See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/268432710

Modeling and Simulation of PV Array and its Performance Enhancement Using

MPPT (P&O) Technique

Article · January 2011

CITATIONS READS

50 10,449

3 authors, including:

Sai Babu Ch
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada
183 PUBLICATIONS 1,248 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Sai Babu Ch on 22 January 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 T.Chaitanya et al, International Journal of Computer Science & Communication Networks,Vol 1(1),September-October 2011

Modeling and Simulation of PV Array and its Performance

Enhancement Using MPPT (P&O) Technique
T.Chaitanya Ch.Saibabu1 J.Surya Kumari2

PG-Student, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engg. JNT University,Kakinada, India.

1
Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engg. JNT University, Kakinada, India.
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engg. RGMCET, Nandyal, India.

Abstract – The renewable energy will be an increasingly Photovoltaic (PV) generation is becoming increasingly important
important part of power generation in the new millennium. as a renewable source since it offers many advantages such as
Photovoltaic (PV) systems produce DC electricity when sunlight incurring no fuel costs, not being polluting, requiring little
shines on the PV array, requiring little maintenance, and maintenance, and emitting no noise, among others. PV modules
emitting no noise, among others. Day-by –day the energy demand still have relatively low conversion efficiency therefore
is increasing and thus the need for a renewable source that will controlling maximum power Point tracking (MPPT) for the solar
not harm the environment are of prime importance. The array is essential in a PV system. The amount of power generated
proposed model uses basic circuit equation of the photovoltaic by a PV depends on the operating voltage of the array. A PV’s
solar cells including the effects of solar irradiation and maximum power point (MPP) varies with solar insulation and
temperature changes. The DC-DC converter is used for boosting temperature. As the energy demand and the environmental
a low voltage of the PV array up to the high dc bus voltage, which problems increase, the natural energy sources have become very
is not less than grid voltage level. A DC-DC converter performs
important as an alternative to the conventional energy sources.
the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). In photovoltaic
Due to the capability of PV cells converting light directly to
systems for getting the maximum power we use MPPT
techniques. In these methods open circuit voltage method is one, electricity has stimulated new research areas on PV cells so that
which is based on the observation that the voltage of the the PV array applications have emerged as an important solution
maximum power point is always close to a fixed percentage of the to the growing energy crisis since mid 1970’s. Although the solar
open circuit voltage. This technique uses only 76% of the open cell prices very expensive at the beginning, they have become
circuit voltage as the optimum operating voltage. The Perturb cheaper during last decade due to developing manufacturing
and Observe (P&O) method operates by periodically perturbing process, so that it is expected that the electricity from PV arrays
(i.e. incrementing or decrementing) the array terminal voltage or will be able to compete with the conventional ones by the next
current and comparing the PV output power with that of the decade.
previous perturbation cycle. The proposed Perturb and Observe
control algorithm is a software programme with a self-tuning Since a PV array is an expensive system to build, and the cost of
function which adjusts the array reference voltage and step size electricity from the PV array systems is more expensive
of the voltage to achieve maximum power point. The validity of compared to the price of electricity from the utility grid, the user
the photo voltaic module with P & O method allows better of such an expensive system naturally wants to use all of the
performance of MPPT due to variation of both power and available output power. Therefore, PV array systems should be
voltage. This work is proposed to be carried out in designed to operate at their maximum output power levels for any
MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. temperature and solar irradiation level at all the time. The
performance of a PV array system depends on the operating
Key Words: Photovoltaic system, Boost converter, Maximum conditions as well as the solar cell and array design quality. The
power point tracking, and modeling of PV arrays.
proposed MPPT Perturb and Observe (P&O) method is analyzed.
Many techniques that are available mainly vary in many aspects
I. INTRODUCTION including simplicity, convergence speed, hardware
implementation, sensors required, and cost. In these methods

T HE Renewable energy will be an increasingly important part

of power generation in the new millennium. Distributed
resources can provide benefits that bulk power generation can
open circuit voltage method is one, which is based on the
observation that the voltage of the maximum power point is
always close to a fixed percentage of the open circuit voltage.
not. PV systems are ideally suited for distributed resource This technique uses only 76% of the open circuit voltage as the
applications. Photovoltaic (PV) systems produce DC electricity optimum operating voltage. The main drawbacks in this method
when sunlight shines on the PV array, without any emissions. are energy generated by PV system is less, additional power
components are required and a static switch is needed in open
circuit voltage method so the cost will increase.

