Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-2012

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Committee Chair

McIntyre, Michael L.

Author's Keywords

MPPT; Maximum power point tracking; Backstepping controller; Solar arrays; Controlled rectifier; Incremental conductance algorithm

Subject

Solar energy--Technological innovations; Electric current rectifiers

Abstract

Solar energy offers a large potential as a source of energy and in light of financial and ethical reasons, people are looking to harvest it for their energy needs. The conversion of solar energy to electricity is performed by solar cells. There exists an operating point associated with solar cells at which the power generated is maximized at any given point in time. A maximum power point tracker (MPPT) is required to track this maximum power operating point (MPOP). A wide range of systems exists to meet this purpose. This thesis explores the use of a single-phase controlled rectifier, with back stepping control to track the maximum power from a string of solar arrays. This controller tracks the MPOP using a circuit topology that has been under investigation within the literature and was simulated using MA TLAB/Simulink. Simulation results showed that the designed converter and control strategy could transfer power from a string of solar arrays to the grid by efficiently tracking the MPOP.

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