Photovoltaic Source Modeling and Control
Résumé
This chapter presents the modeling and control of the photovoltaic (PV) source. Two classic mathematical models present in the literature are studied and analyzed. Then, to allow the PV production forecast, a third model, purely experimental, is proposed. An experimental comparison of PV power model reliability is presented and discussed. Concerning the PV source control, it focuses on maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods and on constrained power control. Four MPPT methods are studied and analyzed: perturb and observe (P&O) and incremental conductance as a tracking step constant and improved P&O and fuzzy logic-based MPPT as a variable tracking step. Using four identical PV arrays, under strictly the same set of technical and meteorological conditions, an experimental comparison of these four algorithms is presented. The PV constrained production control strategy allows for controlling the PV power at any level lower than the maximum power. The transition between the MPPT and the constrained control is continuous and seamless; the two modes separately operate. Experimental results validate the proposed control strategy.