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MPPTMaximumPowerPointTracking

PROJECTS

PICTURES

RESUME

ABOUT

mppt:amaximumpowerpointtrackingphotovoltaic
system.
INTRODUCTION

omaximizeaphotovoltaic(PV)system'soutputpower,continuouslytrackingthemaximumpowerpoint
(MPP)ofthesystemisnecessary.TheMPPdependsonirradianceconditions,thepanel'stemperature,
andtheloadconnected.Maximumpowerpointtracking(MPPT)algorithmsprovidethetheoreticalmeans
toachievetheMPPofsolarpanels;thesealgorithmscanberealizedinmanydifferentformsofhardware
andsoftware.PVsystemsthatlackMPPTrarelyoperateatthemostefficient,MPP.Thisiswhytherated
powerofthesolarpanelisalmostneverrealizedwhenconnectingaload.Thegoalofthisprojectwasto
rapidlydevelop,construct,andtestaworkingsolutiontotheMPPproblemwithalimitedbudget.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
HARDWARECOMPONENTS
SOLARPANEL
DIGITALCONTROLLER
DCDCCONVERTER
SENSINGCIRCUITS
DIGITALTOANALOGCONVERTER
SOFTWAREANDALGORITHMS
MPPTALGORITHMS
EMBEDDEDSOFTWARE
FUTUREWORK
PROJECTCOST
FUTUREWORK
CONCLUSION

Thisprojectwasdevelopedfromthegroundupwithonlya
fewreferences.Dr.JaberAbuQahouqwastheteam's
advisorandprovidedinvaluableguidancethroughoutthe
project'slifetime.Theteamconsistedoffiveundergraduate
students:TravisGrant,StephenTirador,NathanWilbanks,
MattYork,andmyself.

Rapiddevelopmentnecessitatedthattheteamfirstlook
throughexistinganalysisandpossiblesolutionstotheMPP
problem.Itbecameclearthattheperturbandobserve(P&O)
techniquewaswidelyusedforitseaseofimplementation.It
isbasedonthefollowingcriterion:iftheoperatingvoltageof
thePVarrayisperturbedinagivendirectionandifthepower
drawnfromthePVarrayincreases,thismeansthatthe
operatingpointhasmovedtowardtheMPPand,therefore,
theoperatingvoltagemustbefurtherperturbedinthesame
direction.Otherwise,ifthepowerdrawnfromthePVarraydecreases,theoperatingpointhasmovedawayfrom
theMPPand,therefore,thedirectionoftheoperatingvoltageperturbationmustbereversed.
TheteamchosetoimplementtheP&Oalgorithminsoftwaretoaddflexibilitytothesystemaswellassimplifythe
systemtothepointwherethesystemcouldberapidlyconstructedandtestingcommenced.Thefollowing
componentswereneededtodesignaminimalworkingsolution:solarpanel,currentsensor,voltagesensor,DCDC
converter,digitalcontroller,andthegluelogic/circuitrytoconnecteverythingtogether.

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SOLARPANEL

hesolarpanelusedinoursystemisanOEM40modelmanufacturedbySunWizeTechnologies,Incandwas
providedbytheDepartmentofElectricalandComputerEngineering'sDr.TimHaskew.Ithasapower
ratingof40W,anopencircuitvoltage(Voc)of21Vdc,andashortcircuitcurrent(Isc)of2.68A.

DIGITALCONTROLLER

hemicrocontrollerprovidesthecontrolinoursystem.Thechoiceofmicrocontrollerforthesystemdictates
muchofthecost,performance,andflexibilityoftheentiresystem.Takingintoconsiderationtheproject's
constraints,theTexasInstrumentsTMS320F28335modeldigitalsignalcontroller(DSC)waschosen.The
singlechipC2000familyofmicrocontrollersistargetedtowardrealtimecontrolapplicationsthanksto
powerful,highperformanceintegratedperipherals.Thecoreis"mathoptimized"andgivesdesignersthe
meanstoimprovesystemefficiency,reliability,andflexibilitywhentheapplicationrequirescomplex

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algorithms.Itfeatures:
32BITFLOATINGPOINTCPU(<=150MHZ,MODIFIEDHARVARDARCHITECTURE)
MEMORY:68KSARAM,512KFLASH
MACOPERATIONS
1612BITADCCHANNELS(<=25MHZ)
18PWMOUTPUTS
LOWPOWERDISSIPATION(<1W@150MHZANDALLPERIPHERALCLOCKSENABLED)
332BITCPUTIMERS
1WATCHDOGTIMER
88GPIO
6CHANNELDMA

TheC2000'sdevelopmenttoolsareveryuseableandhelpminimizedevelopmenttime.Softwareforthecontroller
canbedeveloped,deployed,andtestedwitheasethankstotheprovided,easytouseIDEfeaturingaC/C++
assembler/compiler/linkerinadditiontoapowerfuldebuggerandseamlessdeviceprogrammer.

