Module-level direct coupling in PV-battery power unit under realistic irradiance and load
Solar Energy, vol. 249, pp. 233–241
Abstract
A photovoltaic (PV) module, battery and consumer or load is usually tied together by a complex power electronics, including maximum power point tracking (MPPT) device for power coupling to maximize output of the PV modules. At the same time, a typical battery itself can play the role of a power coupling element in addition to its main energy storage function. In principle, a properly chosen PV-battery pair can maintain a high degree of internal power coupling even under variable irradiance and load without MPPT electronics. This option is of interest for e.g. module-level integration of PV and battery to cope with natural intermittency of a PV module power output. In this work, we experimentally examine the function of a laboratory scale unit of a 7-cell silicon heterojunction PV module directly connected to a lithium-ion battery and variable load. The unit is the simplest PV-battery module representative for detailed study under a series of emulated realistic profiles of irradiance and power consumption. The directly coupled PV-battery unit shows coupling efficiencies of above 99.8% at high irradiance and approx. 98% on average through the daily cycle – a value that is comparable to modern MPPT devices.
Authors 7
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University of Nigeria · Forschungszentrum Jülich
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 410001 Nsukka, Nigeria
IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 410001 Nsukka, Nigeria
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Affiliation as printed
IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
UE, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University
Affiliation as printed
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, RWTH Aachen University, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Straße 15, 52074 Aachen, Germany
IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Oleksandr Astakhov corresponding
Affiliation as printed
IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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