Development of a model-based hybrid MPPT method for photovoltaic applications

As electric vehicles become increasingly widespread, a continuous increase in electrical energy consumption is expected in the coming years. In our country, mostly fossil fuels are used in electrical energy production and their reserves are limited. Renewable energy sources have become attractive today because they produce energy without using fossil fuels.The maximum amount of power that photovoltaic (PV) cells can produce varies depending on radiation, temperature and other environmental effects, and different operating characteristics occur depending on these factors. In order to determine these characteristics, cells need to be modeled. In this thesis study, 1Soltech 1STH-215-P model was chosen as the PV panel and the model of the PV cell was created in Matlab/Simulink with the help of the single diode model. The I-V and P-V curves of the PV model created with the help of the ready-made PV model and the mathematical model were compared and the maximum power points (MPP) were determined using the model. Since equivalent circuit parameters may change due to external factors such as aging of the panel, dust and dirt, the MPP value calculated using the model may change over time. In the proposed method, the model-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm was used to reach the maximum power point, and a switch was made to the perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm near the MPP, taking into account the changes that would occur in the MPP calculation in non-ideal situations. With this study conducted in the Matlab/Simulink simulation environment, the hybrid method using the model-based MPPT algorithm, which is implemented by obtaining equivalent circuit parameters, and the traditional P&O algorithm's convergence speed to reach the MPP and the oscillations around the MPP were compared and the advantages of the proposed model-based hybrid algorithm over the traditional algorithm were observed.