Simulation of Maximum Power Point Tracking Applied to a Wave Energy Converter

This paper presents a simulation of a Maximum Power Point Tracking method applied to a point absorber Wave Energy Converter using a linear generator with three independent coils. Each of the three coils of the linear generator is individually connected to a submodule of the DC Modular Multilevel Converter. These submodules feature two stages with a capacitor DC-link between them. The first stage measures the current and voltage from each submodule. It applies the proposed MPPT method to calculate the reference current, which is then controlled with a PI controller to maximize the energy harvested. The second stage measures the output current and the voltage of each capacitor, applying a cascade control involving two loops. An outer loop controls the capacitor voltage using a reference current, while an inner loop employs a PI controller to regulate the output current. This MMC-DC topology is implemented in a simulation to maximize energy transfer.