The study started with the requirement that a photovoltaic (PV) power source should be integrated with other supplementary power sources whether it operates in a stand-alone or grid-connected mode. First, fuel cells for a backup of varying PV power were compared in detail with batteries and were found to have more operational benefits. Next, maximizing performance of a grid-connected PV-fuel cell hybrid system by use of a two-loop controller was discussed. One loop is a neural network controller for maximum power point tracking, which extracts maximum available solar power from PV arrays under varying conditions of insolation, temperature, and system load. A real/reactive power controller (RRPC) is the other loop. The RRPC meets the system's requirement for real and reactive powers by controlling incoming fuel to fuel cell stacks as well as switching control signals to a power conditioning subsystem. The RRPC is able to achieve more versatile control of real/reactive powers than the conventional power sources since the hybrid power plant does not contain any rotating mass. Results of time-domain simulations prove not only effectiveness of the proposed computer models of the two-loop controller, but also their applicability for use in transient stability analysis of the hybrid power plant. Finally, environmental evaluation of the proposed hybrid plant was made in terms of plant's land requirement and lifetime CO2 emissions, and then compared with that of the conventional fossil-fuel power generating forms. / Ph. D.

Fossil fuel consumption throughout the world is drawing attention to the need for alternative energy sources to provide for the large demand for energy. It is becoming more apparent everyday that fossil fuels are unreliable sources of energy due to the volatile pricing of such commodities as well as the toll that these energy sources take on the environment. Fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy that when burned to create energy produce bi-products that are extremely harmful to the global environment. Today, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy are playing larger roles as sources of electricity and are providing new jobs as well as research opportunities both in academia and in industry. It is for this reason that wind turbine energy harvesting is the topic of this thesis and how the efficiency of wind turbine power conversion systems can be improved to become a more viable source of energy. Large wind turbines, along with their power conversion electronics, exist today for the sole purpose of serving a large population of consumers with "green" electricity. Unfortunately, systems designed for low power wind turbines do not utilize advanced methods of maximizing energy draw from wind turbines both from hardware and software point of views. This theses is presents a method of efficient energy extraction and conversion from low power wind turbines to charge lead ac id batteries.

This thesis deals with quantifying the merits of Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT), as well as providing solutions to achieve DMPPT in PV systems. A general method based on 3D modeling is developed to determine the energy yield of PV installations exploiting different levels of DMPPT granularity. Sub-string-level DMPPT is shown to have up to 30% more annual energy yield than panel-level DMPPT. A Multi-Input-Single-Output (MISO) dc-dc converter is proposed to achieve DMPPT in parallel-connected applications. A digital current-mode controller is used to operate the MISO converter in pseudo-CCM mode. For series-connected applications, the virtualparallel concept is introduced to utilize the robustness of the parallel connection. This concept is demonstrated on a three-phase boost converter. The topology offers reduced output voltage ripple under shading which increases the life-time of the output capacitor. The prototypes yield output power benefits of up to 46% and 20% for the tested shading conditions.

This master work was focused on modelling and investigation of a photovoltaic module which operates in non-uniform solar irradiance and temperature changes which is typical to Lithuanian climate. 60 polycrystalline silicon cells were used to model photovoltaic module. Matlab®/Simulink® was used for modelling and calculating the whole system. To generate solar insolation curve, the latitude, longitude of the geographic place and a number of days in a year have to be selected. Buck-boost DC-DC converter and hill-climbing maximum power point tracking algorithm was used to produce maximum power point of the photovoltaic module. Modeled system has reached 93.95 % of maximum power from the photovoltaic module. Structure: introduction, review of maximum power point algorithms, system modelling, research results, conclusions, references. The thesis consists of: 60 pages, 41 figures, 16 tables, 37 references. Appendixes included. / Šiame magistro darbe buvo sumodeliuotas ir ištirtas fotovoltinio modulio veikimas, veikiant Lietuvoje būdingiems saulės apšvietos ir temperatūros pokyčiams. Fotovoltinį modulį sudaro 60 polikristalinių silicio celių sujungtų nuosekliai sistema. Modeliavimui ir skaičiavimas atlikti buvo naudojamas Matlab®/Simulink® programinės įrangos paketas. Įvedus vietos ilgumą, platumą ir pasirinkus metų dieną sugeneruojama saulės apšvietos kreivė paros bėgyje. Išgauti maksimalią galią iš fotovoltinio elemento buvo pasirinkta „buck-boost“ tipo įtampos keitiklis ir „Kalno-kilimo“ didžiausios galios taško algoritmas. Naudojant pasirinkto tipo įtampos keitiklį ir algoritmą galima pasiekti iki 93,95 % maksimalios galios. Darbą sudaro 7 dalys: įvadas, maksimalios galios algoritmų literatūros apžvalga, sistemos modeliavimas, maksimalios galios algoritmo sudarymas, rezultatai, išvados, literatūros sąrašas. Darbo apimtis 60 puslapiai, 2 priedai, 41 iliustracijų 16 lentelių, 37 bibliografiniai šaltiniai.