DCDCCONVERTER

DCtoDCconverterisanelectroniccircuitwhichconvertsasourceofdirectcurrentfromonevoltage
leveltoanother.Itisaclassofpowerconverter.ElectronicswitchmodeDCtoDCconvertersoperateby
storingtheinputenergytemporarilyandthenreleasingthatenergytotheoutputatadifferentvoltage
andcurrent.Justlikeatransformer,theyessentiallyjustchangetheinputenergyintoadifferent
impedancelevel.Sowhatevertheoutputvoltagelevel,theoutputpowerallcomesfromtheinput;
there'snoenergymanufacturedinsidetheconverter.Infactsomeenergyisusedbytheconverter
circuitryandcomponentswhiledoingtheirjob.ItisthisprinciplethatmakesaDCDCConverteressentialfor
MPPT.
Theconverterpresentsanelectricalloadtothesolarpanelthatvariesastheoutputvoltageoftheconverter
varies.Thisloadvariationinturncausesachangeintheoperatingpoint(currentandvoltagecharacteristics)ofthe
panel.ThusbyintelligentlycontrollingtheoperationoftheDCDCconverter,thepoweroutputofthepanelcanbe
intelligentlycontrolledandmadetooutputthemaximumpossible.
TheDCDCpowerconverterusedinoursystemisaMicro24Vout,100WV28C24C100BLmodelmanufacturedby
Vicor.Theinputvoltagerangeoftheconverteris936Vdc.Becausethevoltageprovidedbythesolarpanel(which
servesastheinputvoltagetotheconverter)candropbelowtheconverter's9Vdcminimumandthuscausethe
convertertoshutdown,ourMPPTsystemisonlyoperationalwhenthevoltageprovidedbythesolarpanelis
greaterthanorequalto9Vdc.Theoutputvoltageoftheconvertercanbevariedbetween10%and110%ofits
nominal24Vdcoutput(i.e.2.426.4Vdc)viaareferenceinputvoltageattheSCpinwithrespecttotheOUTpin
between0.1231.353Vdc.Theconverterhasthecapabilityoffunctioninginisolatedornonisolatedmode
dependingonwhetherthegroundsoftheconverter(INandOUT)areseparateorconnectedtogether,
respectively.

SENSINGCIRCUITS
V OLTAGE S ENSOR

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norderfortheMPPTcontrollertomeasurethevoltageprovidedbythesolarpanel,tworesistors,R1andR2,
areemployedinparallelwiththesolarpaneltoactasavoltagedivider.ThevoltageacrossR2inthevoltage
dividerisfedintoananalogtodigitalconverter(ADC)drivercircuit(opampinavoltagefollowerconfiguration
thatfeedsintoalowpassfilter)beforebeingdeliveredtotheADCINA0channeloftheMPPTcontroller.By
choosingthevaluesofR1andR2as1.07Mand165k,respectively,themaximumamountofcurrent
divertedfromtheload,I2,issmallenough,eveninaworstcasescenario,tobeconsiderednegligible.

TheallowablevoltagerangeforeachADCchanneloftheMPPTcontrolleris03Vdc.Therefore,thevoltageacross
R2(whichservesasascaleddownrepresentationofthesolarpanel'svoltage)shouldnotexceed3Vdc.Basedon
thechosenvalueofR2as165k,themaximumvoltage,V(R2,max),senttotheADCdrivercircuit(andthusADC
channelADCINA0)is~2.81Vdc.

C URRENT S ENSOR

norderfortheMPPTcontrollertomeasurethecurrentprovidedbythesolarpanel,asingleresistor(Rsense)is
placedinseriesbetweenthesolarpanelandtheDCDCconverter.ThevoltageacrossRsenseisfedintoan
AD8215currentsensormanufacturedbyAnalogDeviceswhoseoutputvoltageisthenfedintoanADCdriver
circuit(opampinavoltagefollowerconfigurationthatfeedsintoalowpassfilter)beforebeingdeliveredto
theADCINA1channeloftheMPPTcontroller.BychoosingthevalueofRsenseas51m,themaximumvoltage
dropacrossRsense,VRsense,issmallenough,eveninaworstcasescenario,tobeconsiderednegligible.

