MPPT Solar Pump Controllers: How the Tracking Works

The problem MPPT solves

A solar array's output varies with the sunlight falling on it. The maximum power point is the operating point the YSG documentation names for its tracking function: the documentation describes the system adjusting its output voltage and frequency automatically with sunlight intensity, and publishes a tracking efficiency of 97–99% for that function.

What the controller does

In the YSG documentation's own summary, the inverter adjusts its output voltage and frequency automatically with the sunlight intensity, converting the array's DC into a variable-frequency AC supply the pump motor can use, with a published MPPT tracking efficiency of 97–99%. Maximum power point tracking is the name the documentation gives the tracking function behind that adjustment.

What is documented at the pump

The YSG documentation describes the system adjusting its output with sunlight intensity, switching automatically to AC power in hybrid mode when sunlight is insufficient, and — on the booster models — starting the pump with fewer panels. The published YSG tracking efficiency, 97–99%, is the figure the YSG documentation states for the tracking function.

The YSG documentation's own summary of the system is behavioural: output follows sunlight.

The supporting functions around MPPT

Tracking is the core, but the YSG documentation surrounds it with the functions a remote water system needs. Hybrid switching: in AC/DC hybrid mode the system changes over to mains or generator power automatically when sunlight is insufficient, and back when it returns — MPPT governs the solar side. Protection: lightning, overvoltage, overload, short circuit, overtemperature, tank overflow and dry-run protection (by sensor or software detection) are published for the series — dry-run protection being, for a pump at the bottom of a well, as valuable as the tracking itself. Booster models: selected YSG 0.75–2.2 kW models carry a built-in booster, documented as letting the pump start with fewer panels — the tracker working with a smaller array. Monitoring: a 4G/WiFi remote monitoring module is documented as an option for unmanned sites.

The hybrid documentation is specific about the changeover: in hybrid models the system switches automatically between the solar input and the AC input as sunlight dictates; which models carry the hybrid function is printed per model in the table's hybrid AC power field. The monitoring option is likewise documented as a module — 4G or WiFi — rather than a built-in.

What an MPPT enquiry states

An MPPT enquiry states three things. The pump: power and voltage class (the YSG range covers single/three-phase 220/240 V and three-phase 380/400/440 V pumps across 0.75–200 kW). The array: the YSG model's published panel-voltage window — 120–450 V on the small YSG booster models, up to 400–800 V on the larger YSG three-phase models — checked against your string voltage. The duty: daytime-only or hybrid, attended or remote. The published model table gives, per model, the rated power, the Vmp minimum–maximum range, the recommended panel voltage, the pump voltage and frequency classes and the model's weight and dimensions. The solar pump inverter page carries examples from that table. The product facts are on the solar pump inverter page, and the published figures in the solar price guide.

Broken weather

The YSG documentation describes the output adjusting automatically with sunlight intensity, and publishes the 97–99% tracking efficiency figure for the tracking function.

Sizing the array to the window

The controller's published panel-voltage window is printed per model: the table publishes each model's Vmp minimum and maximum, so the window check is against two printed numbers, not a range slogan. The YSG table prints the window per model as two columns — Vmp minimum to maximum and a recommended panel voltage — beside each model's rated power and pump figures. The booster models are documented as starting the pump with fewer panels, per the YSG documentation. State your array — existing or planned — in the enquiry, and ask for the model choice and string recommendation to be returned together.

The published window, per model

The documentation publishes a voltage window for each model rather than a single nameplate voltage: the YSG windows in the model table (spanning, across the range, 120–450 V to 400–800 V classes) are published per model. State your site's temperature range in the enquiry with the array details.

What MPPT is not

The documentation publishes a voltage window for each model in its model table, and a YSG tracking efficiency of 97–99% for the tracking function. State your array in the enquiry and ask for the model against it to be stated in the quotation.

Frequently asked questions

Does MPPT increase the pump's peak power?

No figure of that kind is published: the documentation publishes a YSG tracking efficiency of 97–99% for the tracking function, and no peak-power or harvested-energy figure.

Can an MPPT controller run a pump at night?

Only with another power source: the hybrid models switch to mains or generator automatically.