Resources

Development of Control Systems for Solar Inverters and Battery Chargers — Government incentives for renewable energy and increased consumer awareness of the advantages of solar power are sparking demand for efficient solar battery chargers and solar inverters.  Challenge: Develop solar inverter and battery charger control systems amid frequently shifting market requirements.  Solution Use Model-Based Design with MATLAB and Simulink to model power electronics and control systems, including algorithms for DC voltage regulation, power limiting, and maximum power point tracking (MPPT), run simulations, and generate embedded code for a TI microcontroller.  Results:     - Product development time reduced by one year;     - New product R&D accelerated via model reuse;     - Number of hardware prototypes reduced.

Hydro-Québec Models Wind Power Plant Performance — Hydro-Québec is committed to using renewable energy sources, mainly hydroelectric and wind power. Hydro-Québec engineers use Simulink® and Simscape Power Systems™ to model and simulate individual wind turbines and entire wind farms.  Challenge: Plan the integration of new wind farms into the power system, predict power output, and ensure safe, reliable operation.  Solution: Use MathWorks products to simulate individual wind turbines and wind farms and to generate C code for multiprocessor simulation of entire power systems.  Results:     - Simulation speed increased to real time;     - Equipment needs accurately predicted;     - Dynamic simulations enabled.

Modeling and Simulation of PV Solar Power Inverters — Photovoltaic solar power technology is being pushed to the forefront as a viable alternative source of renewable energy. Addressing the key design challenges involved in the development and implementation of these systems requires simulation tools capable of not only modeling and analyzing the behavior of diverse electronic components, but also the ability to combine them with the associated control algorithms and evaluate the full system performance. In this webinar, MathWorks engineers demonstrate how to use dynamic models to test and validate the performance of photovoltaic systems that include the PV arrays, the power converters and inverter electronics, and a variety of loading conditions, including a connection to the utility grid. The examples show how simulation can be used to perform design trade-offs and to develop and test control algorithms, including maximum power point tracking (MPPT).  

Photovoltaic Research — The research projects on PV technology conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with universities and the solar industry through research partnerships and through direct support of the PV R&D performed within the National Center for Photovoltaics (http://www.nrel.gov/ncpv/) have made major contributions to advancing PV technology and developing the U.S. PV industry.

The Basics of Photovoltaic Technology — Photovoltaic (PV) materials and devices convert the energy of the sun into electrical energy. The PV cells are commonly known as solar cells. Solar PV systems can generate clean, cost-effective power anywhere the sun shines. (*http://energy.gov/eere/energybasics/articles/photovoltaic-technology-basics)