Fuzzy Logic Based Maximum Power Point Tracking Using Boost Converter for Solar Photovoltaic System in Kuwait

Abstract

Currently, the production of the rapid increasing electrical energy in Kuwait depends mainly on oil and its derivatives, which result in environmental pollution. Moreover, the export of oil production represents a key income for Kuwait and any saving in its consumption represents an essential concern to land’s economy. Therefore, the power utility and economy of Kuwait will benefit from substituting fossil fuels by clean and renewable energy resources such as solar energy. For efficient utilization of solar energy, the PV panel should track the maximum power point (MPP) under various weather conditions in Kuwait. Most of existing MPP tracking techniques depend mainly on perturb & observe (P&O) or incremental conductance (IC) algorithm using conventional PID controllers. On the other side, fuzzy logic controller (FLC) provides an adaptive nature, fast response, good performance and ability to handle non-linear characteristics. In this paper, the proposed (FLC) substitutes PID controller in P&O and IC (MPPT) under different weather conditions in Kuwait. The obtained results of the proposed (FLC) are compared with conventional PID controller. The performance of the implemented PV panel is validated and the results indicated that FLC has successfully tracked the MPP with minimum voltage oscillations.