Implementation of photovoltaic water pumping system with MPPT controls

To increase the output efficiency of a photovoltaic (PV) system, it is important to apply an efficient maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique. This paper describes the analysis, the design and the experimental implementation of the tracking methods for a stand-alone PV system, using two approaches. The first one is the constant voltage (CV) MPPT method based on the optimum voltage, which was deduced experimentally, and considered as a reference value to extract the optimum power. The second one is the increment conductance (Inc-Cond) MPPT method based on the calculation of the power derivative extracted by the installation. The output controller can adjust the duty ratio to the optimum value. This optimum duty ratio is the input of a DC/DC boost converter which feeds a set of Moto-pump via a DC/AC inverter. This paper presents the details of the two approaches implemented, based on the system performance characteristics. Contributions are made in several aspects of the system, including converter design, system simulation, controller programming, and experimental setup. The MPPT control algorithms implemented extract the maximum power point (MPP), with satisfactory performance and without steady-state oscillation. MATLAB/Simulink and dSpace DS1104 are used to conduct studies and implement algorithms. The two proposed methods have been validated by implementing the performance of the PV pumping systems installed on the roof of the research laboratory in INSAT Tunisia. Experimental results verify the feasibility and the improved functionality of the system.     

Radio-over-Fibre access for sustainable Digital Cities

Pervasive broadband access will transform cities to the net social, environmental and economic benefit of the e-City dweller as did the introduction of utility and transport network infrastructures. Yet without action, the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the increasing energy consumption of access networks will become a serious threat to the environment. This paper introduces the vision of a ‘sustainable Digital City’ and then considers strategies to overcome economic and technical hurdles faced by engineers responsible for developing the information and communications technology (ICT) network infrastructure of a Digital City. In particular, ICT energy consumption, already an issue from an operating cost perspective, is responsible for 3 % of global energy consumption and is growing unsustainably. A grand challenge is to conceive of networks, systems and devices that together can cap wireless network energy consumption whilst accommodating growth in the number of subscribers and the bandwidth of services. This paper provides some first research directions to tackle this grand challenge. A distributed antenna system with radio frequency (RF) transport over an optical fibre (or optical wireless in benign environments) distribution network is identified as best suited to wireless access in cluttered urban environments expected in a Digital City from an energy consumption perspective. This is a similar architecture to Radio-over-Fibre which, for decades, has been synonymous with RF transport over analogue intensity-modulated direct detection optical links. However, it is suggested herein that digital coherent optical transport of RF holds greater promise than the orthodox approach. The composition of the wireless and optical channels is then linear, which eases the digital signal processing tasks and permits robust wireless protocols to be used end-to-end natively which offers gains in terms of capacity and energy efficiency. The arguments are supported by simulation studies of distributed antenna systems and digital coherent Radio-over-Fibre links.     

Electro-optic up-conversion mixer amenable to photonic integration

A novel electro-optical up-conversion mixer architecture comprising four electro-optical phase modulators situated in the arms between an interconnected 1 × 4 distribution tree and a complementary 4 × 2 combination tree is proposed. The distribution and combination trees are based on multi-mode interference couplers (MMI). The novelty lies in the use of the intrinsic phase relations between the MMI ports to realize a broadband and free of drift design requiring no static phase shift elements. A transfer-matrix approach is followed to represent the main building blocks in the proposed design, and hence to describe the operation of the entire optical up-conversion mixer. The concept is demonstrated by computer simulations. A single side-band modulation with carrier suppression is obtained at the output of the proposed architecture, which is in agreement with the analytical development. Scenarios considering both ideal and imperfect power balances and phase relations in the MMIs, as well as imperfect phase relations of the electrical drives to the phase modulators are analyzed.