Electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) based mismatching losses reduction under fast-shaded conditions of PV modules

Abstract

Fast-moving irradiance condition is one of problems that need to be solved in the non-stationary conventional maximum power point (MPP) trackers of PV system. Under sudden irradiance changes, the output power is changed drastically that leads to the shifting in MPP voltage. Conventional MPP algorithms may start continuously to search for finding the optimum point. However, suddenly another shadow can occur prior to complete removing of previous shadow. Continuing the tracking process under this condition will cause to lose energy. This paper presents the electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) as the power compensation method for improving the maximum power transfer of PV system under short-term period of shading. Several scenarios are tested in this work by measurement the percentage of power compensation, for instance the effect of capacitor size to the period of shading, the effects of shading period to the level shading intensity and cell temperature. This paper is directly purposed to reduce the power losses for moving objects powered by solar energy, such as solar car and solar boat systems. © 2011 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.