Received: 6 May 2020 Revised: 21 August 2020 Accepted: 7 September 2020 IET Power Electronics

DOI: 10.1049/pel2.12012

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

Comparison of regular and irregular 32 pulse density modulation

patterns for induction heating

Akif Karafil1 Harun Ozbay2 Selim Oncu3

1
Department of Electrical and Electronics Abstract
Engineering, Yalova University, Yalova, Turkey
In this study, an induction heating (IH) application is carried out by transferring the
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, Bandirma maximum power extracted from photovoltaic (PV) panels to the stainless steel with the
Onyedi Eylul University, Balikesir, Turkey
designed regular and irregular 32 pulse density modulation (PDM) controlled series res-
3
Department of Electrical and Electronics onant inverter. The main objective of this study is to analyse the changes in the system
Engineering, Karabuk University, Karabuk, Turkey
due to regular and irregular PDM patterns. Maximum power point tracker (MPPT) is used
Correspondence
to control the output power at different solar irradiation values with varying PDM pat-
Akif Karafil, Department of Electrical and Electron- terns. Regular and irregular PDM control methods are compared in terms of MPPT effi-
ics Engineering, Yalova University, Yalova, Turkey. ciency, cost, algorithm complexity, logic control structure and current/voltage stresses of
[email protected]
the power switches. Zero current switching (ZCS) conditions are provided by using phase
locked loop (PLL) technique at all power points of the PV system. The appropriate switch-
ing conditions are tracked continuously at resonant frequency, and therefore soft switching
is realised. Perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm is used with the aim of tracking the max-
imum power in PV panels and high tracking efficiency is obtained with PDM-controlled
P&O MPPT algorithm. ATMEL328P-AU microcontroller is used to control the inverter
in the system.

1 INTRODUCTION Induction heating (IH) is a technique based on the genera-

tion of eddy currents in the metal part within the magnetic field
The interest in renewable energy resources has increased with and the emergence of these currents as heat in the workpiece.
the increasing demand for energy. In particular, with the invest- The high frequency magnetic flux required for IH is obtained
ments on photovoltaic (PV) systems used to obtain electricity by resonant circuits. When a coil is wrapped in accordance
from the sun, this sector has taken more attention. PV systems with the workpiece to be heated and the current with desired
are used in many areas such as irrigation, housing and industry amplitude and frequency required by this coil is passed, energy
applications [1]. In PV systems, energy is provided by using PV is transferred to the workpiece through induction. There-
panels. However, the low efficiency of PV panels increases the fore, heating process is achieved quickly by providing partial
cost of these systems. Another disadvantage is that the power heating and without heating all the workpiece [6, 7]. In the
of PV panel changes continuously due to changes in weather process of IH of a workpiece, circuit parameters are very impor-
conditions (temperature, solar irradiation). In order to solve this tant. Equivalent circuit parameters differ according to the mate-
problem, the output of the PV panels is desired to be at max- rial, the temperature and position of the workpiece. The out-
imum power. For this purpose, maximum power point tracker put power and switching losses of the circuit are directly related
(MPPT) algorithms are used in DC–DC or DC–AC power con- to the equivalent circuit parameters. Therefore, it is important
verters [2, 3]. Many MPPT algorithms are used to track the to keep the inverter circuit output current and voltage in the
maximum power point (MPP). However, perturb and observe same phase in the heating process in order to achieve soft
(P&O) algorithm, which is used widely, provide higher tracking switching. To solve this problem, it is possible to control the
efficiency. P&O algorithm is preferred mostly since the system resonant inverter using the phase locked loop (PLL) method
is independent from PV panel [4, 5]. [8, 9].

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
© 2020 The Authors. IET Power Electronics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institution of Engineering and Technology

78 wileyonlinelibrary.com/iet-pel IET Power Electron. 2021;14:78–89.

