People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

BADJI MOKHTAR UNIVERSITY-ANNABA

Faculty of Engineering Sciences
Department of Electrical Engineering
Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
MASTER OF SCIENCE
In
Electrical Engineering Degree
SPECIALITY: POWER SYSTEMS
THEME:
STUDY OF A GRID-CONNECTED PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

Presented by Examination committee

:Supervisor
Prof .Dr. OMEIRI Amar
JANGA ADMIRE
Prof .Dr.LABAR Hocine
Prof .Dr.LABAR Hocine
2018/2019
 THESIS LAYOUT

 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

 CHAPTER 1 : « RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES »

 CHAPTER 2 : « PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY »

 CHAPTER 3 : « MODELLING AND SYSTEM TOPOLOGY OF

PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY »

 CHAPTER 4 : « SIMULATION OF THE GRID-CONNECTED

PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM USING MATLAB/SIMULINK »
 FINAL CONCLUSION
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
• since the industrial revolution we have been dependant on fossil fuels such
as oil, coal and gas to generate energy. fossil fuels are non-renewable and
therefore one day will run out. in addition, greenhouse gases are produced
when burning these fossil fuels. therefore relying solely on fossil fuels is
unsustainable.

• one way to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels to produce energy and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to use renewable energy resources.

• renewable energy resources are sources of power that quickly replenish

themselves and can be used again and again.
 CHAPTER 1:
RENEWABLE ENERGY

TECHNOLOGIES
 RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

• RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

• radiant solar energy
• solar heating (passive and active), solar power plants,
photovoltaic cells
• biomass energy
• direct: combustion of biomass
• indirect: chemical conversion to biofuel
• wind energy
• hydro energy
• geothermal energy
• power plants, direct use, heat pumps
• ocean energy
• tidal; salinity-driven
• ADVANTAGES
HYDRO ENERGY
• cheap to operate
• long life and lower operating costs than all other power plants

• renewable
• high yield
• lower energy cost than any other method

• pretty plentiful
• some countries depend almost entirely on it

• not intermittent (if reservoir is large enough)

• reservoirs have multiple uses
• flood control, drinking water, aquaculture, recreation
 HYDRO ENERGY
• DISADVANTAGES:
• human population displacement
• more significant breeding ground for disease
• reduces availability of water downstream
• ecosystem impacts
• water pollution problems
• low dissolved oxygen (do)
• increased h2s toxicity; other do-related problems
• siltation a big problem (also shortens dam life)
• air pollution
• actually may be a significant source of ghgs (ch4, n2o, co2)
• decommissioning is a big problem
• the size issue
• many (most) of the above problems are significantly worse for larger
 WIND ENERGY
wind energy describes the process where electricity is generated by wind turbines. the turbines
convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power.

there are two main types of wind turbine which are distinguished by the axis in which the rotor
of the turbine rotates.

1. vertical axis wind turbines.

2. horizontal axis wind turbines.

the wind turbine blades which are connected to the rotor are turned by the wind and drive the
main shaft, which spins the generator to generate electricity.
 BIOMASS
• biomass fuels come in many different forms, for example as solids such as
wood chips or wood pellets, as liquids such as biodiesel or bioethanol and as
gases such as biogas.

• biomass, which is material from living things, can be considered a renewable

energy source if plants are replanted.

• wood chips or wood pellets are the most popular biomass fuels used to
provide energy to our buildings
 BIOMASS ENERGY
• ADVANTAGES
• versatile
• renewable
• no net co2 emissions (ideally)
• emits less so2 and nox than fossil fuels

• DISADVANTAGES
• low energy density/yield
• in some cases (eg, corn-derived bioethanol) may yield no net energy
• land conversion
• biodiversity loss
• possible decrease in agricultural food productivity
• usual problems associated with intensive agriculture
• nutrient pollution
 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
• HOW IT WORKS
• geothermal power plants
• use earth’s heat to power steam turbines
• geothermal direct use
• use hot springs (etc) as heat source
• geothermal heat pumps
• ADVANTAGES
• renewable
• easy to exploit in some cases
• co2 production less than with fossil fuels
• high net energy yield
• DISADVANTAGES
• not available everywhere
• h2s pollution
• produces some water pollution (somewhat similar to mining)
HOW NUCLEAR ENERGY WORKS
 CHAPTER 2 :
PHOTOVOLTAIC
TECHNOLOGY
 INTRODUCTION TO PV TECHNOLOGY

