Ripple Current Effect on Output Power of Solar-Cell Panel

To investigate the ripple current on the output power of solar cells, a testing system is set up to draw triangular currents with different ripples from a solar-cell panel by a boost converter operating from 10 kHz to 100 kHz. The dynamic characteristics of the solar-cell panel are analyzed based on the measured current and voltage waveforms. Experimental results indicate that the output voltage lags to some degree as the output current is higher than that at the maximum power point (MPP), leading to deterioration in the output power. This problem can be alleviated by adding a filter capacitor at the output of the solar-cell panel or increasing the operating frequency of the power converter.