KARAFIL ET AL. 79

There are many control methods used in the control of

inverters such as pulse-width modulation (PWM), phase-shift,
frequency and duty ratio. Because of the hard switching con-
dition, switching losses increase in these control methods.
Increased switching losses reduce the efficiency of the inverter
while limiting the operating frequency. The low operating fre-
quency causes the size increase of the passive elements used
in the circuit, which increases the size and weight of the cir-
cuit. In addition, the size increase of the circuit elements will
increase the costs [10, 11]. Soft switching technique can be used
to solve these problems. Soft switching technique is provided
by the inductor and capacitor added to the inverter circuit, and
the type of inverter obtained is called as the resonant inverter. FIGURE 1 Induction heater with full-bridge series resonant inverter
It is important to determine the appropriate control method
in resonant inverter circuits. By means of the determined con-
trol method, switching losses can be reduced and operating fre-
quency can be increased by providing soft switching [12, 13].
Pulse density modulation (PDM) control method used in
resonant power converters provides power control in wide
range and is used in different fields such as speed control of
brushless DC motor [14], X-ray generators [15], wireless power
transfer system [11], IH system [16], and inductively coupled
power transfer system [17]. The output power value required
by PDM control is realised gradually by omitting control pulses
of the inverter which operates at resonant frequency. PDM
control reduces switching losses by providing zero current
switching (ZCS) if the inverter operates at resonant frequency
[18–20].
Although many studies are conducted using PDM control
technique, in this study, comparison of regular and irregular
PDM-controlled MPPT is examined for IH system. The series
resonant inverter control, which transfers the energy of the PV
panels used in the system to stainless steel material, was realised
FIGURE 2 Equivalent circuit
with a new method, PDM-controlled MPPT. In the study, regu-
lar and irregular 32 PDM patterns were compared for IH appli-
cation. The advantages and disadvantages of the regular and
irregular PDM pattern length were presented. PLL technique 2 THE ANALYSIS OF
was used to operate the system under ZCS condition continu- PDM-CONTROLLED SERIES RESONANT
ously by locking the system at resonant frequency due to solar CIRCUIT
irradiation changes. The power control was provided by omit-
ting control signals without changing the switching frequency 2.1 Full-bridge series resonant inverter
according to the power values of PV panels in different solar
irradiation conditions. In the system, the P&O algorithm was IH is the heating of the workpiece in the alternating electromag-
preferred as the MPPT algorithm since it has high efficiency. netic field due to energy losses. IH technique is frequently used
Total PV panel power of the system was 180 W and resonant in industrial applications since it is appropriate for fast produc-
frequency was determined as 38.5 kHz. tion and provides heating with high efficiency. High frequency
The sections of the study are as follows: after the introduc- DC–AC power converter is required to heat the workpiece [21,
tion section, the structure of the series resonant inverter circuit 22]. Figure 1 presents the full-bridge series resonant inverter cir-
is presented in Section 2. In addition, switching stages of the cir- cuit for IH.
cuit according to PDM control method and PLL structure are Full-bridge inverter circuit consists of four power switches
examined in this section. Section 3 describes regular and irregu- (Q1 , Q2 , Q3 and Q4 ), resonant capacitor (Cr ), high frequency
lar 32 PDM control patterns. In Section 4, the proposed PDM (HF) transformer, induction coil (Leq ) and work piece (Req ). HF
controlled MPPT algorithm is described. Section 5 presents the transformer was used in the circuit to allow higher current to
experimental results for regular and irregular 32 PDM control pass through the workpiece.
patterns. Finally, in the conclusion, Section 6, the advantages In order to analyse the resonant inverter circuit, the simplified
and disadvantages obtained as a result of regular and irregular equivalent circuit must be obtained. Figure 2 shows the equiva-
PDM control patterns are determined by examining the results. lent circuit.
80 KARAFIL ET AL.

The fundamental equations used in the analysis of the equiv-

alent circuit are given below:

( )2
n1
RAC = Req (1)
n2

1
fr = √ (2)
2𝜋 Lr Cr

𝜔r Lr
Q = (3)
RAC
FIGURE 3 Phase locked loop (PLL) structure
where Rac is effective resistor and Q is quality factor [19, 23].

