A switching control strategy applied to a solar collector field

This work presents a new switching control procedure that has been chosen to deal with the changes in plant dynamics. Several control systems composed of IMC-based PID controllers and feedforward compensators are designed for each operation region and a continuous switching mechanism for the overall control system is defined. Experimental tests which have been performed in a distributed collector field of a solar air cooling system, are presented showing promising results for the proposed strategy.

Graphical AbstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideResearch Highlights►Switching mechanism and linear control procedure to deal with plant dynamics changes. ►Feed-forward augmentation to improve its switching response. ►Switching mechanisms avoid undesired transients and fast-switching. ►This strategy reaches to similar closed-loop dynamics at different operation points.