Date of Award

Summer 2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Program/Concentration

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Committee Director

Ravindra P. Joshi

Committee Member

Linda Vahala

Committee Member

Pawel Ambrozewicz

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.E55 F377 2013

Abstract

In our energy hungry world, there is a growing demand to develop creative mechanisms to extract, conserve, and use energy from different resources. The use of solar cells to extract and convert solar energy into electrical energy is a growing and popular field of study because solar energy is clean, free, and renewable. One limitation for photovoltaic (PU) or solar technology is its loss in efficiency and availability as a result of shading or partial shading. Shading or partial shading decreases the total capable output power that the PV system can produce because the array is receiving irradiation from the sun that is not uniform. This will result in reverse voltage, excess power to dissipate, and overheating to occur in the shaded or partially shaded PV cells. Over time, partial or total shading damages and shortens the life span of the costly PV panels.

A Fibonacci Search Algorithm has been proposed as a possible solution to alleviate this issue by searching and turning off shaded solar cell within a solar cell grid. This will reduce overheating and damage in the shaded cells from excess power dissipation.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the implementation of the Fibonacci Search Algorithm using two techniques, Full and Quick Search, on modeled PV arrays. The computed and simulated results for both algorithms are presented and discussed.

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DOI

10.25777/4r66-pe89

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