Analysis and Simulation of a PWM Converter Designed to Perform Harmonic Compensation and Maximum Power Point Tracking in a Grid-Connected Solar System

Solar energy is arguably the most promising response to the challenge of generating power in a clean and renewable way. However, there are many technical challenges that must be overcome before this alternative becomes able to replace the non-renewable sources in use today. For instance, currently there is no way to efficiently store the energy generated by photovoltaic panels while the sunlight is shining, which is crucial if energy generated by PV panels is to be used during the night or in a cloudy day. While those problems remain unsolved, one of the best ways available for using solar energy is to couple PV panels with the electric grid in order to minimize the use of non-renewable sources for power generation. This thesis presents and discusses the use of a power electronics based converter designed to couple a PV panel to the power grid. The converter in this case is able to extract the maximum power possible from the panel regardless of the environment conditions and perform harmonic compensation at the same time. The thesis will be structured as follows. First, the theoretical foundation for analysis and design of the aforementioned converter will be presented. Then, the converter will be modeled. Using the model, a control system will be designed to enforce the desired behavior. Last, the whole system will be simulated in Matlab/Simulink^R and the results will be analyzed