The many different techniques for maximum power point tracking of photovoltaic (PV) arrays are discussed. The techniques are taken from the literature dating back to the earliest methods. It is shown that at least 19 distinct methods have been introduced in the literature, with many variations on implementation. This paper should serve as a convenient reference for future work in PV power generation.

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Comparison of Photovoltaic Array Maximum Power Point Tracking Techniques

This chapter discusses leading problems linked to energy that the world is now confronting and to propose some ideas concerning possible solutions. Oil deserves special attention among all energy sources. Since the beginning of 1981, it has merely been continuing and enhancing the downward movement in consumption and prices caused by excessive rises, especially for light crudes such as those from Africa, and the slowing down of worldwide economic growth. Densely-populated oil-producing countries need to produce to live, to pay for their food and their equipment. If the economic growth of the industrialized countries were to be 4%, even if investment in the rational use of energy were pushed to the limit and the development of nonpetroleum energy sources were also pursued actively, it would be extremely difficult to prevent a sharp rise in prices. It is evident that it is absolutely necessary to pursue actively the development of coal, natural gas, and nuclear power if a physical shortage of energy is not to block economic growth.

World energy outlook

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques are employed in photovoltaic (PV) systems to make full utilization of PV array output power which depends on solar irradiation and ambient temperature. Among all the MPPT strategies, the incremental conductance (INC) algorithm is widely used due to the high tracking accuracy at steady state and good adaptability to the rapidly changing atmospheric conditions. In this paper, a modified variable step size INC MPPT algorithm is proposed, which automatically adjusts the step size to track the PV array maximum power point. Compared with the conventional fixed step size method, the proposed approach can effectively improve the MPPT speed and accuracy simultaneously. Furthermore, it is simple and can be easily implemented in digital signal processors. A theoretical analysis and the design principle of the proposed method are provided and its feasibility is also verified by simulation and experimental results.

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A Variable Step Size INC MPPT Method for PV Systems

Recently, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have attracted lot of attention due to their pervasive nature and their wide deployment in Internet of Things, Cyber Physical Systems, and other emerging areas. The limited energy associated with WSNs is a major bottleneck of WSN technologies. To overcome this major limitation, the design and development of efficient and high performance energy harvesting systems for WSN environments are being explored. We present a comprehensive taxonomy of the various energy harvesting sources that can be used by WSNs. We also discuss various recently proposed energy prediction models that have the potential to maximize the energy harvested in WSNs. Finally, we identify some of the challenges that still need to be addressed to develop cost-effective, efficient, and reliable energy harvesting systems for the WSN environment.

Energy harvesting in wireless sensor networks: A comprehensive review

Multilevel inverters have created a new wave of interest in industry and research. While the classical topologies have proved to be a viable alternative in a wide range of high-power medium-voltage applications, there has been an active interest in the evolution of newer topologies. Reduction in overall part count as compared to the classical topologies has been an important objective in the recently introduced topologies. In this paper, some of the recently proposed multilevel inverter topologies with reduced power switch count are reviewed and analyzed. The paper will serve as an introduction and an update to these topologies, both in terms of the qualitative and quantitative parameters. Also, it takes into account the challenges which arise when an attempt is made to reduce the device count. Based on a detailed comparison of these topologies as presented in this paper, appropriate multilevel solution can be arrived at for a given application.

Multilevel Inverter Topologies With Reduced Device Count: A Review

A novel multilevel inverter with a small number of switching devices is proposed. It consists of an H-bridge and an inverter which outputs multilevel voltage by switching the dc voltage sources in series and in parallel. The proposed inverter can output more numbers of voltage levels in the same number of switching devices by using this conversion. The number of gate driving circuits is reduced, which leads to the reduction of the size and power consumption in the driving circuits. The total harmonic of the output waveform is also reduced. The proposed inverter is driven by the hybrid modulation method. In this paper, the circuit configuration, theoretical operation, Fourier analysis, simulation results with MATLAB/SIMULINK, and experimental results are shown. The experimental results accorded with the simulation results.