2.2 Switching stages of the circuit voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), respectively. The operating
logic of the PLL circuit is briefly as follows: In the phase detec-
Although PDM-controlled inverters have fixed operating fre-
tor the current signal phase and the VCO output signal phase
quency and fixed input voltage, the inverter is operated at three
are compared and an error signal is obtained. The error signal
different switching states for adjusting the output power. In case
obtained from the phase detector is passed through the filter
1, Q1 and Q4 switches are in conduction. The positive terminal
and applied to the VCO in the last part. If the frequency of the
of the DC source is connected to the node ’a’. In this condition,
current signal and the frequency of the signal obtained from the
resonant current flows through the resonant elements from left
VCO output are equal, the phase difference is zero, that is, lock-
to right and resonant current exits from node ‘b’. In case 1, Vab
ing at the specified frequency is performed. VCO output signal,
voltage is positive. In case 2, Q2 and Q3 switches are in conduc-
the last part of the PLL circuit, and the triangular generator are
tion. The positive terminal of the DC source is connected to the
compared by a comparator to obtain PWM pulses. The PWM
node ‘b’. In this condition, resonant current flows through right
signal obtained by the PLL circuit forms the input signal of the
to left and resonant current exits from node ‘a’. In case 2, Vab
PDM control circuit [10, 24].
voltage is negative. In case 3, input current is zero (Vab = 0) and
In analogue PLL techniques such as CD4046, frequency
up side or low side switches are in conduction. In both direc-
detection is performed at narrow ranges. Therefore, in this
tions (from left to right and from right to left), resonant current
study, the system was locked at resonant frequency by providing
flows. The resonant current circulates through the body diodes
frequency detection at a wider range using digital PLL technique
of switches. In case 3, the energy stored by the resonant ele-
[9, 25].
ments is discharged from the effective resistor. Therefore, the
current is in the form of damped oscillation. The damping oscil-
lation of the current depends on the selection of the quality fac-
3 REGULAR AND IRREGULAR PDM
tor sufficiently high [10, 19, 20].
CONTROL PATTERNS

The PDM control technique is a series of commands and is

2.3 PLL structure divided into two groups as regular and irregular according to
the pattern length of control pulses within the period. In reg-
PLL control technique provides the detection of the zero tran- ular PDM control technique, the control pulses are distributed
sitions of the current signal on the series arm resonant circuit, in a regular order and the distribution of the pulses is simple.
and the system is locked at the resonant frequency, which pro- In irregular PDM control technique, the control pulses are in
vides the tracking of resonant frequency quickly. In this way, an irregular order, but the current is evenly distributed within
zero transition points are detected in the resonant frequency the period. The PDM pattern length theoretically can be 4, 8,
and ZCS condition is provided. The PLL structure is given in 16, 32, 64, 128 … (2n ) [26, 27]. In this study, the comparison of
Figure 3. regular and irregular 32 PDM patterns was conducted for PDM-
When the PLL control technique is not used in the system, controlled MPPT system; and the obtained advantages and dis-
PDM control and ZCS cannot be achieved since the resonant advantages were presented.
frequency cannot be tracked. Therefore, PLL control technique
should be used in order to track resonant frequency in the sys-
tem. The PLL circuit is the circuit where the resonant current 3.1 Regular 32 PDM control pattern
(ir ) and the inverter output voltage (Vab ) phase are locked. The
PLL circuit consists of three parts. The first part is phase detec- In order to obtain the switching signals of the circuit, the regular
tor, the second part is low pass filter (LPF) and the last part is 32 PDM control table is written into the Arduino software. The
KARAFIL ET AL. 81

