Application of Maximum Power Point Tracker with Self-organizing Fuzzy Logic Controller for Solar-powered Traffic Lights

This paper presents the development of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) using an adjustable self-organizing fuzzy logic controller (SOFLC) for a solar-powered traffic light equipment (SPTLE) with an integrated maximum power point tracking (MPPT) system on a low-cost microcontroller. The proposed system is integrated with a boost converter for realizing of high performance SPTLE, whose adaptability properties are very attractive for operation of a solar array power tracking in dynamic environments. The proposed MPPT scheme obtained by varying the duty ratio for DC- DC boost converter has been successfully implemented on a low-cost PIC16F876A RISC-microcontroller. Experimental results of the hardware prototypes for SPTLE, light flasher and light chevron, with commercial solar array show that our proposed MPPT using SOFLC as compared with fuzzy logic controller (FLC) in terms of tracking speed with 92% of overall system efficiency.