Model the converter
Simulate the synchronous buck power stage in MATLAB/Simulink and study its behaviour for the intended PV charging application.
PROJECT 02 / COURSE PROJECT
MPPT using a Synchronous Buck Converter
Extracting solar power through carefully designed control.
SOLAR ENERGY / DIGITAL CONTROL
OVERVIEW
The engineering problem.
A synchronous buck converter was designed, simulated, and implemented to extract maximum power from a PV panel for a battery-charging application. The project connects converter and magnetics design with digitally implemented maximum power point tracking.
My work
The work included MATLAB/Simulink simulation, PCB design in Altium Designer, inductor design and hand winding, Bode-plot-based PI-controller design, and digital MPPT implementation. It was completed for the Renewable Energy Systems course at IIT Palakkad under Dr. Naga Brahmendra Yadav Gorla.
DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION
Control theory meets converter hardware.
Design the control and magnetics
Use the Bode-plot approach to select PI-controller constants. Design and hand-wind the inductor, then integrate the converter on a custom PCB.
Implement digital MPPT
Implement the Incremental Conductance algorithm on the TI C2000 development board to track the PV maximum power point.
PROJECT OUTCOME
A completed converter implementation.
The course project was successfully completed, combining simulation, controller design, magnetic-component construction, PCB development, and embedded control in one working hardware implementation.
View the project on LinkedIn ↗