A method for obtaining the I-V curve of photovoltaic arrays from module voltages and its applications for MPP tracking. (1st December 2016) - Spertino, Filippo
Highlights: Determination of I-V curve of a photovoltaic array from on-site module voltages. Integrated approach towards the I-V curve detection and Maximum Power Point Tracking. Fast tracking of Global Peak in case of Local Peaks under partial shading conditions. Method requiring photovoltaic module voltages and current as input parameters. Abstract: For the purpose of control and monitoring of a Photovoltaic (PV) system its current-voltage (I-V) characteristic curve is traced. Usually such a test involves the interruption of the normal operation of the PV systems. In this paper a method for tracing the I-V curve from on-site measurements is proposed. During the measurement of the characteristic curve the normal operation of the PV system is not interrupted. The subjects of tracing the characteristic curve and Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) of PV arrays are generally dealt with separately but the proposed method performs the measurement of the characteristic curve quickly and so it can also be utilized for MPPT purposes. Simulations and experiments have been conducted to confirm the operation of the proposed method.