A Single-Phase Multilevel Inverter Using Switched Series/Parallel DC Voltage Sources

A novel switched-capacitor inverter is proposed. The proposed inverter outputs larger voltage than the input voltage by switching the capacitors in series and in parallel. The maximum output voltage is determined by the number of the capacitors. The proposed inverter, which does not need any inductors, can be smaller than a conventional two-stage unit which consists of a boost converter and an inverter bridge. Its output harmonics are reduced compared to a conventional voltage source single phase full bridge inverter. In this paper, the circuit configuration, the theoretical operation, the simulation results with MATLAB/SIMULINK, and the experimental results are shown. The experimental results accorded with the theoretical calculation and the simulation results.

A Switched-Capacitor Inverter Using Series/Parallel Conversion With Inductive Load

A novel multilevel inverter with a small number of switching devices is proposed. It consists of an H-bridge and an inverter which outputs multilevel voltage by switching the dc voltage sources in series and in parallel. The proposed inverter can output more number of voltage levels in the same number of the switching devices by using this conversion. The number of gate driving circuits is reduced, which leads to the reduction of the size and power consumption in the driving circuits. The total harmonic of the output waveform is also reduced. The proposed inverter is driven by the hybrid modulation (HM) method. In this paper, the circuit configuration, the theoretical operation, Fourier analysis, simulation results with MATLAB/ SIMULINK and the experimental results are shown. The experimental results accorded with the simulation results.

A single phase multilevel inverter using switched series/parallel DC voltage sources

This paper presents a comparison of two modulation methods for the seven-level switched-capacitor (SC) inverter using series/parallel conversion (SCISPC). The SCISPC is a multilevel inverter which has the less number of switching devices than the conventional multilevel inverters. The level-shifted pulsewidth modulation (PWM) (LS-PWM) was applied to the seven-level SCISPC in the previous research. In this paper, the level- and phase-shifted PWM (LPS-PWM) and the LS-PWM are applied to the seven-level SCISPC, and LPS-PWM is compared with LS-PWM for the seven-level SCISPC. The LPS-PWM has both the characteristics of the phase-shifted PWM (PS-PWM) and the LS-PWM. The voltage reduction during the discharging term of the SCs is reduced by means of the shorter discharging period compared to LS-PWM. The voltage ripple of the capacitors is also reduced, which leads to higher power conversion efficiency. The difference of the two modulation methods is confirmed by the theoretical approach, simulation with PSIM, and circuit experiment.

Level- and Phase-Shifted PWM for Seven-Level Switched-Capacitor Inverter Using Series/Parallel Conversion

This paper presents a new control scheme for a Class DE inverter, that is, frequency modulation/pulsewidth modulation (FM/PWM) control. Further, the FM/PWM controlled Class DE inverter is analyzed and we clarify performance characteristics. Since the FM/PWM controlled inverter has two control parameters, namely, the switching frequency and the switch-on duty ratio, it has one more degree of freedom for the control than the inverter with the conventional control scheme. The increased degree of freedom is used to minimize the switching losses. Therefore, it is possible to control the output power with high power-conversion efficiency for wide-range control. Carrying out the circuit experiments, we confirm that the experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions quantitatively. For example, the proposed controlled inverter can control the output voltage from 56% to 191% of the optimum one, which is designed for 1.8 W at 1.0 MHz, with maintaining over 90% power-conversion efficiency.

Hirotaka Koizumi

Papers

A Single-Phase Multilevel Inverter Using Switched Series/Parallel DC Voltage Sources

A Switched-Capacitor Inverter Using Series/Parallel Conversion With Inductive Load

A single phase multilevel inverter using switched series/parallel DC voltage sources

Level- and Phase-Shifted PWM for Seven-Level Switched-Capacitor Inverter Using Series/Parallel Conversion

FM/PWM control scheme in class DE inverter