Available online @ www.ijcscn.com 9

 T.Chaitanya et al, International Journal of Computer Science & Communication Networks,Vol 1(1),September-October 2011

These problems can be overcome by the Perturb and Observe constant DC voltage source. This kind of converter with constant
method. This method operates by periodically perturbing (i.e. output voltage may be used in battery charging systems or in
incrementing or decrementing) the array terminal voltage or systems with a second cascaded conversion stage (DC-AC). The
current and comparing the PV output power with that of the
output power of the PV array is regulated by the converter. The
previous perturbation cycle. If the PV array operating voltage
changes and power increases, the control system moves the PV MPPT block observes the power at the terminals of the array and
array operating point in that direction, otherwise the operating controls the input voltage or the input current of the converter
point is moved in opposite direction. In the next perturbation forcing the PV array to operate at the maximum power point.
cycle the algorithm continuous in the same way. The advantages
of P &O method are easy to implement, control scheme is simple, III. MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF
and the cost is less compare to other techniques and give high
output power. The proposed Perturb and Observe control PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY
algorithm is a software program with a self-tuning function which
adjusts the array reference voltage and step size of the voltage to The PV receives energy from sun and converts the sun light into
achieve maximum power point. The validity of the photo voltaic DC power. The PV array consists of a number of solar cells,
module with P & O method allows better performance of MPPT which are connected in series and parallel to achieve the required
due to variation of both power and voltage. This work is proposed voltage and current. We can substitute PV cell by equivalent
to be carried out in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. electric circuit where is included a power supply and a diode. If
we connect a resistive load R to cell then working point of cell
The paper is organized in the following way. Section II presents will be on crossing point volt-ampere characteristic of cell and
the entire system configuration, the components that are used. load characteristic. The simplified equivalent circuit model is as
Section III presents the Mathematical modeling of PV array, the shown in fig.1. The PV cell output voltage is a function of
Maximum Power Point Tracker and the Perturb and Observe mathematical equation of the photocurrent that mainly determined
(P&O) Control Technique, and analyzing the boost converter is by load current depending on the solar irradiation level during the
discussed in Section IV. Finally, conclusions are made in operation. The equation is:
SectionV.

II .SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

The PV array develops the power from the solar energy directly
and its output changes depending upon the temperature and
irradiance. So we are controlling this to maintain maximum
power at the output side. We are boosting the voltage by
controlling the current of the array with the use of a PI controller. Fig.2. Simplified – equivalent Circuit of Photovoltaic Cell
By depending on the boost converter the output AC voltage
changes and it finally connects the utility grid for various Vc=(AKTC/e) * ln((Iph+Io-Ic)/IO)-Rs Ic (1)
applications. The system configuration is shown in fig.1
Where the symbols are defined as follows:

e: electron charge (1.602 × 10-19 C).

k: Boltzmann constant (1.38 × 10-23 J/0K).
Ic: cell output current, A.
Iph: photocurrent, function of irradiation level and
junction temperature (5 A).
I0: reverse saturation current of diode (0.0002 A).
Rs: series resistance of cell (0.001 Ω).
Tc: reference cell operating temperature (20 °C).
Vc: cell output voltage, V.

Both k and TC should have the same temperature unit, either

Kelvin or Celsius. The curve fitting factor A is used to adjust the
I-V characteristics of the cell obtained from the actual
Fig.1 System Configuration
characteristics obtained by testing. Hence, the effects of the
changes in temperature and solar irradiation levels should also be
The fig 1 shows a PV system where the PV array feeds the DC- included in the final PV array model. When the ambient
DC converter.The output of the converter is represented by a temperature and irradiation levels change, the cell operating