-photovoltaics(pv), also called solar cells, are electronic devices that convert sunlight directly
into electricity.
-a pv system consists of pv cells that are grouped together to form a pv module, and the
auxiliary components (i.e. balance of system - bos), including the inverter, controls, etc.
-first-generation pv systems (fully commercial) use the wafer-based crystalline silicon (c-si)
technology, either single crystalline (sc-si) or multi-crystalline (mc-si).
-second-generation pv systems (early market deployment) are based on thin-film pv
technologies
-third-generation pv systems include technologies, such as concentrating pv (cpv) and
organic pv cells that are still under demonstration or have not yet been widely
commercialized
 SOLAR RADIATION
TERMS

-irradiance is a combination of direct and diffuse radiation and will depend on the
albedo (reflected solar radiation) of that particular location.
-direct or beam radiation is the solar radiation that travels down to the surface of the
earth on a straight line without any atmospheric losses due to scattering or absorption.
-diffuse radiation is the solar radiation which reaches the surface of the earth after
being scattered or absorbed by molecules in the atmosphere.
-global horizontal irradiation (ghi) is the total of direct horizontal irradiation (dhi) and
diffuse horizontal irradiation (dif).
Insolation Variations
Insolation varies widely depending on location (and time
of year)

Locations far from the equator receive a large amount of irradiation during
long summer days but very little during winter when the days are very
short.
 SOLAR ANGLES

-angle of incidence is the angle between the sun’s direct

rays (beam radiation) on a surface and the normal to that
surface
-solar altitude angle it is the angle between the line to the
sun and the horizontal. this angle is useful in the shading
analysis.
-solar azimuth angle it describes the position of the sun in
the sky, relative to the observer on earth. the range for the
solar azimuth angle is −180 ≤ 𝜸𝒔 ≤ 180 ̊

where
 PRINCIPLE OF
PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS

-photovoltaic systems employ semiconductor

cells, usually several square centimeters in size.
-semiconductors have four electrons in the outer shell,
on average, these electrons are called valence electrons
-when the sunlight hits the photovoltaic cells, part of
the energy is absorbed into the semiconductor
-when that happens the energy loosens the electrons
which allow them to flow freely. the flows of these
electrons are a current and when you put metal on the
top and bottom of the photovoltaic cells
Series and parallel connections in PV modules

In a series connection the voltages add up.

For example, if the open circuit voltage of If cells are connected in parallel, the voltage
one cell is equal to 0.6 V, a string of three is the same over all solar cells, while the
cells will deliver an open circuit voltage of currents of the solar cells add up
1.8 V
TYPES OF PV CELLS
Mono-crystalline modules
made out of highest grade silicon ingots, cylindrical in
shape.
They have the highest efficiency rates and are the
most expensive,

POLYCRYSTALLINE MODULES
made by melting and pouring raw silicon into a
square mold
These solar panels cost less and are used for large
scale solar PV plants

THIN FILM MODULES

Made by depositing one or several layers of the
photovoltaic material onto a substrate
lowest efficiency range (7- 13%)
Comparison of Thin Film, monocrystalline and
polycrystalline modules from the El Salvador
Report (2012)
Photovoltaic system types
These systems are isolated from the electric
distribution grid

These systems are directly coupled to the electric

distribution network and often do not require battery
storage.
Electric energy is either sold or bought from the local
electric utility depending on the local energy load
patterns and the solar resource variation during the
day

A hybrid solar PV system is backed up by another

alternative source of power
This system can either be grid-tied or a stand-alone
system.
Partial shading and by pass diodes

