A platform for analysing advanced photovoltaic energy controllers

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) based power generation technology is being pushed to the forefront as a viable alternative source of renewable energy, particularly in small scale domestic applications. In addition, there is a growing interest in incorporating storage systems with small domestic generators that are connected to the grid. However, by incorporating storage with such systems there is a need to develop controllers that allow the owners to maximize the benefit of such a system.

Therefore this work introduces, and charts the development of, a virtual platform to test and analyze advanced controllers for small scale PV based power generation system. A Matlab/Simulink based model takes solar irradiation as an input and determines the power produced, taking into account all system inefficiencies including those of the buck-boost converter, AC inverter and battery charger. Moreover, the work demonstrates how the proposed platform can model any PV installation capacity using solar irradiation, temperature and power consumption data for the location of interest using a simple control strategy. It is suggested that the proposed model will significantly reduce time to develop advanced controllers for PV based power generation systems.