Ramp-Rate Control of Photovoltaic Generator With Electric Double-Layer Capacitor

• Published in: IEEE transactions on energy conversion Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 465 - 473
• Main Authors: Kakimoto, N., Satoh, H., Takayama, S., Nakamura, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-06-2009; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Capacitor; Capacitors; control; Electric potential; Energy storage; Fluctuations; Fuel cells; Gain; Generators; photovoltaic (PV) power system; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Power system dynamics; Power systems; Ramps; Solar cells; Solar power generation; Supercapacitors; Voltage
• ISSN: 0885-8969; 1558-0059
• DOI: 10.1109/TEC.2008.2001580

This paper describes ramp rate control of a photovoltaic (PV) generator with an electric double-layer capacitor. The capacitor absorbs rapid fluctuations of PV generation, and allows the generator to change its output at a limited ramp rate. The output is mainly determined by a moving average of the PV generation, but the capacitor voltage is also counted to keep the voltage at a specified value, and accordingly, to make the capacitor small. An expression for the capacitor size is derived. The feedback gain of the capacitor voltage is also examined to maintain enough energy storage in the capacitor. Some experiments are executed to demonstrate and validate the proposed method.