TABLE 1 Regular 32 PDM pattern

PD ratio Regular PDM pattern

1/32 10000000 00000000 00000000 00000000

2/32 11000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
3/32 11100000 00000000 00000000 00000000
4/32 11110000 00000000 00000000 00000000
5/32 11111000 00000000 00000000 00000000
6/32 11111100 00000000 00000000 00000000
7/32 11111110 00000000 00000000 00000000
8/32 11111111 00000000 00000000 00000000
9/32 11111111 10000000 00000000 00000000
10/32 11111111 11000000 00000000 00000000
11/32 11111111 11100000 00000000 00000000
12/32 11111111 11110000 00000000 00000000
13/32 11111111 11111000 00000000 00000000 FIGURE 4 Regular 32 pulse density modulation (PDM) control pattern
14/32 11111111 11111100 00000000 00000000
15/32 11111111 11111110 00000000 00000000 on one leg. The signal of the upper switch is passed through
16/32 11111111 11111111 00000000 00000000 the NOT logic gate and the signal of the lower switch (Q2 ) is
17/32 11111111 11111111 10000000 00000000 obtained from its output. The circuit operates synchronously
since the clock pulse inputs of the FFs are connected in parallel
18/32 11111111 11111111 11000000 00000000
in order to obtain serial data. The PDM signals required for the
19/32 11111111 11111111 11100000 00000000
upper (Q3 ) and lower (Q4 ) switches of the circuit were obtained
20/32 11111111 11111111 11110000 00000000 using D type FF and NOT logic gate. The designed 32 PDM
21/32 11111111 11111111 11111000 00000000 logic circuit was used for both regular and irregular PDM con-
22/32 11111111 11111111 11111100 00000000 trol and is shown in Figure 5.
23/32 11111111 11111111 11111110 00000000 Although the software of the regular PDM pattern is simple,
the number of elements used in the designed logic circuit does
24/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 00000000
not change as the length of the PDM pattern is 32 in both reg-
25/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 10000000
ular and irregular PDM control in the study. Therefore, increas-
26/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 11000000 ing the PDM pattern length complicates the software and also
27/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 11100000 makes the logic design complicated.
28/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 11110000
29/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111000
30/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111100
3.2 Irregular 32 PDM control pattern
31/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111110
In order to obtain the switching signals of the circuit, the 32
32/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111111 irregular PDM control table is written into the Arduino soft-
ware. The 32 irregular PDM pattern table prepared is shown in
Table 2.
The control pulses obtained according to the prepared irreg-
table consists of 0 and 1 bits. The 32 regular PDM pattern table ular PDM table are given in Figure 6.
prepared is shown in Table 1. In the irregular PDM control technique, the current is dis-
The control pulses obtained according to the prepared regu- tributed evenly within the period and the damping current does
lar PDM table are given in Figure 4. not decrease to zero until the next period. However, its software
As can be seen from Table 1, the software is simple as the is complicated.
control pulses are distributed sequentially during the period of
32 PDM controls. PDM logic design was developed in order to
obtain regular PDM control pulses in Figure 4. In PDM logic 4 PDM-CONTROLLED MPPT
design, frequency divider and parallel input serial output (PISO) ALGORITHM
shift register were used. PDM signals were generated in the sys-
tem according to the MPPT algorithm. PDM signals prepared Block scheme of the proposed PDM-controlled P&O MPPT
as a table (written in series) with the MPPT algorithm enter the algorithm for IH system is shown in Figure 7.
inputs of D type flip-flops (FFs) in parallel. The data on the The change of pulse density depends on the MPPT algo-
serial output is the PDM signal of the circuit’s upper switch (Q1 ) rithm. The MPPT algorithm is the algorithm that creates the
82 KARAFIL ET AL.

