Power Electronics and Control Techniques for Maximum Energy Harvesting in Photovoltaic Systems

PV Modeling
From the Photovoltaic Cell to the Field
The Electrical Characteristic of a PV Module
The Double-Diode and Single-Diode Models
From Data Sheet Values to Model Parameters
Example: PV Module Equivalent Circuit Parameters Calculation
The Lambert W Function for Modeling a PV Field
Example
References

Maximum Power Point Tracking
The Dynamic Optimization Problem
Fractional Open-Circuit Voltage and Short-Circuit Current
Soft Computing Methods
The Perturb and Observe Approach
Improvements of the P&O Algorithm
Evolution of the Perturbative Method
PV MPPT via Output Parameters
MPPT Efficiency
References

MPPT Efficiency: Noise Sources and Methods for Reducing Their Effects
Low-Frequency Disturbances in Single-Phase Applications
Instability of the Current-Based MPPT Algorithms
Sliding Mode in PV System
Analysis of the MPPT Performances in a Noisy Environment
References

Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking of Photovoltaic Arrays
Limitations of Standard MPPT
A New Approach: Distributed MPPT
DC Analysis of a PV Array with DMPPT
Optimal Operating Range of the DC Inverter Input Voltage
AC Analysis of a PV Array with DMPPT
References

Design of High-Energy-Efficiency Power Converters for PV MPPT Applications
Introduction
Power, Energy, Efficiency
Energy Harvesting in PV Plant Using DMPPT Power Converters
Losses in Power Converters
Losses in the Synchronous FET Switching Cells
Conduction Losses
Switching Losses
References

Biography

Nicola Femia is a full professor of electrotechnics at the University of Salerno, where he teaches circuit theory and power electronics and leads the Power Electronics and Renewable Sources Laboratory. He has been responsible for research and education projects in collaboration with several industries, including Magnetek, National Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics, PowerOne, and Texas Instruments. He is co-author of more than 140 scientific papers published in international journals and in the proceedings of international conferences. He is co-author of five patents regarding control techniques and power converters for photovoltaic applications.

Giovanni Petrone is an assistant professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Salerno, where he teaches electrotechnics and power electronic circuits for renewable energy sources. He is involved in several research projects with international companies and institutions and has also assumed responsibility for some Italian research projects supported by public funds. He is co-author of five patents and several scientific papers published in international journals and in the proceedings of international symposia.

Giovanni Spagnuolo is an associate professor of electrical engineering at the University of Salerno. He is the project leader of two European projects Leonardo Da Vinci and FP7 and one PRIN 2008 project financed by the Italian Ministry of University and of Scientific and Technological Research (MURST), and he is the coordinator of research contracts financed by National Semiconductors Corporation, Matrix S.r.l., and Bitron Industrie S.p.A. He is co-author of six patents and the author or co-author of more than 140 papers published in international journals and in the proceedings of international conferences. He is editor of the IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics and associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

Massimo Vitelli is a full professor in the Department of Industrial and Information Engineering at the Second University of Naples, where he teaches electrotechnics and power electronics. He has been engaged in a number of scientific national projects financed by the Italian Ministry of University and of Scientific and Technological Research (MURST) and by the National Science Foundation (CNR) and in many research contracts with industries. He is co-author of six national and international patents and of about 180 papers published in scientific journals or in international conference proceedings.

"… very innovative … provides a very rigorous analytical treatment starting from the modeling of the PV field and the power converter stages as well as the dynamics of the overall system, including MPPT control. This in-depth analytical description allows the design of power converters and DMPPT algorithms improving the overall efficiency of the whole PV system operating under mismatching conditions."
—Dr. Francesc Guinjoan, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain

"… a concise but complete compendium of the required knowledge to understand, design, and control photovoltaic systems. … a good introduction to photovoltaic systems … also presents most of the recent advances on photovoltaic optimization … the authors are very well known in the scientific community, which provides confidence on the equations and conclusions given in the book."
—Carlos Andres Ramos Paja, Universidad Nacional de Colombia