Abstract:
In photovoltaic (PV) systems, maximum power point (MPP) is tracked by matching the load
impedance to the internal impedance of the PV array by adjusting the duty cycle of the associated
DC-DC converter. Scientists are trying to improve the efficiency of these converters by improving
the performance of the power stage, while limited attention is given to finding alternative methods.
This article describes a novel supercapacitor (SC) assisted technique to enhance the efficiency of a
PV system without modifying the power stage of the charge controller. The proposed system is an
SC—battery hybrid PV system where an SC bank is coupled in series with a PV array to enhance
the overall system efficiency. Developed prototype of the proposed system with SC assisted loss
circumvention embedded with a DC microgrid application detailed in the article showed that the
average efficiency of the PV system is increased by 8%. This article further describes the theoretical
and experimental investigation of the impedance matching technique for the proposed PV system,
explaining how to adapt typical impedance matching for maximum power transfer.