FIGURE 5 32 PDM logic design

maximum power that can be extracted from the PV panels The hardware prototype of PDM-controlled IH system is
depending on the solar irradiation amount and temperature. shown in Figure 9.
Control pulses decrease as the amount of solar irradiation falling
on the PV panels decreases in the system. PDM-controlled
P&O MPPT algorithm flowchart is given in Figure 8. 5.1 Experimental results for regular PDM
Initially, the current and voltage of the PV panel are mea-
sured and the power value is calculated and the pulse den- The power tracking of the P&O MPPT algorithm with regular
sity (PD) is increased. The measured power and voltage val- 32 PDM control pattern was tested at different solar irradiation
ues are compared with the previous values. If the power and values. Figure 10 presents the MPPT efficiency testing at 250
voltage increases or decreases, the PD continues to increase. If W/m2 .
either power or voltage decreases or increases, then the PD is With the PV simulator interface, it is possible to observe
decreased and the maximum power point is tracked. The max- whether the system is in MPP and the dynamic structure of the
imum power obtained is transferred to stainless steel, which is MPPT algorithm. MPPT efficiency (ηMPPT ) was 99.23% at 250
the workpiece in IH. W/m2 solar irradiation. ZCS conditions in this irradiation value
are given in Figure 11.
To extract maximum power from PV panels at solar irradi-
5 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS ation at 250 W/m2 , it was found that the PD ratio should be
16/32. As it can be seen from Figure 11, 16 control pulses
In the study, experimental studies were conducted for the IH were omitted in accordance with the power value required by
application of regular and irregular PDM pattern in the PDM- the PV panel and panels were operated in MPP. In addition, the
controlled MPPT system. The advantages and disadvantages ZCS conditions were achieved. However, it is seen that the peak
were determined by comparing the regular and irregular PDM value of the resonant current is high and the current decreases to
patterns. Moreover, MPPT efficiency of the system was inves- zero. At the same time, voltage stresses occur. This indicates that
tigated. A PV simulator was used in the experimental study magnitude of harmonics are large. In addition, voltage stresses
to test the PDM controlled P&O MPPT algorithm and solar cause the use of power switches and resonant capacitor with
irradiation level was rapidly changed step by step as 250–500– larger values in the circuit. This increases the cost and size of
750 and 1000 W/m2 . To compare the two PDM control tech- the circuit. Figure 12 presents the MPPT efficiency testing at
niques 180 W prototype PV system was implemented with 60 500 W/m2 .
W panels for IH system. Electrical specifications of the poly- MPPT efficiency was found as 99.59% at 500 W/m2 solar
crystalline PV panel were entered as input data in the PV irradiation. The regular PDM pattern in this irradiation value is
simulator and they are given in Table 3. The circuit parame- shown in Figure 13.
ters of the system and the circuit elements used are given in The PD ratio was found to be 22/32 to extract maximum
Table 4. power from PV panels at solar irradiation at 500 W/m2 . As it
KARAFIL ET AL. 83

TABLE 2 Irregular 32 PDM pattern

PD ratio Irregular PDM pattern

1/32 10000000 00000000 00000000 00000000

2/32 10000000 00000000 10000000 00000000
3/32 10000000 00100000 00001000 00000000
4/32 10000000 10000000 10000000 10000000
5/32 00001000 10000000 10001000 00001000
6/32 10001000 10000000 10001000 10000000
7/32 10001000 10001000 10001000 10000000
8/32 10001000 10001010 10001000 00001000
9/32 10001000 10001010 00100010 00101000
10/32 10100010 10001000 10100010 10001000
11/32 10101000 10100010 10001010 00101000
12/32 10101000 10101000 10101000 10101000
13/32 10101010 00101010 10100010 10101000
14/32 10101010 10101000 10101010 10101000
15/32 10101010 10101010 10101010 10101000
16/32 10101010 10101010 10101010 10101010
17/32 11011100 10101010 10101010 10101010 FIGURE 6 Irregular 32 PDM control pattern

18/32 11011100 10101010 11011100 10101010

19/32 11011100 01011100 01011110 11011100
20/32 11011100 11011100 11011100 11011100
21/32 01011110 11011100 11011110 01011110
22/32 11011110 11011100 11011110 11011100
23/32 11011110 11011110 11011110 11011100
24/32 11011110 11011110 11011110 11011110
25/32 11011110 11011111 01110111 01111110
26/32 11110111 11011110 11110111 11011110
27/32 11111110 11110111 11011111 01111110
28/32 11111110 11111110 11111110 11111110
29/32 11111111 01111111 11011111 11111110
30/32 11111111 11111110 11111111 11111110
31/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111110
32/32 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111111
FIGURE 7 Block scheme of the PDM-controlled perturb and observe
(P&O) MPPT algorithm for induction heating (IH) system