Available online @ www.ijcscn.com 10

 T.Chaitanya et al, International Journal of Computer Science & Communication Networks,Vol 1(1),September-October 2011

temperature also changes, resulting in a new output voltage and a irradiation. The effects of the changing temperature and solar
new photocurrent value. The solar cell operating temperature irradiation level are modeled inside the block called Effect of
varies as a function of solar irradiation level and ambient Temperature & Solar Irradiation. The output power from PV is
temperature. The variable ambient temperature Ta affects the cell the result from multiplying PV terminal voltage and PV output
output voltage and cell photocurrent. These effects are current. The power output from PV modules is shown in equation
represented in the model by the temperature coefficients CTV and (9).
CTI for cell output voltage and cell photocurrent, respectively, as

PC=VC[Iph-Io * e^((q/KT)*VC -Io)] (9)

CTV = 1 + βT (Ta -TX) (2)
IC= Iph-Io* e^ ((q/KT)*VC –Io)) (10)
CTI = 1 + γT/SC (TX - Ta ) (3)
Where, βT=0.004 and γT=0.06 for the cell used and Ta=20°C is the IV. MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING
ambient temperature during the cell testing. This is used to obtain CONTROL
the modified model of the cell for another ambient temperature
TX. Even if the ambient temperature does not change significantly A. Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT)
during the daytime, the solar irradiation level changes depending
on the amount of sunlight and clouds. If the solar irradiation level
The proposed integrated Maximum Power Point Tracker
increases from SX1 to SX2, the cell operating temperature and the
(MPPT) has been used to force the PV array to work around
photocurrent will also increase from TX1 to TX2 and from IPh1 to
Iph2, respectively. Thus the change in the operating temperature the maximum power point. For this reason, the MPPT is
and in the photocurrent due to variation in the solar irradiation required to track the maximum power available in the PV array.
level can be expressed via two constants, CSV and CSI, which are The need for Maximum Power Point tracking is the power output
the correction factors for changes in cell output voltage VC and of the Solar PV module changes with the change in solar
photocurrent Iph, respectively, insolation level and the atmospheric temperature. There is a
single maxima of power, that is there exists a peak power
CSV = 1 + βT αS (SX – SC) (4) corresponding to particular voltage and current. As the module
operates at low efficiency, it is desirable to operate the module at
its peak power point so that the maximum power can be delivered
CSI = 1 + 1/SC (SX – SC) (5) to the load under varying irradiance and temperature conditions.
Hence, maximization of power improves the utilization of the
Where SC is the benchmark reference solar irradiation level solar PV module.
during the cell testing to obtain the modified cell model. The
temperature change, ΔTC occurs due to the change in the solar The tracking algorithm works based on the fact that the derivative
irradiation level and is obtained using of the output power P with respect to the panel voltage V is equal
to zero at the maximum power point as shown in fig.3
ΔTC = αS ( SX – S C) (6) ∂P/ ∂V = 0 for V = Vmp (11)
The constant αS represents the slope of the change in the cell
operating temperature due to a change in the solar irradiation ∂P/ ∂V > 0 for V <Vmp (12)
level and is equal to 0.2 for the solar cells used. Using correction
factors CTV, CTI, CSV and CSI, the new values of the cell output ∂P/ ∂V < 0 for V > Vmp (13)
voltage VCX and photocurrent IPHX are obtained for the new
temperature TX and solar irradiation SX as follows,

Vcx = CTVCSVVC (7)

Iphx = CTI CSI Iph (8)

VC and IPH are the benchmark reference cell output voltage and
reference cell photocurrent, respectively. The resulting I-V and
P-V curves for various temperature and solar irradiation levels
were discussed The effects of the temperature and solar
irradiation levels are represented by two variables gains. They can
be changed by dragging the slider gain adjustments of these
blocks named as variable temperature and variable solar Fig.3 P-V Characteristics of a module

Available online @ www.ijcscn.com 11

 T.Chaitanya et al, International Journal of Computer Science & Communication Networks,Vol 1(1),September-October 2011

