Fatima Fayrouz

• Email: f.fayrouz2@ncl.ac.uk

Project title

DC-DC power optimiser for dual-stage photovoltaic AC-module application

Supervisors

• Dr Mohammed Elgendy
• Dr Mohamed Dahidah
• Dr Musbahu Muhammad

Project description

Power converters play a major role in renewable energy systems. The energy produced by these systems is highly affected by environmental conditions.

Photovoltaic energy (PV) is a renewable energy resource. In PV, solar cells convert solar energy to elctrical energy. There are many configurations of power converters in PV systems. One is the AC-module, where the DC-DC power optimiser and the inverter connect directly to the PV module.

Most of the available DC-DC optimiser topologies for the AC-module use a transformer to get a high voltage gain. This leads to bulky size and higher cost. It will also reduce the efficiency of the converter.

This project will investigate a DC-DC power optimiser for a dual-stage PV AC-module. We are focusing on the transformerless topologies. We will address many challenges, such as:

• the maximum power point tracking of the PV module
• the high voltage-gain
• the stability of the controller
• the converter circuit’s size, cost, reliability, and efficiency

We will:

• design the converter circuit based on the interleaved boost converter
• propose a new control topology for different weather conditions
• develop a simulation model of the inverter using MATLAB/SIMULINK
• construct an experimental prototype in the lab to confirm the simulated model

The converter topology can be used in a low power system such as a grid-connected PV residential system. The concept of the modified control topology can also be used in any single-phase distributed generation system.

Interests

Distributed generation, PV system, High voltage-gain DC-DC converters circuits and control, maximum power point algorithms, interleaved converters, soft switching.

Qualifications

• BSc in Electrical Engineering
• MSc in Electrical Power