can be seen from Figure 13, 10 control pulses were omitted in

accordance with the power value required by the PV panel and Figure 16 presents the MPPT efficiency testing at 1000
panels were operated in MPP. However, it is seen that voltage W/m2 .
stresses are high again. Figure 14 presents the MPPT efficiency MPPT efficiency was found as 99.92% at 1000 W/m2 solar
testing at 750 W/m2 . irradiation. The results of this irradiation value are found to be
MPPT efficiency was found as 99.82% at 750 W/m2 solar same for both regular and irregular PDM patterns, and the PDM
irradiation. The regular PDM pattern in this irradiation value is pattern is given in Figure 17.
shown in Figure 15. The PD ratio is 32/32 at 1000 W/m2 solar irradiation value.
To extract maximum power from PV panels at solar irradi- Although there is no omitted control pulse in this irradiation
ation at 750 W/m2 , it was found that the PD ratio should be value, it is seen that voltage stress does not occur.
29/32. As it can be seen from Figure 15, three control pulses As seen from the experimental results, ZCS is achieved for
were omitted in accordance with the power value required by all power levels so theoretical switching power loss is zero. At
the PV panel and panels were operated in MPP. It is seen that maximum output power, conduction loss (Pcon ) of the IRFP260
voltage stresses are high. MOSFET in implemented system is obtained as 0.36 W from
84 KARAFIL ET AL.

FIGURE 9 The hardware prototype of PDM-controlled IH system

FIGURE 8 Flowchart of the PDM-controlled P&O MPPT algorithm for

IH

TABLE 3 Specifications of the polycrystalline PV panel

Parameters Symbol Values

Maximum power Pmax 60 W

Voltage at maximum power VMPP 17.6 V
FIGURE 10 The MPPT efficiency testing at 250 W/m2 for regular PDM
Current at maximum power IMPP 3.41 A
pattern
Open circuit voltage Voc 21.8 V
Short circuit current Isc 3.81 A
tion values. Figure 18 presents the MPPT efficiency testing at
250 W/m2 .
MPPT efficiency was found as 99.84% at 250 W/m2 solar
measured switch current by using Equation (4) [28]: irradiation. The irregular PDM pattern in this irradiation value
is shown in Figure 19.
Pcon = ID2 RDS (on ) (4) The PD ratio was adjusted as 19/32 to receive maximum out-
put power from the PV panels in 250 W/m2 the solar irradia-
tion. As can be seen in Figure 19, MPP could be achieved when
5.2 Experimental results for irregular PDM 13 control pulses were omitted based on the power needed by
the PV panels. In addition, the ZCS conditions were achieved.
The power tracking of the P&O MPPT algorithm with 32 irreg- Compared with the regular PDM pattern the peak value of the
ular PDM control pattern was tested at different solar irradia- resonant current is not high, and the current does not decrease
to zero. At the same time, it is seen that the voltage stresses do
TABLE 4 The circuit parameters and elements of the system not occur. This shows that magnitude of harmonics is not large.
Figure 20 presents the MPPT efficiency testing at 500 W/m2 .
Parameters/elements Symbol Values/type
As can be seen from the figure, MPPT tracking efficiency
Resonant inductor Lr 375 μH of 99.44% was obtained. Figure 21 presents the oscilloscope
Resonant capacitor Cr 44.8 nF images of the control signal of switch, Vab voltage and resonant
Effective resistor RAC 11.7 Ω
current for 500 W/m2 solar irradiation.
The PD ratio was adjusted as 24/32 to receive maximum
Resonant frequency fr 38.5 kHz
output power from the PV panels in 500 W/m2 solar irradia-
HF transformer ratio n1 :n2 25:1 tion. For this situation, MPP was achieved when eight control
Power switches Q1 , Q2 , Q3 , Q4 IRFP 260N RDS(on) = 0.04Ω pulses were omitted depending on the power requirements of
PV panel.
KARAFIL ET AL. 85

FIGURE 11 Zero current switching (ZCS) conditions at 250 W/m2 , con-

FIGURE 13 ZCS conditions at 500 W/m2 , control signal (CH2), Vab volt-
trol signal (CH2), Vab voltage (CH1) and resonant current (CH4)
age (CH1) and resonant current (CH4)

