Development of MPPT-Enabled Boost Converter for Solar Power Applications

Abstract

This study presents the modeling, simulation, and practical implementation of a photovoltaic (PV) system, focusing on two control mechanisms applied to a DC-DC boost converter: Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) and output voltage regulation. Photovoltaic systems exhibit power fluctuations due to changing weather conditions, and they seldom operate at the maximum power output capacity of the photovoltaic (PV) generator. Therefore, an MPPT control strategy is essential to enhance efficiency by maximizing power output. Two MPPT algorithms, incremental conductance and perturb-and-observe, are utilized in this work for their simplicity, requiring only voltage and current measurements from the PV panel.  Additionally, a classic PI regulator with anti-windup is used for output voltage regulation, implemented on an STM32F429 microcontroller. Preliminary MATLAB Simulink simulations validate the mathematical models of the PV generator, boost converter, and load. Practical results confirm the obtained simulation results.