FPGA-based real time implementation of MPPT-controller for photovoltaic systems

In this paper an FPGA-based implementation of a real time perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm for tracking the Maximum Power Point (MPP) of a photovoltaic (PV) generator is presented. The P&O algorithm has been designed using the very high-speed description language (VHDL) and implemented on Xilinx Virtex-II-Pro(xc2v1000-4fg456) - Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The algorithm and the hardware have been simulated and tested by conditioning the power produced by the PV-modules installed on the rooftop of the “Hall of Technology Laboratory” at Jijel University. The main advantages of the developed MPPT are low cost, good velocity, acceptable reliability, and easy implementation. However, its main disadvantage is related to the fact that for fast changes in irradiance it may fail to track the maximum power point. The efficiency of the implemented P&O controller is about 96%.