A control topology for frequency regulation capability in a grid integrated PV system

Photovoltaic (PV) cells are very costly because of the silicon element which is not cheaply available. Usually, PV cells are preferred to be used at maximum efficiency. Therefore, PV plants are emphasized to extract maximum power from PV cells. When inertia free PV plants are integrated into the grid in large numbers, the problem of maintaining system stability subjected to load perturbation is quite difficult. In response to this, a control topology is being an approach to make available the PV cells in maintaining system stability by utilizing the system frequency deviation as feedback to the controller. To implement this, the PVs are operated at Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). This allows the PV to operate at Pseudo Maximum Power Point tracking (PMPPT) which makes it possible to run the PV with reserve power capacity without employing a battery for storage. The control strategy has been implemented over a two-stage power conversion model of the PV system. The simulation results showed that the proposed control PMPPT topology is effective in frequency regulation capability as compared to the MPPT technique.