Solar Energy Part II

PV System Components
 Contents

• Grid Connected and Stand-Alone PV System

• Module Parameters
• Improving Efficiency
• Tilt and Orientation
• Temperature Dependency of PV Output
• Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)
• Inverters in PV Systems
Grid Connected System
• The grid-connected topology is especially very common in
countries that have supporting solar policies, where excess
power generated by the consumer can be fed back to the
electric grid.

• The PV generated power is not only able to meet the load

requirements, but is also able to feed the excess power
generated to the electric grid when the supply exceeds the load
demand.

• The excess power is fed to the grid. In most countries, the

consumer can offset his electric bills in this manner. This
facility is called net metering.
Stand Alone System
• Here, a typical off-grid or stand-alone PV system is shown.

• Different components that constitute this PV system can be

seen.

• The PV system uses a PV module or a bunch of modules

interconnected to form an array.

• PV modules, although just an interconnection of solar cells,

have a different set of design and operational constraints when
being used in a PV system.

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• A module is an interconnection of solar cells.
• Most standard crystalline modules are called solar panels.
• All solar panels are solar modules but the converse is not true.
• A thin-film silicon solar cell that is packaged as a flexible laminate is a
solar module. But it is not entirely accurate to call it a panel.
I-V curve, or the current-voltage curve
- I-V characteristics for a module with m identical cells in series and n
identical cells in parallel will look like this.
- But what about the other parameters like efficiency and fill factor for a
solar module? Do they increase, decrease or stay the same?
- Although a very small amount, resistive losses occur in these
interconnects.
• Also, there might be small mismatches in the cells that are interconnected.
• For instance, of the m x n cells interconnected, the cell with the lowest
current in the m cells in series dictates the module current.
• Similarly, the cell with the lowest voltage in the n cells in parallel dictates
the module voltage.
• This can be attributed to the non-homogeneity of the cells in mass
production.
• Therefore, the module in practice performs a little subpar compared
to the expected performance of the ideally matched and
interconnected solar cells.

• This translates to a lower fill factor and efficiency at the module

level.

• In fact, if the module is undergoing variable illumination or non-

uniform heating, the module performance is bound to get even worse.

• Even module manufacturers mention in their datasheets the difference

between module and cell level efficiency.

• For example, the datasheet of Sanyo HIT-N240SE10 module speaks

of a cell efficiency of 21.6%, but a module level efficiency of 19%.

• Perhaps this gives you an idea of how different the cell and module
level parameters can be.
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 Improving Efficiency and Output Sensitivity
• Even though so many technological advancements are being
made at the cell level to improve efficiency, there is still a lot
to be done at the PV system level to ensure a healthy PV yield.

• Getting a good module (in terms of efficiency and output

sensitivity) is winning only half the battle, what matters
ultimately is the yield of the PV system.

• What else can you do to increase the yield of your PV system

at the system level?

• Of course, MPP tracking is a valuable tool to ensure that the

PV module always operates at the MPP on an I-V curve, under
a given set of irradiance and temperature.
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 Tilt and Orientation

