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CUER Electrical System

CUER Electrical System. MPPTs. Solar Cell characteristics. Photovoltaic Cells have a non-linear IV curve, like the one shown below The curve shifts depending upon environmental conditions, eg: temperature, incident light intensity.

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CUER Electrical System

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  1. CUER Electrical System MPPTs

  2. Solar Cell characteristics • Photovoltaic Cells have a non-linear IV curve, like the one shown below • The curve shifts depending upon environmental conditions, eg: temperature, incident light intensity. • The PV curve has a characteristic “Maximum power point (MPP)”. P MPP V

  3. Maximum Power Point Trackers • Endeavour’s solar array is split into 4 discrete “modules”, each with an output of roughly 40V. The battery system is over 100V, so the maximum power point tracker (MPPT) acts as a boost converter to step up the voltage. MPPT High voltage battery 140V Solar Module ~40V

  4. Maximum Power Point Trackers • But an MPPT must do more than simply boost the output of the solar module. • The module should always be operated at the MPP. • The MPP varies depending on environmental conditions, so it must be actively tracked

  5. Maximum Power Point Trackers • One common method of maximum power point tracking is “perturb and observe”. • The MPPT periodically perturbs the operating point, observes the output, and decides which direction to perturb the voltage in next time. • This way the tracker is constantly hunting for the maximum power using a closed-loop algorithm.

  6. CUER’s MPPTs • CUER uses Drivetek MPPTs. These originate from a Biel University project, and are designed specifically for solar car use. • Efficiency is excellent, typically >95% under good sunlight (see below)

  7. CUER’s MPPTs • The switching circuit is a boost converter with “Active Snubber Circuit”. This works to practically eliminate switching losses by only switching the MOSFETs at zero current/zero voltage

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