These problems occurring from partial shading can be prevented by including bypass diodes, a diode
blocks the current when it is under negative voltage, but conducts a current when it is under positive
voltage. If no cell is shaded, no current is flowing through the bypass diodes. However, if one cell is
(partially) shaded, the bypass diode starts to pass current through because of the biasing from the other
cells. As a result current can flow around the shaded cell and the module can still produce the current equal
to that of a unshaded single solar cell.
 ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES OF SOLAR
• ADVANTAGES
• renewable and free
ENERGY
• high energy yield
• a very clean source of energy
• no air/water pollution during operation
• low operating costs
• will pay for themselves over time
• DISADVANTAGES
• intermittent source
• energy storage issues
• low energy density
• requires pretty much land
 CHAPTER 3 :
MODELLING AND
SYSTEM TOPOLOGY OF
PHOTOVOLTAIC
TECHNOLOGY
 MODELISATION OF A PV CELL
The solar cell is modelled first, then extends the model
A PV cell is usually embodied by an electrical to a PV module, and finally models the PV array, the
equivalent of one-diode, resistance series Rs and output current of the PV cell is
resistance parallel Rp as shown below.

the electrical characteristics are calculated under

standard test condition STC when the temperature T
is 25°C and the irradiance G is 1000 W/m2.
The relation between voltage and current result by
replacing the diode current
By setting the current I equal to zero and calculating
at temperature T1
The current generated by the solar cells Iph can be approximated with the short circuit current Isc.

The reverse saturation current I0 depends on the

temperature T. It is calculated by the following
equation

The value of resistance series Rs is quantified from the

slope dV/dI of the I-V curve at the point open circuit
voltage. The equation Rs is given by

The model is completed by using the following

recursive equations to find the currents.
PV CHARACTERISTICS I-V curve ranges from the
short circuit current (Isc) at
zero volts, to zero current at
the open circuit voltage (Voc).
At the ‘knee’ of a normal I-V
curve is the maximum power
point (Imp, Vmp), the point
at which the array generates
maximum electrical power
when the irradiation
increases, the current
increases more than the The effects of series losses, shunt losses and
voltage and the power mismatch losses on the I-V curve are represented
maximum power point
Pmpp increases as well.

the variation of the

current with the
temperature, the current
changes less than the
voltage.
 The voltage ratio is equivalent to the ratio of the switching
The boost converter period to the off time of the switch

The maximum power point tracker uses the DC/DC

converter to adjust the PV voltage at the maximum
power point.
A boost type converter steps up the PV voltage to high
voltage necessary for the inverter.

The DC input voltage is in series with an inductor L

that acts as a current source. A switch T is in parallel shows the different characteristics of boost converters. It shows th
with the current source that turns on and off source
periodically, providing energy from the inductor and voltage, source current, inductor current, capacitor current with
the source to increase the average output voltage. respect to time for a complete duty cycle.
MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING

MPPT is used for extracting the maximum power

from the solar PV array and transferring that power
to the grid
Using these equations, the tracking point is given by
Incremental Conductance method (ICT)
The incremental conductance method is based on the
fact that the slope of the PV array power curve is zero
at the MPP, positive on the left of the MPP, and
negative on the right, as given by eq
Flow Chart for maximum power
point tracking for ICT Algorithm.
the MPP can thus be tracked by comparing
instantaneous conductance I/V to the incremental
conductance ΔI/ΔV as shown in the flow chart

adjusts the duty cycle D of boost converter which

adjusts the operating voltage of PV array to operate
at MPP. It is very unlikely for the ICT algorithm to
stop exactly on the MPP. Hence, practical ICT
algorithm considers the MPP reached when the
operating point is within a certain error margin which
is given by equation

This method gives a very good and accurate

performance under rapidly varying conditions.
However, the drawback is that the actual algorithm is
very complicated to handle. It requires sensors to
carry out the computations and high power loss
 DC/AC inverter
mould the current into a waveform i.e. sinusoidal, and
subsequently transform the current to ac current with
low harmonics content.
Single-phase full bridge inverter

In grid connected PV system, the inverters should

have island detection, power quality within the
standards, grounding, etc.

The inverter could be unipolar or bipolar depending

on the shape of the output voltage waveform. The
drawbacks with bipolar is “two IGBT and two diodes
switching at the switching frequency with whole input
voltage, therefore doubling the switching losses Three-phase full bridge inverter

the three-phase full bridge inverter. The command of

the switch depends on the modulation schemes to
obtain the sinusoidal output.
 The system topology
The inverter could be a single stage inverter, dual
stage inverter. Each topology has their advantages
and disadvantages.
An optimization is necessary for the choice of
topology. The topology should guarantee that the
output current is a high quality sine wave and in
phase with voltage if grid connected, also with low
distortion harmonic.