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR8EQ0DWpPw
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWsCC8Ffs58
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=optimumtiltangle.com.opti
mumtiltangleforsolarpanel
• http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-angle-calculator.html
• How do we improve the amount of light falling on the PV module,
at the system level?
• The simplest way of doing that is by playing with the orientation
and tilt of the module.
• What do we mean by orientation and tilt?
• Tilt is the degree of freedom that defines the elevation or the pitch of
the solar module with respect to the horizontal.
• Orientation is the degree of freedom that defines the azimuth or the
yaw of the module with respect to a position, which, in this case, is
the geographic South.
• Note that different places and people have different practices of
defining the azimuth.
• The most common reference points are the geographic North and
South.
• So how does playing with the orientation and tilt of the PV module
alter the amount of light falling on it?
• Of course, this stems from the basic fact that in order to get
maximum energy from the sun at any instant, the plane of the solar
panel (or the plane of array, as sometimes called) should be
perpendicular to the direct rays of the sun at that instant.
• As a result, we see the need for having to track the sun by changing
the tilt and orientation of the solar modules.
• Why do we need to change the orientation of the solar panels to
always face the sun?
• This is because of the Earth's rotation. As the Earth rotates, different
places on the surface of the Earth are illuminated differently at
various points of time during the day.
• Thus, the need for solar panel's orientations arises.
• Common sense dictates that a place in the Northern hemisphere will
have the solar panels facing in the general direction of South, while
a place in the Southern hemisphere will have the solar panels facing
in the general direction of North.
• Now, why do we need to change the tilt as well?
• This is because the Earth is revolving around the sun in an elliptical
orbit.
• While the 23.5 degree inclination of the Earth remains the same with
respect to the Earth's orbital plane, the Earth's axis is continuously
changing position relative to the sun's rays.
• Now this complicates the relative path between the sun and the
Earth even more.
• Its effect is that in June and December the sun is closer to the
Northern and Southern hemisphere's mid latitudes respectively,
while in March and September, it's closer to the equator.
• Thus we see a need to vary the tilt of the solar panel.
• Now most solar panels or systems don't have the luxury of
employing a dual axis solar tracker.
• Not only are they very expensive, they are also difficult to
implement if the panels are to be mounted on the rooftop.
• Hence the need arises for the concept of an optimized orientation and tilt.
• What do I mean by this?
• As the majority of PV systems have fixed mounting of the panels,
designers have to live with a single orientation and tilt throughout the year.
• So, what should these fixed angles be?
• The answer would change depending on the geographical location.
• Depending on the latitude of the place, a panel tracking the sun will
have to go through a range of tilt angles throughout the year.
• For example: London has a latitude of around 51°. Consequently,
the range of tilt angles throughout the year for a panel tracking the
sun varies from 28° to 76°. The panel in this case is oriented towards
the South. The optimized angle of tilt will be 35-40°, facing South.
• Moving closer to the equator, we have Cairo at around 30° latitude.
We notice that the range of tilt angles has diminished to around 6° to
54°. The optimized angle of tilt in such a case would be around 20-
25°, facing South.
• It has been seen in practice that optimized angles can give up to 70
to 80% of the maximum PV yield.
• As long as the solar panels are facing in the right direction in
general, that is, facing South for a panel in the Northern hemisphere
and North for a panel in the Southern hemisphere, it is usually
observed that the variation in the optimal orientation angle doesn't
vary the PV yield much.
• Consequently, the optimal tilt of the panels help in saving more
energy than the optimal orientation.
• It is also interesting to note that the optimized tilt could also be
based on the seasons.
• That is, we could either use an angle that maximizes the PV yield in
summer or in winter.
• This could be interesting for application-specific PV systems.
• Thus, we have seen the importance of the orientation and tilt for the
PV module.

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Temperature Dependency of PV Output
• Fortunately there is a model provided in literature that
gives a reasonable estimate of the module temperature as
a function of the ambient temperature.

• This model is sometimes called the NOCT model, due to

the use of the Nominal Operating Cell Temperature, or
NOCT of the PV cell or module.

• The NOCT is a parameter defined for a particular PV

module.
• This means that the cell temperature can never go below the
ambient temperature.
• The least cell temperature values will be equal to the
corresponding ambient temperature, and these will occur when
there is zero irradiance, or in other words, at night.
• When the cell temperature is closer to the ambient
temperature, this is because the impact of irradiance is lesser,
meaning these sets of points correspond to the irradiance and
ambient temperatures during winter.
• Similarly, when the T_cell values go much higher than the
T_ambient values, it's because the irradiance effect in the
summer is quite high.
• This means that the best ambient conditions for your PV
module would be a cold day with plenty of sun.

Back
 Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)