Asstatedpreviously,theallowablevoltagerangeforeachADCchanneloftheMPPTcontrolleris03Vdc.
Therefore,theoutputvoltageoftheAD8215currentsensor(whichservesasanequivalentvoltagerepresentation
ofthesolarpanel'scurrent)shouldnotexceed3Vdc.BasedonthechosenvalueofRsenseas51m,the
maximumvoltage,Vout,senttotheADCdrivercircuit(andthusADCchannelADCINA1)is~2.73Vdc.

C OMPLETE S ENSING C IRCUIT WITH ADCD RIVER C IRCUITS

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nordertoconditioneachofthevoltagesignalssenttotheADCchannelsoftheMPPTcontroller,Texas
InstrumentsOPA340modelopampsareusedinvoltagefollowerconfigurationswitheachoftheiroutputsfed
intoalowpassfilter.TheOPA340sprovidelowoutputimpedancetoeachoftheADCchannelswithout
modifyingeachoftheoutputvoltagesbeingsentfromthevoltageandcurrentsensorcircuits.Ofaddedbenefit
istheopamps'abilitytoprotecteachoftheADCchannelsfrombeingpermanentlydamagedbyaninput
voltagethatexceedsitsmaximumoperatingthreshold.Thisisaccomplishedbypoweringeachoftheopamps
withthemaximumallowedvoltageoftheADCchannels:3Vdc.Thiseffectivelyclipsanypotentiallydamaging
voltagethatwouldotherwisebefedintotheADCchannelatasafevalueof3Vdc.Thevoltageandsensorcircuits
alongwiththeircorrespondingADCdrivercircuitsareallcombinedtoformthe"sensingcircuit"fortheMPPT
system.

DIGITALTOANALOGCONVERTER

heDCDCconverteriscontrolledviaareferenceinputvoltageattheSCpinwithrespecttotheOUTpinbetween
0.1231.353Vdc.Thedigitalsignalcontrollerutilizesonchippulsewidthmodulated(PWM)signalgeneratorsto
createanoutputsignalmeanttocontroltheDCDCconverter.Ananaloglowpassfiltercanremovethehigh
frequencycomponentsofthePWMsignal,leavingonlythelowfrequencycontent.InthisMPPTapplication,a
secondorderpassivefilterwasusedtoprovideadequatefilteringandresolution.ThePWMdutycycleis
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T
V

controlledviasoftware;thedutycyclevaluesforwhichthereferenceinputvoltageoftheconverteris0.1231.353
Vdcwereobtainedexperimentallyandthesoftwareensuresthatthesignalisneveroutofrange.This
(PWMasDAC)solutionisalegitimatelowercostalternativetodedicatedoffchipDACs.

MPPTALGORITHMS
ariousalgorithmsmayperformMPPT.Importantfactorstoconsiderwhenchoosingatechniqueto
performMPPTaretheabilityofanalgorithmtodetectmultiplemaxima,costs,andconvergencespeed.

Theirradiancelevelsatdifferentpointsonasolarpanel'ssurfacetendtovary.Thisvariationleadsto
multiplelocalmaximapowerpointsinonesystem.Theefficiencyandcomplexityofanalgorithm
determineifthetruemaximumpowerpointoralocalmaximumpowerpointiscalculated.Inthelatter
case,themaximumelectricalpowerisnotextractedfromthesolarpanel.
ThetypeofhardwareusedtomonitorandcontroltheMPPTsystemaffectthecostofimplementingit.Thetypeof
algorithmusedlargelydeterminestheresourcesrequiredtobuildanMPPTsystem.
ForahighperformanceMPPTsystem,thetimetakentoconvergetotherequiredoperatingvoltageorcurrent
shouldbelow.Dependingonhowfastthisconvergenceneedstooccurandyourtrackingsystemrequirements,
thesystemrequiresanalgorithm(andhardware)ofsuitablecapability.

P ERTURB AND O BSERVE

heconceptbehindthe"perturbandobserve"(P&O)methodistomodifytheoperatingvoltageorcurrent
ofthephotovoltaicpaneluntilyouobtainmaximumpowerfromit.Forexample,ifincreasingthevoltageto
apanelincreasesthepoweroutputofthepanel,thesystemcontinuesincreasingtheoperatingvoltage
untilthepoweroutputbeginstodecrease.Oncethishappens,thevoltageisdecreasedtogetbacktowards
themaximumpowerpoint.Thispertubulancecontinuesindefinitely.Thus,thepoweroutputvalue
oscillatesaroundamaximumpowerpointandneverstabilizes.

