DefinePK

Abstract

Solar energy can play an important role in solving the energy problems in those countries lie in the Sun Belt. Photovoltaic (PV) energy is one of the useful applications for solar energy. For any PV module, both current and voltage vary proportionally to the load and the solar radiation level as a nonlinear relation, which causes the continuous variation of the maximum power point (MPP). Since the maximum power for a certain load can be taken from the PV module at a distinct point for each radiation level, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) can be used to follow the optimum operating point. This paper presents design and build a simple MPPT based on perturb and observe technique for a small DC load driven by a PV module. The experimental results showed that using the proposed MPPT promotes a good matching between the PV module and its load. According to the good matching, the daily output energy can be increased by about 37-42% more than that of the direct coupling between the load and the PV module.