• For reasons discussed before, the solar cell has

an I-V curve as shown in the figure (graph).
• As a quick recap, you might remember how the I-
V curve of a PV module is similar to that of a
single solar cell, as the PV module is merely an
interconnection of several solar cells.
• A series or parallel interconnection of cells increases
the voltage or current respectively, but the overall
nature of the I-V curve remains the same.
• In a similar manner, it can be said that the interconnection of the
PV modules to form a PV array would yield comparable I-V curves,
albeit at different I-V levels.
• Thus, it is reasonable to consider the I-V curve of a solar module
or array similar in nature to that of a solar cell.
• So let's head to the simple I-V curve of a solar module.
• Now, the I-V curve is nothing but the current-voltage curve.
• This I-V curve of a PV module is defined for a unique set of temperature
and irradiance conditions.
• For instance, if the irradiance (or illumination) were to increase, the I-V
curve would also change to a higher level.
• In general, a higher irradiance gives a better I-V curve, but a higher
temperature gives a worse I-V curve and vice versa.
• Now let's try to understand the concept of the operating point.
• At any given point in time, the solar module operates at a
particular voltage and current.
• The point on the I-V curve where the solar module operates is
called the operating point.
• For a given irradiance and temperature, an operating point on
the I-V curve corresponds to a unique (I,V) value.
• We know that power = V*I.
• If we draw the power-voltage curve, or the P-V curve, it takes a form as shown.
• Of course, an operating point on the I-V curve will also correspond to a unique
operating point on the P-V curve.
• Now what is the significance of the P on the P-V curve of a solar module?
• Well, this is the power that is produced and delivered to the rest of the PV
system, and eventually the load.
• Therefore, it is clearly advantageous that the solar module operates at
maximum power as seen in the figure as the peak of the P-V curve.
• To get maximum power delivered by the PV module, it is therefore
imperative to force the module to operate at the operating point
corresponding to the maximum power, or as it's generally called, the
maximum power point (MPP).
• This point corresponds to the peak of the P-V curve or the "knee" of the
I-V curve.
• The simplest way to do this, is to force the voltage of the PV module to
be that at the MPP (called Vmpp) or regulate the current to the right
amount as that at MPP (called Impp), using converters.
• But what if, after forcing the PV module to operate at MPP, the ambient
conditions, like irradiance or temperature change and in turn cause the I-
V/P-V curve to change as well? This would mean that the old MPP is no
longer valid under these conditions.
• Thus, to be continuously at the MPP at all times, we would need to track
any such changes in the I-V curve, and find out the new MPP.
• This process is called maximum power point tracking or MPPT, and the
devices that perform this process are called MPP trackers.
• So how do these MPPT devices work?
• An MPPT device is nothing but a hardware
implementation of an MPPT algorithm or algorithms.
• There are several algorithms to track the MPP
effectively.
• These are also called MPPT techniques.
• Some of the modern literature talks about two broad
categories of MPPT techniques: Indirect MPP tracking,
like fractional open-circuit voltage method, or Direct
MPP tracking,
• like the Perturb and Observe method or the
Incremental Conductance Method Each of these
techniques have their own advantages and
disadvantages.
• This technique is based on adjusting the operating voltage of the solar
module only on a seasonal basis.
• This is under the assumption that the higher MPP voltages are expected
during winter, and lower MPP voltages are expected in the summer, for the
same level of irradiance.
• Of course, this method is not very accurate and accuracy is increased if
such an idea is implemented in a place with minimal irradiance fluctuations
on a particular day.
• One of the most common MPPT techniques in indirect tracking category
is the fractional open-circuit voltage method.
• This method exploits the fact that a good approximation of Vmpp is given
by constant k multiplied by Voc.
• This constant k, for crystalline silicon is usually found to be around 0.7-0.8
in practice. Every time the system needs to respond to a change in
illumination conditions, the MPPT algorithm needs to measure the Voc.
• Inclusion of a pilot PV cell that is highly matched with the rest of the PV cells that constitute
the PV module. The idea here is that the lone pilot PV cell receives the same illumination as
the rest of the PV module, and a measurement of the pilot PV cell also gives an accurate
representation of the PV module under consideration.
• Thus, while the PV cell provides for a good estimate of the module's Voc, the Vmpp can be
calculated as Vmpp = k*Voc and the PV voltage can be adjusted accordingly, without having
to disconnect the PV module.
• Note that the inclusion of PV cell merely avoids the losses due to module disconnection.
• This method would still suffer from the problem of depending on the k value for estimating
the Vmpp.
• Now let's look at the more involved kind of MPPT - the direct MPP
tracking.
• This kind of MPPT involves direct measurements of current, voltage or
power and a more accurate/faster response than the indirect method.
• Due to time constraints, we shall look at a couple of the most popular
kind of algorithms, which are sometimes also classified as "hill climbing"
algorithms.
• We start first with the Perturb and Observe, or P&O algorithm.
• In this algorithm, a perturbation is provided to the PV
module or array voltage.
• This would translate to an increase or decrease in power.
• If an increase in voltage leads to an increase in power, this
means that the operating point is to the left of the MPP,
and hence further voltage perturbation is required towards
the right to reach the MPP.
• Conversely, if the increase in voltage leads to a decrease in
power, this means that the current operating point is to the
right of the MPP, and hence further voltage perturbation is
