A Preliminary Study of the Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracker Designs for Different types of Solar Cells in Solar and Electric Vehicle Arrays

Abstract

For solar and electric vehicles, a highly distributed maximum power point tracking (MPPT) scheme is preferred. A maximum power point (MPP) tracker has been previously presented for a single triple junction cell. The Texas Instruments MSP430 microprocessor, which is designed for 1.8 V applications, provides the tracking intelligence. However, the MPP cell voltages of other cell types under different environmental conditions may fall well below 1.8 V. This paper conducts a preliminary study of four maximum power point tracker designs for different cell types, which cover an input supply voltage range from 0.3 to 3.0 V. A comparison of the applications, the topologies and the costs of the four designs is summarised at the end of the paper.

Key Words:

• Maximum power point tracker
• electric vehicle
• solar vehicle

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Q. Li

Quan Li received his Bachelor of Engineering degree in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 1997, and Masters of Engineering and a PhD degree from Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Australia, in 2002 and 2007, respectively. His research interests include power distribution systems, reliability, DC-DC conversion, high-frequency converters, magnetic designs and renewable energy applications. He currently works with Ergon energy in the area of distribution asset management.

P. Wolfs

Professor Peter Wolfs (PhD, CPEng, FIEAust, SMIEEE, RPEQ) is the Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) at the Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Health at Central Queensland University. His special fields of interest include electrical power quality, engineering education in the power generation sector, railway traction systems and railway traction power supply, electric, solar and hybrid electric vehicles, rural and renewable energy supply, and intelligent systems applications.

Peter is a Senior Member of the Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of Engineers Australia, a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Queensland and a member of the Railway Technical Society of Australia (RTSA). He is currently the electrical technical publications chair for the 2008 Joint Rail Conference, which is cooperatively operated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the IEEE. He is a technical reviewer for the Australian Conference on Railway Engineering (CORE), the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics and the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. He is a member of the Australian CIGRE Panel for HVDC and Power Electronics. Peter is the author of more than 120 technical journal and conference publications in electrical engineering.