New approach to photovoltaic arrays maximum power point tracking

The present trend for commercial telecommunication and scientific satellites is the utilization of standard platform, characterized by a high level of flexibility and reduced nonrecurring costs. One of the areas where flexibility is mandatory is the electrical primary power subsystem, due to the impact on solar array configuration and dimensions and on power conditioning unit. Use of the maximum power point tracker (MPPT) concept allows optimization of the above mentioned subsystem, maximizing the power transfer from the photovoltaic generator. The purpose of the paper is to present a new MPPT approach that allows minimization of the drawback caused by the intrinsic capacitance of the photovoltaic array (generally neglected) giving the possibility of operation with a large degree of freedom, independent from the converter topology and photovoltaic power generator, electrical network and technology.