MPPT Solar Charge Controllers
MPPT solar charge controllers increase energy efficiency and prolong the lifespan of batteries in off-grid solar systems. They may be more expensive upfront, but they pay for themselves over time in reduced energy costs.
They operate above battery voltage, allowing the panel to harness its maximum power output. This increases charge current and can boost system performance by up to 30%.
Methods
There are various methods of mppt available for PV systems to increase charge current. The methods vary in complexity, tracking speed, efficiency, stability and cost. Some of these methods are also capable of evading oscillations around MPP.
The methods based on iterative in nature utilise the calculation of MPP equation and contrast the actual value with a pre-determined one to locate the actual MPP. The BN approach and the BSM method belong to this category of methods. The BSM is more reliable in terms of MPP tracking than BN because it takes into account the variation of temperatures and irradiance.
These techniques utilise information regarding the PV panel’s technical details and attributes under different natural conditions in order to develop a look-up table which is then correlated at every cycle to locate the MPP. The drawback of this strategy is expansive memory necessities for storing the look-up tables. This is a computationally intensive and expensive method for MPP tracking.
Applications
MPPT technology allows for a much more efficient conversion of solar energy into battery power than traditional PWM controllers. This can result in significant power savings and is often the primary reason why people choose to purchase an MPPT charge controller over a standard PWM controller.
MPPT controllers also operate arrays at voltages higher than the battery so they can be used with a wider variety of array configurations and sizes. They can also be used with shorter wire runs since they do not require as high of a voltage drop over long distances as do PWM controllers.
MPPT controllers can suffer from performance droop when one of the panels is not performing at its peak power point. This is due to the fact that the DC-DC converter must constantly sample panel voltages and currents in order to determine its operating point. This is the only drawback to using an MPPT controller and is typically not a major concern.
Conclusions
Conventional P&O methods with adaptive perturbation are less complex than the other MPPT techniques and have a faster response time, but they still have limitations. Their step size is based on the open-circuit voltage (Voc), so they cannot be entirely adaptive and may require manual intervention.
Lastly, conventional MPPT charge controllers tend to be more expensive upfront than standard PWM controllers. However, over the long term, they can save you money by increasing energy efficiency – fewer solar panels are needed for the same amount of power output and lower electricity costs.
Classical MPPT methods perform best under constant irradiance conditions, but they cannot accurately track the global maximum power point (GMPP) because they have high oscillations near the MPP. This is because they ignore the effect of partial shading. Therefore, a hybrid technique is necessary to locate the approximate GMPP using search algorithms and then accurately track it with classical MPPT. This approach is referred to as GMPPT and can be implemented in two different ways, depending on the power converter topology and hardware architecture.
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