The module P-V characteristics are shown on fig.3 shows the then the perturbation is continued in that direction. After the peak
derivative greater than zero to the left of the peak point and is less power is reached, the power at the next instant decreases and
than zero to the right. The peak power is reached with the help of hence after that the perturbation is reversed.
a dc/dc converter by adjusting its duty cycle. An automatic
tracking can be performed by utilizing various algorithms such as The P&O method has slow dynamic response, when there is a
Perturb and Observe (P&O), Incremental Conductance, Open small increment in the value and low sampling rate is employed.
Circuit Voltage, Short Circuit Current. We mainly concentrate on Low increments are necessary to decrease the steady state error
the P&O algorithm. because the P&O always makes the operating point oscillate near
the MPP. The lower the increment, the closer the system will be
to the array MPP. The greater the increment, the faster the
B. Perturb and Observe (P&O) Control Technique algorithm will work, but the steady state error will be increased.
Considering that a low increment is necessary to achieve a
satisfactory steady state error, the algorithm speed may be
The perturb and observe(P&O), as the name itself states that the increased with a higher sampling rate. So there is always a
algorithm is based on the observation of the array output power compromise between the increment and the sampling rate in the
and on the perturbation (increment or decrement) of the power P&O method.
based on increments of the array voltage or current. The
algorithm continuously increments or decrements the reference The common problem in P&O algorithms id the array terminal
current or voltage based on the value of the previous power voltage is perturbed every MPPT cycle: therefore when the MPP
sample. The P&O is the simplest method which senses the PV is reached, the output power oscillates around the maximum,
array voltage and the cost of implementation is less and hence resulting in power loss in the PV system. This is especially true in
easy to implement. The time complexity of this algorithm is very constant or slow-varying atmospheric conditions.
less but on reaching very close to the MPP it doesn’t step at the
MPP and keeps on perturbing in both the directions. As shown in fig.5 the P&O algorithm operates by periodically
perturbing the operating voltage and comparing it with the
The P&O algorithm states that when the operating voltage of the previous instant. If the power difference ΔP and the voltage
PV panel is perturbed by a small increment, if the resulting difference ΔV, both in the positive direction then there is an
changes in power ΔP is positive, then we are going in the increase in the array voltage. If either the voltage difference or the
direction of MPP and we keep on perturbing in the same power difference is in the negative direction then there is a
direction. If ΔP is negative, we are going away from the direction decrease in the array voltage. If both the voltage and power
of MPP and the sign of perturbation supplied has to be difference are in the negative direction then there is a increase in
changed the array voltage. Similarly the next cycle is repeated until the
Maximum Power Point is tracked

Fig.4 Perturb and Observe Algorithm

The operation of the P&O technique is shown in fig 4 analyses

the plot of module output power versus voltage for a solar panel.
The P&O algorithm operates by periodically perturbing the array
terminal voltage or current and comparing the PV output power
with that of the previous perturbation cycle. First a slight Fig.5 Flowchart of Perturb and Observe (P&O) Control
perturbation is introduced in the system, due to which the power Technique
of the module changes. If the power increases due to perturbation

Available online @ www.ijcscn.com 12

 T.Chaitanya et al, International Journal of Computer Science & Communication Networks,Vol 1(1),September-October 2011

The Fig.6 shows that the PV array has been interfaced with the For steady state operation, the average voltage across the inductor
boost converter using a controlled voltage source. The inductor over a full period is zero. The input voltage Vd=Vin
current which is same as the load current of the PV system is used
as feedback for designing the PV array. The output of the filter Vin*ton – (Vo-Vin)toff = 0 (14)
which is the control signal is compared with the saw-tooth
waveform to generate the PWM signal which is fed as gate signal
Therefore,
to the switch S.

The output current of the PV array and the converter inductor Vin*D*T = (Vo-Vin) (1-D) T (15)
current are same, so the MPPT algorithm can observe the array
output power and optionally use the converter inductor current as
the control variable. A comparison between actual and reference
Vo/Vin=1/1-D (16)
values for PV terminal voltage and maximum power available
from PV array will control the duty ratio of boost converter.