P&Oissimpletoimplementandthuscanbeimplementedquickly.ThemajordrawbacksoftheP&Omethodare
thatthepowerobtainedoscillatesaroundthemaximumpowerpointinsteadystateoperation,itcantrackinthe
wrongdirectionunderrapidlyvaryingirradiancelevelsandloadlevels,andthestepsize(themagnitudeofthe
changeintheoperatingvoltage)determinesboththespeedofconvergencetotheMPPandtherangeof
oscillationaroundtheMPPatsteadystateoperation.

I NCREMENTAL C ONDUCTANCE

ncrementalconductanceconsidersthefactthattheslopeofthepowervoltagecurveiszeroatthemaximum
powerpoint,positiveattheleftoftheMPP,andnegativeattherightoftheMPP.TheMPPisfoundby
comparingtheinstantaneousconductance(I/V)totheincrementalconductance(I/V).Onceyouhavethe
MPP,thesystemmaintainsthispowerpointunlessachangeinVorIoccurs(causedbyanexternalevent).If
thishappens,thealgorithmwillfindthenewMPP.

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ThistechniquehasanadvantageinthatitcanreachandmaintaintheMPPwithoutlosingsomeefficiencyby
havingtooscillatearoundthispoint.Underrapidlychangingconditionsthisalgorithmtracksmoreaccuratelythan
theP&Omethod.ThedisadvantageofthismethodisthatitcantakelongertoreachtheMPPbecausethe
increasedcomputationrequireddecreasesthenumberofperturbationstotheoperatingvoltageandcurrent
possibleinasetamountoftime.

EMBEDDEDSOFTWARE

oimplementthisintelligence,thegroupemployedtheaforementionedTF320F28335digitalcontroller.
Withthisdevelopmenttargetinmind,thesoftwaredevelopmentbeganimmediately.Theteamfocusedon
gettingminimal"working"codeontothecontrollerassoonaspossible.Theteambecamefamiliarwiththe
TIIDE,debugger,programmer,andmostimportantlytheheaderfiles.Throughthecourseofacoupleof
weeksdifferentprojectsweredeployedtotheboard,rangingfromflashinganLEDtorunningprograms
fromtheflashmemory.EachperipheraltobeusedintheMPPTprojectwasinvestigatedandplayedwithin
thesefirstfewweeks.Mostsignificantly,unittestsforthePWMandtheADC(usingDMA)weredeveloped.Each
unittestwasbuiltwithpredefinedpass/failcriteria.
ForthePWMunittest,thedutycycleofthePWMwouldbeautomatically,continuouslyvariedthroughtheentire
operatingrangeofthefinalMPPTprojectasdefinedbytheDCDCconvertercontrolpinspecs.Thetestwouldpass
ifthePWMdutyneverexceededorfellunderthedefinedupperandlowerlimitsandifthePWMdutywas
continuouslyincreasingordecreasing.ThistestcouldrunwithoutinterfacingwiththeDCDCconverter;an
oscilloscopewashookedintothePWMpinsofthecontrollerandthetestbehaviorwasobserved.
FortheADCunittest,theresultofanADCconversionwouldbestoredinamonitoredvariable.Thereference
analogsignalwasvariedthrougharangeofvaluesandthevariablesvaluewasrecordedforeachanalogvalue.
Theserecordedvalueswerecomparedtocalculated,expectedvaluestoverifyoperation.
OncetheteamwasverycomfortableworkingwiththeC2000,workbeganonacustomMPPTalgorithmbasedon
theP&Oalgorithmfrombefore.Thisalgorithmwasattemptedfirstsinceitwasthesimplestsolutionrequiringthe
leastamountofeffortwhilestillfulfillingrequirements.Thesimplicityofthealgorithmcouldalsoaffordtheteam
moretimetointegratethehardwareandsoftwareneartheendofdevelopmentifnecessary.Thissystemand
algorithmdoesnotrequireascheduler;ifthecontrollerneededtobemorereactivetomoreinputs(trackingthe
MPPofmoresolarpanels)thenaschedulingmethodwouldlikelybenecessarytoensureaquickresponsetoall
inputsandefficientutilizationoftheprocessor.
Thissystemisdesignedtorunforalongtime;thesoftwareissinglepurposeandloopsforever.Eachloopisan
iterationoftheP&Oalgorithmdescribedearlier.Eachiterationstartsbysettingavariabletothecalculated
amountofpowerbeingsuppliedbythepanel(currentandvoltagevaluesknownfromADC).Theprogramthen
switchesonwhetherthepowerpointisincreasingordecreasinginvoltage.Insideeachcasetheiteration'spower
valueiscomparedtothepreviousiteration'sandthedutyofthePWMiseitherincreasedordecreasedtomove
closertotheMPP;ifthePWMdutyisincreased,thevoltagewillbeincreasing,ifthePWMdutyisdecreased,the

