FPGA based POS MPPT Control for a Small Scale Charging System of PV-nickel Metal Hydride Battery

Recently, the small scale photovoltaic (PV) electronic devices are drawing attention as the upcoming PV generation system. The PV system is commonly used in small scale PV applications such as LED lighting and cell phone. This paper proposes photovoltaic output sensorless (POS) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control for a small scale charging system of PV-nickel metal hydride battery using field-programmable gate array (FPGA) controller.BR A converter is connected to a small scale PV cell and battery, and performs the POS MPPT at the battery terminal current instead of being at the PV cell output voltage and current. The FPGA controller and converter operate based on POS MPPT method. The experimental results show that the nickel metal hydride battery is charged by the maximum PV output power.