PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER CONTROL USING MPPT AND BOOST CONVERTER

N this paper, we examine a schematic to extract maximum obtainable solar power from a PV module and use the energy for a DC application. This paper investigates in detail the concept of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) which significantly increases the efficiency of the solar photovoltaic system. photovoltaic (PV) power generation has an important role to play due to the fact that it is a green source. The only emissions associated with PV power generation are those from the production of its components . After their installation they generate electricity from the solar irradiation without emitting greenhouse gases. In their lifetime, which is around 25 years, PV panels produce more energy than that for their manufacturing The efficiency of a PV plant is affected mainly by three factors: the efficiency of the PV panel (in commercial PV panels it is between 8 - 15%) [3], the efficiency of the inverter (95 - 98 %) [5] and the efficiency of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm (which is over 98% [6]) . Improving the efficiency of the PV panel and the inverter is not easy as it depends on the technology available, it may require better components, which can increase drastically the cost of the installation. Instead, improving the tracking of the maximum power point (MPP) with new control algorithms is easier, not expensive and can be done even in plants which are already in use by updating their control algorithms, which would lead to an immediate increase in PV power generation and consequently a reduct ion in its price.