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voltagewillbedecreasing.Beforerepeatingtheloop,thepreviousiteration'spowervariableissettothecurrent
iteration's.Pseudocodeforthisbehaviorisbelow.
next_pwr=calcPwr(adc_voltage,adc_current);
switch(voltage_direction){
casePV_RIGHT:
if(next_pwr>prev_pwr){incDuty();}
elseif(next_pwr<=prev_pwr){
decDuty();
voltage_direction=PV_LEFT;}
break;
casePV_LEFT:
if(next_pwr>=prev_pwr){decDuty();}
elseif(next_pwr<prev_pwr){
incDuty();
voltage_direction=PV_RIGHT;}
break;
}
prev_pwr=next_pwr;

PROJECTCOST
Item

Notes

Price

SolarPanel

SunWizeOEM40(onhand)

0.00

DigitalController

TMS320F28335ExperimenterKit

110.00

DCDCConverter

VicorMicro24Vout,100W(V28C24C100BL)

175.00

CircuitMaterials

OPA340s,AD8215,prototypingboard,passivecomponents,etc

35.00
$320.00

henproposingthisproject,theprojectedcostandbudgetwas$500.Wecameinconsiderablyunder
budgetprimarilythankstohavingasolarpanelonhand.Asolarpanelcouldhavebeenconstructed
fromsolarcellsavailableat$.5/Watt,orabout$20,thoughconstructionmaterialswouldaddmore
cost.Oursimplesystem(40WpanelandP&Oalgorithm)couldhavebeenconstructedwithavery
simplemicrocontrollerandalesscapableDCDCconverter,bringingthecostdowntocloseto$150.

However,withacheapermicrocontroller,themathoperationstakelongertoevaluate.Theincremental
conductancealgorithmismoremathintensiveandhasmorecontrolflowforoneiteration;acheap
microcontrollerwillnotofferthesameperformanceastheC2000.Also,theC2000hasenoughperformance
capabilitiesandADCandPWMchannelstocalculatetheMPPTofmanydifferentsolarpanelssimultaneously.

FUTUREWORK

hescopeofthisprojectwassimplytocreateaworkingprototypeofaMPPTsystem.Thissystem
successfullyusesthesimpleP&OalgorithmtoreachtheMPP.Theadditionalresources(labor)neededto
implementthemorecomplexincrementalconductancealgorithmisquitemodest.Reachingastable,true
MPPatsteadystateinsteadofoscillatingaroundthispointwouldimprovethesystem'sefficiencyand
increasereliability.Thusimplementingtheincrementalconductancealgorithmisagoodchoicein
continuingthisproject.

Anotherextensionofthisprojectwouldbetodirectlypowerthemicrocontrollerandothercircuitsfromthesolar
panelinsteadoffromapowersupply.Ortoincorporateapowersupplyintothesystemthatdrawsenergyfrom
thesolarpaneloranenergystorageelementthatisinturnchargedbythesolarpanel.Thisextensionwouldallow
thesystemtobedeployedtoremotelocations.
YetanothermoreusefulsystemwouldbeonethatcoulddirectlypoweraDCorACload.AnadditionalDCDC
converterwouldbeneededtosupplyaregulatedDCsignal.AninverterisneededtosupplyanACsignal.IftheAC
signalismeanttoconnecttothegrid,itisnecessarytosynchronizethefrequencyofthesignalwiththatofthegrid
inadditiontolimitingthevoltagetonohigherthanthegridvoltage.
Thisdigitalcontrollerwouldallowustoaddthesefeaturestooursystemwithrelativeeasethankstoitshigh
performanceandmanyperipherals.
UPDATE:Thankstothesuccessofthisprojectandthelargeamountofdocumentationleftbehind,twonewteams
willbeworkingonextendingdifferentpartsofthisprojectfornextyear.

CONCLUSION
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renewableenergysystem,liketheoneimplementedhere,issuitableforresidentialand/orindustrialapplications.
SuchasystemwouldtypicallyprovidearegulatedACoutputvoltagethatmayalsotracktheinputmains
utilityvoltageinphaseandamplitudeathundredstothousandsofwatts.Thusasystemsuchasthiscan
bedeployedeasilywithlittleconcernaboutadaptingahomeorbusiness'selectricalwiringtotake
advantageofsolarenergy.Manyareasallowsurplusenergygeneratedbysystemssuchasthistobesold
totheutilitygridinapolicyknownas"netmetering."Butforthisproject,thesefeatureswereoutof
scope.

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