Compartive study of MPPT methods for PV systems : Case of Moroccan house

Abstract

The use of renewable energies has become important for their beneficial effects on the environment. In this category we find photovoltaic (PV) energy, taking a considerable share of use due to the large availability of the solar potential, but its main obstacle is the extraction of maximum power. In fact, a photovoltaic panel supplying a load, isn’t necessarily working at the point corresponds to the peak of the characteristic (V, P) of the system. To fix this problem is required to use power electronics, via a DC / DC converter controlled by a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm. In the literature, several algorithms are proposed that differ by the number of inputs used, the response time and also by their accuracy. In this work, we tested a photovoltaic system feeding a traditional Moroccan house, by four methods of MPPT, with four degree of complexity, namely: open circuit voltage fraction, Perturb & observe, the incremental conductance, and the MPPT algorithm using fuzzy logic, with the use of a boost chopper that keeps the DC bus voltage constant. The results are analyzed, and they show that perturb and observe is the good algorithm for a low cost application and the fuzzy logic is suitable for more accuracy.