M. Tech. (Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology) --Vaal University of Technology| / Global warming is of increasing concern due to several greenhouse gases. The combustion of fossil fuels is the major contributor to the greenhouse effect. To minimalise this effect, alternative energy sources have to be considered. Alternative energy sources should not only be environmentally friendly, but also renewable and/or sustainable. Two such alternative energy sources are hydrogen and solar energy. The regenerative fuel cell, commonly known as a hydrogen generator, is used to produce hydrogen. The current solar/hydrogen system at the Vaal University of Technology’s Telkom Centre of Excellence makes use of PV array to supply power to an inverter and the inverter is connected to the hydrogen generator. The inverter provides the hydrogen generator with 220VAC. The hydrogen generator has its own power supply unit to convert the AC power back to DC power. This reduces the efficiency of the system because there will be power loss when converting DC power to AC power and back to DC power. The hydrogen generator, however, could be powered directly from a PV array. However, the hydrogen generator needs specific input parameters in order to operate. Three different input voltages with their own current rating are required by the hydrogen generator to operate properly. Thus, a DC-DC power supply unit needs to be designed to be able to output these parameters to the hydrogen generator. It is also important to note that current PV panel efficiency is very low; therefore, the DC-DC power supply unit also needs to extract the maximum available power from the PV array. In order for the DC-DC power supply unit to be able to extract this maximum power, a maximum power point tracking algorithm needs to be implemented into the design. The DC-DC power supply is designed as a switch mode power supply unit. The reason for this is that the efficiency of a switch mode power supply is higher than that of a linear power supply. To reach the objective the following methodology was followed. The first part of the research provided an introduction to PV energy, charge controllers and hydrogen generators. The problem statement is included as well as the purpose of this research and how this research was to be carried out. The second part is the literature review. This includes the background study of algorithms implemented in MPPT’s; it also explains in detail how to design the MPPT DC-DC SMPS. The third part was divided into two sections. The first section is the design, programming and manufacturing of the MPPT DC-DC SMPS. The second section is the simulation of the system as a whole which is the simulation of the PV array connected to the MPPT DC-DC SMPS and the hydrogen generator. The fourth part in the research compared the results obtained in the simulation and practical setup. The last part of the research provided a conclusion along with recommendation made for further research. The simulation results showed that the system works with an efficiency of 40,84%. This is lower than expected but the design can be optimised to increase efficiency. The practical results showed the efficiency to be 38%. The reason for the lower efficiency is the simulation used ideal components and parameters, whereas the practical design has power losses due to the components not being ideal. The design of the DC-DC switch mode power supply, however, indicated that the hydrogen generator could be powered from a PV array without using an inverter, with great success.

Microgrids containing photovoltaic (PV) cells and wind power gain more and more interest. These microgrids may work in stand-alone mode ("islanding") or be conncted to the main grid. In both modes of operation, power quality must be monitored and controlled. This report focuses on microgrids and aims to implement a monitoring system based on FPGA. In the monitoring system, two applications can be achieved, firstly a PAS-MPPT algorithm in a DC-DC boost converter to improve the maximun power point tracking of a PV unit, and secondly a detection and switching system of the grid mode - stand-alone or connected to the main grid. Simulation results prove the Verilog programs in FPGA are suitable to be used in microgrids.

Photovoltaic installations in urban areas operate under uneven lighting conditions. For such a system to achieve its peak efficiency, each solar panel is connected in series through a micro-converter, a dc-dc converter that performs per-panel distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT). The objective of this thesis is to design a compensator for the DMPPT micro-converter. A novel, systematic approach to plant modeling is presented for this system, together with a framework for characterizing the plant’s uncertainty. A robust control design procedure based on linear matrix inequalities is then proposed, which ensures robust performance and stability of the time-varying system. The proposed modeling and control design methods are demonstrated for an example rooftop photovoltaic installation. The system and the designed compensator are tested in simulations. Simulation results show satisfactory performance over a range of operating conditions, and the simulated system is shown to track the maximum power point of every panel.

