Simple Control of Photovoltaic Generator Systems with High-Speed Maximum Power Point Tracking Operation

A simple control method for photovoltaic power generation systems is proposed. This achieves very-high-speed maximum-power-point tracking (MPPT): the controller finds out the optimal operating point within 2 milliseconds. Although this control method is based on the so-called “perturb-and-observe method”, the perturbing signal generator for MPPT operation is not necessary; switching ripples by the DC/DC converter are used as the perturbing signal. This controller measures the photovoltaic array power and tracks the optimal point with consideration of dynamic characteristics of the arrays. The proposed controller is cost effective because it can be implemented by a simple analog circuit; the controller is simplified in comparison with the conventional methods. The high performance of the proposed method is verified by experiment.