. These two points are moved till a position in which the increments of the generator voltage and

ie
Fig. 6 . Movements of the system operating point as defined by (7).

passes very closely to the maximum power points of the output characteristic of the generator. This means that, under the assumption used in modelling the system, the operating point will remain close to the true maximum power points when the insolation changes in a ratio of 0.4 to 2. If required, the tracking error can be determined numerically using the proposed mathematical model. The influence of the temperature can also be examined using the described analytical-graphical method. It should be noted that the system realized using the presented model has to be verified experimentally using a procedure that

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current correspond to the chosen reference values. In that manner, one forces the operating point to oscillate very closely to the true maximum power point. From this short description it is obvious that both the approaches of Schoeman and van Wyk and of Boehringer are more flexibly adaptable to the changing conditions than the method proposed in [I], [2],[13] and [MI. The hardware required for the approach of Schceman and van Wyk is hardly more complicated than that of Fig. 3, where the switch of the buck converter can be used to d i s h " the generator from the converter during the sampling intervals. In addition, and as it has already been mentioned, in the system of Fig. 3 sustained oscillations may develop under certain conditions. This is a further disadvantage, especially if the tracker has to perform in a large range of insolation and temperature. On the other hand, the design of a system after [6] presents no difficulties, [lo].

References

r 11

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5. Summary and conclusions

A comprehensive description of the operation of the so-called

"maximum-power-trackers using positive feedback" has been presented. It has been found that this approach belongs to the "nontrue-maximum-point-seeking" methods. A model permitting the choice of the system parameters has beed developped. The approach under examination has been compared to other known approaches of the same kind. The conclusion is that the examined approach is suitable for low-cost applications only where a small range of insolation and temperature variations is expected, and where the characteristics of the photovoltaic generators are precisely known. This paper is an addition to the review of maximum-point-tracking methods presented in [8].
Acknowledgment

Wolf S M M, Enslin J H R, "Economical, pv maximum power point tracking regulator with simplistic controller", PESC 1993, 581-587. Snyman D B, Enslin J H R, "Simplified maximum power point controller for pv installations", 23rd IEEE PV Specialists Conference, 1993, ?-?. Beukes H J, Enslin J H R, Analysis of a new compound converter as MP'IT, battery regulator and and bus regulator for satellite power systems", PESC 1993, 846-852. Enslin J H R, Snyman D B, "Simplified feedforward control of the maximum power point in PV installations", IECON 1992, 548-553. Private correspondance of the authors with J. H. R. Enslin. Schoeman J J, van Wyk L J D, "A simplified maximal power controller for terriestrial photovoltaic panel arrays " , PESC 1982, 361-367. Boehringer A F, "Self-adapting dc converter for solar spacecraft power supply", IEEE Trans. on Aerospace and Electron. Syst., vol 4, no 1, Jan. 1968, 102-111. Kislovski A S, "Power tracking methods in photovoltaic applications", Proc. of the PCIM, June 1993, 513-528. Kislovski A S, "Maximum power point monitor", INTELEC 1990, 283-288. Kislovski, A S, "Dynamic behaviour of a constantfrequency buck power cell in a photovoltaic battery charger with a maximum power tracker", APEC 1990, 212-220.

The authors acknowledge the help of J H R Enslin providing the data on concrete practical realizations and the reference [ 2 ] .

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