Energy Efficient Fine-grained approach for Solar Photovoltaic Management System

The paper´s main objective is to develop an Energy Efficient Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Management System that especially addresses the partial shading effects, among other cells mismatches, in a solar PV array/panel. In the presented Fine-Grained (FG) system, each single solar PV cell or a group of solar PV cells has its own MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) controller and the power converter associated with it. The FG MPPT PV solar power management approach can ensure true maximum power point tracking (extract higher amount of power) under unified illumination conditions and under partial shading conditions. While the FG MPPT approach can have digital or/and analog implementations, this paper focuses on proposing an analog circuit implementation to reduce cost and size and to simplify system integration. Orcad/Pspice® simulation results verify the operation and advantages of the proposed FG system and circuits.