US-Lebanon Cooperative Research: Innovative Maximum Power Tracking Controller Design for Solar Applications

The University Of Central Florida Board Of Trustees, Orlando FL

Investigators

Abstract

0243025 Batarseh Description: This project supports a cooperative research project between Dr. Issa Batarseh, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida and Dr. Sami Karaki, Department of Electrical Engineering, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. They plan to carry out research in developing a new controller for solar energy source. The new controller will be designed, simulated and verified experimentally to extract maximum power from photovoltaic systems under all full-load conditions. The objective of the proposal is to develop expandable, parallel-connected photovoltaic-based power system with robust Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) capabilities. The specific objectives of this project are: 1) Investigate MPPT controller performance under severe circumstance with computer simulation. 2) Develop an engineering demonstration prototype for robust MPPT controller. 3) Simulate and experimentally verify the shared bus current sharing techniques. 4) Evaluate the feasibility of the proposed system by extensive system level computer simulation. Scope: The impact of the proposed maximum power tracker for solar array will lead to future satellites with reduced size, lower cost and more reliable. Such a system may be also applied to another renewable energy sources like fuel cells. The proposed distributed power architecture will have several desired features. This project enables the US and Lebanese scientists to pool their complementary expertise and resources in providing a new approach to analyzing the behavior of power control systems. One US graduate student from UCF will participate in this international collaborative project. This project is funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Division of Electrical and Communications Systems.