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Abstract—This paper presents hardware implementation of PV description language (HDL). FPGAs contain programmable
module for photovoltaic (PV) applications by using buck logic components called "logic blocks", and a hierarchy of
converter, battery, electronic card and FPGA Board. The goal of reconfigurable interconnects that allow the blocks to be "wired
the project was to control the chopper in order to be able to together"—somewhat like many (changeable) logic gates that
charge a battery and feed a load with energy from that battery can be inter-wired in (many) different configurations. To define
and/or the solar panel, and display all the significant signals. the behavior of the FPGA, the user provides a hardware
Therefore it was necessary to make a hardware card using description language (HDL) or a schematic design. The HDL
current transducers and an algorithm implementation on an form is more suited to work with large structures because it's
FPGA. The control algorithm and coding for integration with the
possible to just specify them numerically rather than having to
PV cell is proposed by means of the VHDL code and
implemented using Xilinx Spartan-3 from Digilent (NEXYS-2)
draw every piece by hand. Applications of FPGAs include
FPGA Board. In this work, a hardware implementation of digital signal processing, software-defined radio, aerospace and
electronic card interface and open loop control with rotary defense systems, ASIC prototyping, medical imaging,
encoder as a reference input in a PV system has been developed. computer vision, speech recognition, cryptography, bio-
This has all been done, and the whole project works, including informatics, computer hardware emulation, radio astronomy,
the control of the chopper and displaying the values of the metal detection and a growing range of other areas.
currents and voltages. It is better to control the chopper in closed XILINX FPGA and design tools enable to produce
loop instead of the open loop system that we used. This way it is
prototype logic designs in a short period. It is possible to
possible to make sure that the solar panels works in its optimal
power point, by using an MPPT. The Developed hardware has
create, implement, and verify a new design. A configuration
the merits of easy programming in VHDL with high accuracy program stored in internal static memory cells of the XILINX
even with low resolution ADC which are utilized in FPGA is written by VHDL programming language that has
microcontroller and dSPACE. The proposed technique has been been designed and optimized for describing the behavior of
described through detailed experimental work. digital systems. VHDL has many features appropriate for
describing the behavior of electronic components ranging from
Keywords-Photovoltaic, XILINX, FPGA, DC/DC Buck simple logic gates to complete microprocessors and custom
converter chips. Features of VHDL allow electrical aspects of circuit
behavior (such as rise and fall times of signals, delays through
I. INTRODUCTION gates, and functional operation) to be precisely described. The
usage of FPGAs instead of other architectures was mainly
Due to day by day shortage and environmental impacts of based on four factors: the acceleration of the design or parts of
conventional fuels like coal, Gasoline etc. renewable energy it, the flexibility of hardware reconfiguration, the reduction of
sources such as solar energy, wind energy are acquiring more costs, and the energy consumption [3].
significance. The photovoltaic (PV) system for converting solar
energy into electricity is in general costly and is a vital way of Several digital circuits have been proposed and used for PV
electricity generation only if it can produce the maximum module which range from DSP [1], dSPACE, microcontroller
possible output for all weather conditions. The PV array has a but Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) [2], [3] based
highly non linear current-voltage characteristic varying with systems could provide a number of run-time advantages over
the irradiance and temperature that substantially affects the the sequential machines such as a microcontroller and
array power output. The maximum power point tracking MPPT dSPACE. FPGAs are increasingly used in conventional high
control of the PV system is therefore critical for the success of performance computing applications where computational
a PV system [1]-[3]. kernels (Fast Fourier transform, convolution etc) are performed
on FPGA instead of on processor. FPGA implementation of
A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated these kernels offers order of magnitude performance
circuit designed to be configured by the customer or designer improvements over microprocessors. Other benefits are in
after manufacturing hence "field-programmable". The FPGA terms of power used: a FPGA implementation of FFT or
configuration is generally specified using a hardware
SCEECS 2012
TABLE I
ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PV MODULE
Rated Power (Pmax) 67W
Voltage at Pmax (Vmp) 21.07V
Current at Pmax (Imp) 3.2A
Open circuit voltage (Voc) 24.7V
Short circuit current (Isc) 5A
TABLE II
DESIGN SPECIFICATION OF BUCK CONVERTER
Input voltage (Vs) Theoretical 0V-48V
Experimental 21.07V-38.63V
Figure 4. The overall FPGA Layout
Input current (Is) Theoretical 0A-5.5A
Experimental 0A-3.2A
Output Voltage (Vo) Theoretical 12V
Experimental 11.57V-14.42V
Output current (Io) 0A-4.35A
Maximum Power output (Pmax) 52.9W
Switching frequency (f) 16.86kHz
Duty cycle (D) 0.32-0.82
SCEECS 2012
Figure 6. The output voltage and output current respectively from PV at time Figure 8. The output voltage and output current respectively from PV at time
T1 during the day P=67.42W T3 during the day P=35.92W
from photovoltaic panel for this trial is 67.42 Watt. We can
easily notice here in Fig. 6 that the DC/AC converter doesn't VI. CONCLUSIONS
have a strictly constant current: we can see portion of 50 Hz The goal of the project was to control the chopper in order
current from the lamp. The current is negative which means to be able to charge a battery and feed a load with energy from
that the battery is in charging mode. that battery and/or the solar panel, and display all the
significant signals. Therefore it was necessary to make a
C. The Experimental results hardware card and a software implementation on an FPGA.
The results are performed in Grenoble, France. The This has all been done, and the whole project works, including
proposed setup has been tested at different time during the day the control of the chopper and displaying the values of the
(T1, T2) to ensure the testing is done for different currents and voltages. It would have been better to control the
environmental operation conditions (with and without clouds). chopper in closed loop instead of the open loop system that we
Fig. 6 - 8 show the performance results obtained from the used. This way it would be possible to make sure that the solar
hardware setup for different time during the day, also with panels works in its optimal power point, by using an MPPT.
different load. Fig. 6 is done for maximum power at 67.42
Watt, output voltage at lamp load=222 volts and duty cycle ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
0.74 where you can see that current is not exactly constant.
The authors would like to thank Grenoble INP, France and
With small time difference Fig. 7 has been captured to show
Prof. Eric Escande for his support during the project.
the capability of the control with FPGA and then the load
energy is coming both from PV and battery. In Fig. 7 (also at
T2) it can be notice that Ibattery > 0 (battery is in generator REFERENCES
mode) (3.3W).
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SCEECS 2012