Photovoltaic installations in urban areas operate under uneven lighting conditions. For such a system to achieve its peak efficiency, each solar panel is connected in series through a micro-converter, a dc-dc converter that performs per-panel distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT). The objective of this thesis is to design a compensator for the DMPPT micro-converter. A novel, systematic approach to plant modeling is presented for this system, together with a framework for characterizing the plant’s uncertainty. A robust control design procedure based on linear matrix inequalities is then proposed, which ensures robust performance and stability of the time-varying system. The proposed modeling and control design methods are demonstrated for an example rooftop photovoltaic installation. The system and the designed compensator are tested in simulations. Simulation results show satisfactory performance over a range of operating conditions, and the simulated system is shown to track the maximum power point of every panel.

The wind turbine generation system (WTGS) exhibits a nonlinear characteristic and its maximum power point varies with changing atmospheric conditions. In order to operate the WTGS at maximum power output under various wind speeds and to avoid using speed encoder in practical applications, it is necessary to improve the controller system to operate the maximum power points in the WTGS. There are three factors to influence wind generator, the wind speed, power coefficient and the radius of blade. The power coefficient depends on the blade pitch angle and tip speed ratio (TSR). The objective of the dissertation is to develop an intelligent controlled wind energy conversion system (WECS) using AC/DC and DC/AC power converters for grid-connected power application. To achieve a fast and stable response for the real power control, an intelligent controller was proposed, which consists of a fuzzy neural network (FNN), a recurrent fuzzy neural network (RFNN), a wilcoxcon radial basis function network (WRBFN) and a improved Elman neural network (IENN) for MPPT. Furthermore, the parameter of the developed FNN, RFNN, WRBFN and IENN are trained on-line using back-propagation learning algorithm. However, the learning rates in the FNN, RFNN, WRBFN, and IENN are usually selected by trial and error method, which is time-consuming. Therefore, modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO) method is adopted to adjust the learning rates to improve the learning capability of the developed RFNN, WRBFN and IENN. Moreover, presents the estimation of the rotor speed is based on the sliding mode and model reference adaptive system (MRAS) speed observer theory. Furthermore, a sensorless vector-control strategy for an induction generator (IG) operating in a grid-connected variable speed wind energy conversion system can be achieved. On the other hand, a WRBFN based with hill-climb searching (HCS) maximum-power-point-tracking (MPPT) strategy is proposed for permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) with a variable speed wind turbine. Finally, many simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed intelligent control wind generation systems.

The declining cost of photovoltaic (PV) modules has enabled the vision of ubiquitous photovoltaic (PV) power to become feasible. Emerging PV technologies are facilitating the creation of intentionally non-flat PV modules, which create new applications for this sustainable energy generation currently not possible with the traditional rigid, flat silicon-glass modules. However, since the photovoltaic cells are no longer coplanar, there are significant new requirements for the power electronics necessary to convert the native form of electricity into a usable form and ensure maximum energy harvest. Non-uniform insolation from cell-to-cell gives rise to non-uniform current density in the PV material, which limits the ability to create series-connected cells without bypass diode or other ways to shunt current, which is well known in the maximum power tracking literature. This thesis presents a modeling approach to determine and quantify the variations in generation of energy due to intentionally non-flat PV geometries. This will enable the power electronics circuitry to be optimized to harvest maximum energy from PV pixel elements – clusters of PV cells with similar operating characteristics. This thesis systematically compares different geometries with identical two-dimensional projection "footprints" for energy harvest throughout the day. The results show that for the same footprint, a semi-cylindrical surface harvests more energy over a typical day than a flat plate. The modeling approach is then extended to demonstrate that by using non flat geometries for PV panel, the availability of a remotely located stand-alone power system can be increased when compared to a flat panel of same footprint. These results have broad application to a variety of energy scavenging scenarios in which either total energy harvested needs to be maximized or unusual geometries for the PV active surfaces are required, including building-integrated PV. This thesis develops the analysis of the potential energy harvest gain for advanced non-planar PV collectors as a necessary first step towards the design of the power electronics circuits and control algorithms to take advantage of the new opportunities of conformal and non-flat PV collectors.