| dc.description.abstract | While conventional electricity generation relies on fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, renewable energy relies on abundant sources like sunlight, wind, water, and geothermal heat, offering eco-friendly alternatives with minimal emissions. Unlike conventional electricity generation, renewable sources reduce our carbon footprint, aid in combating climate change, and provide lasting energy security. Due to their intermittent nature, implementing energy storage and smart grid technologies becomes essential to maintain a stable electricity supply.
Off-grid communities face challenges in accessing reliable energy due to lack of connection to centralized grids. Therefore, renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and other sources can help these communities establish self-sustaining, clean, and cost-effective power solutions. Despite the impressive advancements in renewable energy technologies, a significant global population still lacks access to basic energy. According to the United Nations, their ambitious objective is achieving universal energy access, aiming for 100% global coverage by 2030.
Therefore, this thesis provides a solution for off-grid communities who lack energy access. It proposes a novel design of a three-port DC/DC Converter (TPC) for small-scale standalone PV-Battery applications. The derivation process of the topology and the optimization methodology are comprehensively explained. Moreover, the modes of operation are elaborated to demonstrate the functionality of the TPC. Furthermore, the controlling method to regulate the output voltage, control the battery current, and track the maximum power point (MPP) of the PV source is discussed.
The performance of the proposed topology is validated using PSIM software. A comprehensive simulation analysis is conducted for a load profile of an induvial household in Zimbabwe over a 24-hour period. The steady-state waveforms for all the modes and the mode transition waveforms are all presented and discussed. Additionally, the efficiency for the proposed design is calculated for different range of loads and compared with other topologies. Finally, two case studies are given to observe and analyze the system's response to different scenarios during the 24-hour period. | en |
