1. SINGLE AXIS SOLAR TRACKER WITH
MODIFIED PSO-MPPT ALGORITHM
Project Members:
Jyoti Choudhary (1MV10EE020)
Rashmi Hegde (1MV10EE040)
Vrinda K. M. (1MV10EE060)
External Project Guide:
Dr. Vijay Mishra, IISc, Bangalore.
Internal Project Guide:
Ms. Nayana B. R. , Assistant Professor.
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2. CONTENTS
Introduction
Maximum Power Point of PV Panels
MPPT Algorithms
Block Diagram
MPPT charge controller
Buck Converter
Solar Tracker
Voltage and Current Sensing Circuits
Hardware Implementation
Software- PSO
Results
Conclusion 2
3. INTRODUCTION
Renewable sources of energy have become increasingly
popular source for electrical energy due to its obvious
advantages over non-renewable sources of energy; the
most abundant and virtuous among these sources being
solar energy.
Solar energy can be directly harnessed to generate
electricity with the help of photovoltaic (PV) cells or solar
cells, which convert the radiant energy directly into
electricity.
However, the efficiency of the solar panels depends heavily
on both the amount of reception off insolation and its
uniformity over the cells of the PV panel. 3
4. MAXIMUM POWER POINT OF PV PANELS
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Normal Condition Partial Shading Condition
8. BUCK CONVERTER
The solar panels provide higher voltage levels than
their ratings during peak hours whereas the battery
charges at the level of 13.5 at the maximum.
This leads to the current increasing to dangerously
high levels and may result in damage of the battery.
To prevent this, the output from the solar panel is
required to be reduced before being given to the
battery.
The converter reduces the voltage level of the input
to the battery and brings it closer to the battery
rating to maintain the current at optimum levels.
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10. SOLAR TRACKER
The single axis solar tracker uses Light Detecting
Resistors(LDRs) as sensors to track the position of
the sun from east to west.
On the basis of the difference in the intensities of
sunlight received by the LDRs, the microcontroller
is programmed to control the switching of the
relays.
The sequence of relay switching determines the
direction of motor rotation, which in turn decides the
direction of motion of the Linear Actuator.
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21. RESULTS
To validate the proposed algorithm discussed in
previous sections, experimental studies were
carried out on two 20V, 2A, and 40W solar panels.
The panels are connected in panels with the tracker
algorithm set in motion.
Real-time test measurements are presented for the
following five cases.
These real-time graphs effectively validate the main
aim of the system, which is to track the position of
the sun and simultaneously deliver maximum power
output irrespective of insolation conditions.
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22. The solar tracker effectively tracked the position of
the sun at various points of the day from east to
west.
The proposed PSO based MPPT, which employs
multi-search based technique; was capable of
finding the global maximum power point even under
complex partial shading conditions.
This ensured that the battery, which is the main
load of the system, was charged as close to its
maximum voltage as possible.
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23. CHANGE IN INSOLATION
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A sudden decrease in
insolation of one panel
with a gradual
decrease in the
insolation of the other.
Condition Graph
26. PANEL CELL SHADING-1
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One horizontal strip of
both panels is shaded,
one at a time.
Condition Graph
27. PANEL CELL SHADING-2
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One horizontal strip of
both panels is shaded,
simultaneously.
Condition Graph
28. CONCLUSIONS
The hardware implementation of the single axis
solar tracker with modified PSO-MPPT algorithm
has been executed.
The results obtained match the simulation results of
the reference paper “An Improved PSO based
MPPT for PV with reduced oscillations” by Ishaque
et al- An IEEE transaction on Power Electronics,
August 2012.
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