FIGURE 12 The MPPT efficiency testing at 500 W/m2 for regular PDM FIGURE 14 The MPPT efficiency testing at 750 W/m2 for regular PDM
pattern pattern

Figure 22 presents the MPPT efficiency testing at 750 W/m2 . 5.3 Comparison of regular and irregular
As seen, the MPPT efficiency was found as 99.53%. Figure 23 PDM algorithms
presents the oscilloscope images of the control signal of switch,
Vab voltage and resonant current for 750 W/m2 solar irradia- As can be seen from experimental results, both regular and
tion. irregular PDM patterns have high MPPT efficiency (≥99% and
The PD ratio was adjusted as 28/32 to receive maximum above) and ZCS conditions are achieved. However, software of
output power from the PV panels in 750 W/m2 solar irradia- regular PDM pattern is simple compare to irregular. On the
tion. For this situation, MPP was achieved when four control other hand, in irregular PDM pattern, the peak value of reso-
pulses were omitted depending on the power requirements of nant current is lower than regular PDM pattern, but it does not
PV panel. decrease to zero. In addition, voltage stresses are lower in the
86 KARAFIL ET AL.

FIGURE 17 ZCS conditions at 1000 W/m2 , control signal (CH2), Vab

voltage (CH1) and resonant current (CH4)
FIGURE 15 ZCS conditions at 750 W/m2 , control signal (CH2), Vab volt-
age (CH1) and resonant current (CH4)

FIGURE 18 The MPPT efficiency testing at 250 W/m2 for irregular PDM
pattern
FIGURE 16 The MPPT efficiency testing at 1000 W/m2 for regular PDM
pattern
applicability. However, switches with high capacity are required
due to switching stresses. The inverter efficiency of the system
irregular PDM pattern. This indicates that the amplitude of har- was found to be above 97%.
monics is small. Low voltage stresses ensure the values of the
elements used in the circuit to be low, which significantly affects
the cost and size of the circuit. Advantages and disadvantages 6 CONCLUSION
obtained as a result of regular and irregular PDM patterns are
given in Table 5. In this study, the energy extracted from PV panels was trans-
The obtained findings show that 32 PDM regular or irregular ferred to stainless steel and IH was realised. In the study, the
pattern does not affect MPPT efficiency in IH systems. Regular effect of P&O MPPT algorithm with regular and irregular PDM
MPPT is more advantageous in terms of software and hardware control pattern, on the series resonant inverter was investigated.
KARAFIL ET AL. 87

FIGURE 21 500 W/m2 , control signal (CH2), Vab voltage (CH1) and res-
FIGURE 19 250 W/m2 , control signal (CH2), Vab voltage (CH1) and res-
onant current (CH4)
onant current (CH4)

FIGURE 20 The MPPT efficiency testing at 500 W/m2 for irregular PDM FIGURE 22 The MPPT efficiency testing at 750 W/m2 for irregular PDM
pattern pattern

The advantages and disadvantages of the regular and irregular provided in all rapidly changing solar irradiation values. In order
32 PDM pattern on the system were analysed experimentally. to provide ZCS conditions, zero crossing points of the cur-
A PV simulator was used to examine the MPPT efficiency in rent were detected by using PLL control technique in the cir-
the system, and the series resonant inverter was adjusted at a cuit. By doing so, the restricted operating frequency is increased
frequency of 38.5 kHz. The total PV panel power was 180 W and hard switching conditions, which constitute the main chal-
and this study is appropriate for medical applications, which lenges of the traditional PWM switched MPPTs, are overcome.
require low power. In order to analyse the regular and irregular However, control algorithm software of the irregular is more
PDM control patterns, the solar irradiation level was changed complex than regular; but the main disadvantage of the irreg-
to 250–500–750 and 1000 W/m2 . According to the analysis ular PDM pattern is that it has a complex software structure.
results, 99% and above high MPPT efficiency was obtained in The most important advantages are that the peak values of the
both PDM patterns. At the same time, ZCS conditions were current and voltage stresses in the irregular controlled circuit
88 KARAFIL ET AL.

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