required towards the left to reach the MPP.
• In this way the algorithm converges towards the MPP over
several perturbations.
• You would have noticed that this algorithm takes advantage
of the fact that the P-V curve has an increasing nature to
the left of the MPP and a decreasing nature to the right of
the MPP.
• The problem with this algorithm is that the operating point is never
steady at the MPP.
• It is always hovering around, in the MPP region, although this could be
minimized using very small perturbation steps around the MPP.
• This algorithm also struggles under rapidly changing illuminations.
• For example, if the illumination (and therefore irradiance) changes in
between two sampling instants in the process of convergence, then the
algorithm essentially fails in its convergence efforts.
• Next, we look at another kind of direct MPPT algorithm,
called the Incremental Conductance Method.
• To better understand the algorithm, we shall first arrive at a
relation between conductance and incremental conductance.
• Conductance of an electrical component is nothing but a ratio of current
to voltage, or in other words, reciprocal of resistance.
• We know, at the MPP, the slope of the P-V curve is zero, i.e.
• dP/dV = 0.
• Now dP/dV could be written as d(I*V)/dV.
• Using basic differentiation, we get dP/dV = I + V.dI/dV.
• If the sampling steps are small enough , then dI/dV could be approximated
to ΔI/ΔV.
• Thus, at MPP, ΔI/ΔV = - I/V.
• To the left of the MPP on the P-V curve, ΔI/ΔV > - I/V and to the right of
the MPP on the P-V curve, ΔI/ΔV < - I/V.
• The algorithm exploits these basic facts about the I-V and P-V curve of a
solar module.
• In general, the algorithm imposes a voltage on the PV module at every
iteration, measures the incremental change in conductance, compares it
with the instantaneous conductance, and decides if the operating point is
to the left or to the right of MPP.
• The instantaneous voltage and current are the observable
parameters, while the instantaneous voltage is also the
controllable parameter.
• V_ref is the voltage value forced on the PV module by the MPPT
device.
• It is the latest approximation of the Vmpp.
• For any change in the operating point, the algorithm compares the
instantaneous and incremental conductance values.
• If incremental conductance is more than the negative of the
instantaneous conductance, this means the current operating point is to
the left of the MPP; consequently, V_ref is incremented.
• Conversely, if the incremental conductance is lower than the negative
of the instantaneous conduction, the current operating point is to the
left of the MPP and is decremented.
• This process iterates until the incremental conductance is the same as
the negative of the instantaneous conductance, in which case the
chosen reference voltage is equal to the Vmpp.
• This MPPT algorithm can be more efficient at the MPP as it doesn't
hover in the MPP region under steady state like the P&O algorithm.
• Also, low sampling intervals make it less susceptible to the changing
illumination conditions.
• However, under very highly varying conditions and partial shading,
the incremental conductance method might also be rendered less
efficient.
• The main drawback of this algorithm is the complexity of its
hardware implementation.
• It needs to not only measure the currents and voltages but also
calculate instantaneous and incremental conductance values.
• Usually, a DC-DC converter is used for implementing the current
or voltage regulation at the PV output.
• A typical example from power electronics is the buck-
boost DC-DC converter, like the one shown here.
• The algorithm needed to decide what voltage and
current to force the PV output to, could be any of the
ones discussed here or several others from literature.
• The choice of the algorithm would dictate the
complexity of the implementation.
• In modern PV systems, the function of the MPPT is
often implemented within other system components
like solar inverters and charge controllers, like shown
here.
• Please note that the list of techniques and typical
implementation are definitely not exhaustive.
• In fact, several algorithms and implementation techniques exist
in practice as well as in literature.
• There are scores of scientific papers, patents, and proprietary
technologies existing in this rapidly growing space.
• In view of time we have covered only the most common MPPT
techniques.
• In summary, maximum power is delivered from
the PV cell, module or array, if the operating
point is the same as that of the "knee" of the I-V
curve.
• An ideal MPPT device is not only able to track
that knee under varying conditions, but also
maintain the voltage and current accordingly.
• In doing so, the device is expected to use as low
an energy amount as possible, so as to not undo
the additional energy gains the MPPT process
provides.
• The MPPT device is also expected to respond
swiftly and accurately to the changes in the
ambient conditions that impact the PV output.
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 Inverters in PV Systems

• Solar power produced needs to be converted to an AC

form.
• We need a device which can simply convert a DC
electric signal to an AC one.
• The device which can make this possible is an inverter.
The inverter that supplies AC power to the load has to
appear as a voltage source with a stable voltage and
frequency, supplying power at 230 V_AC or 110 V_AC or as is
the voltage standard at the location.
The inverter that supplies AC power to the grid as a current
source, while the role of the constant voltage source in the
system is fulfilled by the grid.
• In the stand-alone mode, the grid is disconnected, and the system might
cater to some special backup loads with the inverter behaving as an AC
voltage source.
• In the grid-connected mode, the inverter behaves as an AC current source.
• Bimodal inverters are usually more expensive, and are used less often.
• Can the inverter perform any additional function?
• The answer is yes, and thanks to the advancements in power
electronics, it is common to have inverters that implement an
MPPT mechanism before inverting the voltage, thus ensuring
that the PV modules or arrays are operating at their MPP.
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