In figure a, the PV array is connected in series and

parallel then linked by a singular inverter

In figure b the PV string is for PV array connected in

series then connected into single inverter.

In figure c, multistring PV is when multiple PV string

are connected to a single DC bus then connected to a
DC/AC inverter.
 SINUSOIDAL PULSE WIDTH MODULATION (SPWM)
The DC-AC inverters usually operate on Pulse Width
Modulation (PWM) technique.
In this method a reference signal is compared with a
high frequency triangular wave to generate PWM
signal.
If the reference signal is a sine wave, the modulation is
called Sine wave pulse width modulation(SPWM).

The SPWM is realized by comparing a sine wave The frequency of the reference signal determines the
reference signal(Vr) with a high frequency triangular inverter output frequency and its peak magnitude
or sawtooth wave carrier signal(Vc). determines the modulation index which inturn
The ratio Vr/Vc is called the modulation index and it determines the RMS output voltage.
determines the harmonic content in the inverter
output voltage wave form.

When the reference signal is compared with the

carrier signal, their intersection determines the
switching instants of the inverter switches.
 CHAPTER 4 :
SIMULATION OF THE GRID
CONNECTED PHOTOVOLTAIC
SYSTEM USING MATLAB /
SIMULINK
Full System description of the simulation a grid
connected 100 KW PV Array.
SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
 DISCUSSION
From t=0 sec to t= 0.05 sec, pulses to Boost and VSC converters are blocked. PV voltage corresponds to open-circuit
voltage (Nser*Voc=5*64.2=321 V)

At t=0.05 sec, Boost and VSC converters are de-blocked. DC link voltage is regulated at Vdc=500V. Duty cycle of
boost converter is fixed (D= 0.5 as shown on Scope Boost) and sun irradiance is set to 1000 W/m2. Steady state is
reached at t=0.25 sec. Resulting PV voltage is therefore V_PV = (1-D)*Vdc= (1-0.5)*500=250 V (see V trace on Scope
Boost). The PV array output power is 96 kW (see Pmean trace on Scope Boost) whereas maximum power with a 1000
W/m2 irradiance is 100.7 kW. Observe on Scope Grid that phase A voltage and current at 25 kV bus are in phase
(unity power factor).
At t=0.4 sec MPPT is enabled. The MPPT regulator starts regulating PV voltage by varying duty cycle in order to
extract maximum power. Maximum power (100.7 kW) is obtained when duty cycle is D=0.453. At t=0.6 sec, PV mean
voltage =274 V as expected from PV module specifications (Nser*Vmp=5*54.7= 273.5 V).

From t=0.7 sec to t=1.2 sec, sun irradiance is ramped down from 1000 W/m2 to 250 W/m2. MPPT continues tracking
maximum power. At t=1.2 sec when irradiance has decreased to 250 W/m2, duty cycle is D=0.485. Corresponding PV
voltage and power are Vmean= 255 V and Pmean=22.6 kW. Note that the MMPT continues tracking maximum
power during this fast irradiance change.
From t=1.5 sec to 3 sec various irradiance changes are applied in order to illustrate the good performance of the
MPPT controller.
 CONCLUSION
-in this thesis, the study of a grid-connected photovoltaic system with maximum power point controller has
been developed
- the simulations of the pv panels showed that the simulated models were accurate to determine the
characteristics of voltage and current because the current-voltage characteristics are the same as the
characteristics given from the data sheet.
- the simulation showed that “incremental conductance + integral regulator” algorithm can track the
maximum power point of the pv, it always runs at maximum power no matter what the operation
condition is.
- the results showed that the algorithm delivered an efficiency close to 100% in steady state.
- finally, the pv performance and the maximum power point were analysed, and the three phase full bridge
dc-ac inverter was simulated while connected to the grid. the results showed that the dc voltage generated
by the pv array could produce an ac current sinusoidal at the output of the inverter which has almost the
same output waveform of that of the grid. the amplitude of the current depends on the pv power.
THANK YOU FOR
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