Fig.7. Boost Converter Topology

By designing this circuit we can also investigate performance of

converters which have input from solar energy. A boost regulator
can step up the voltage without a transformer. Due to a single
switch, it has a high efficiency. The input current is continuous.
Fig.6 Perturb and Observe (P&O) MPPT
The output voltage is very sensitive to changes in duty cycle D in
equation (16). The average output current is less than the average
The MPPT of photovoltaic power generation systems changes
inductor current by a factor of (1-D), and a much higher rms
with changing atmospheric conditions, an important consideration current would flow through the filter capacitor.
in the design of efficient PV systems is to track the MPP
correctly. The dependence of power generated by a PV array and
If the boost converter operates in continuous conduction mode
its MPPT on atmospheric conditions can readily be seen in the (CCM), then the value of inductance L from the inductor current
current-voltage and the power-voltage characteristics of PV
ripple analysis is given by equation (17)
arrays. Moreover, the MPPT changes with changing radiation
and temperature, implying continuous adjustment of the array
terminal voltage if maximum power is to be transferred. Lmin=(1-D)2 *D*R/2*f (17)

C. Boost Converter The current supplied to the output RC circuit is discontinuous.

Thus a large filter capacitor is used to limit the output voltage
DC-DC Converters are used as switching mode regulators to ripple. The filter capacitor must provide the output dc current to
convert an unregulated dc voltage to a regulated dc output the load when the diode D is off.
voltage. The regulation is normally achieved by a PWM at a fixed
frequency and the switching device used is a MOSFET. As the The minimum value of filter capacitance that results in voltage
Maximum Power Point Tracking is basically a load matching ripple Vr=deltaVO/VO is given by equation (18)
problem, in order to change the input resistance of the panel to
match the load resistance (by varying the duty cycle), a DC-DC Cmin=D/ R*f*Vr (18)
Converter is required.
The working of the boost converter when the switch S is in ON
The boost converter is which boosts the voltage to maintain the state the current in the boost inductor increases linearly and the
maximum output voltage constant for all the conditions of diode is off. The inductor is charged from the input voltage
temperature and solar irradiance variations. A simple boost source Vin and the capacitor discharges across the load. When the
converter is as shown in fig.7. switch S is in OFF state the energy stored in the inductor is
released through the diode to the output RC circuit. The sum of
input voltage and inductor voltage appears as the load voltage Vo.

Available online @ www.ijcscn.com 13

 T.Chaitanya et al, International Journal of Computer Science & Communication Networks,Vol 1(1),September-October 2011

V. SIMULATION RESULTS

Fig.8 Output Voltage of the PV array

Fig.11 V-I Characteristics curve

Fig.9 Output Current response of PV array

Fig.12 P-V Characteristic curve

Fig.10 Output Power response of the PV array

Fig.13 V-I curve with different temperatures

Available online @ www.ijcscn.com 14

 T.Chaitanya et al, International Journal of Computer Science & Communication Networks,Vol 1(1),September-October 2011

Fig.14 V-I curve with different irradiations Fig.17 Current Response of Boost Converter

Fig.15 P-V curve with temperature variations

Fig.18 Voltage response of Boost Converter

Fig.16 P-V curve with different irradiations Fig.19 Power response of Boost Converter

Available online @ www.ijcscn.com 15

 T.Chaitanya et al, International Journal of Computer Science & Communication Networks,Vol 1(1),September-October 2011

IV. CONCLUSION
The paper studies the P&O MPPT algorithm with a DC-DC
boost converter. The mathematical modeling of PV array is
discussed and the implementation of the MPPT algorithm is done.
The P-V and V-I curves obtained from the simulation of the PV
array designed in MATLAB environment explains its dependence
on the temperature and irradiation levels. Thus, the Photovoltaic
system works most of time with maximum efficiency.

VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We express our sincere thanks to JNTUK for providing us good

lab facilities. A heart full and sincere gratitude to our beloved
parents and friends for their tremendous motivation and moral
support.

VII. REFERENCES

[1]. I.H. Altas; A.M. Sharaf, “A Photovoltaic Array Simulation

Model for Matlab-simulink GUI Environment”. IEEE 2007.
[2]. Marcelo G. Villalva, Ernesto Ruppert F. “Analysis and
Simulation of the P&O MPPT Algorithm using a Linearized
PV Array Model”, IEEE 2009
[3]. Roberto Faranda, Sonia Leva “ Energy Comparison of MPPT
techniques for PV Systems” WSEAS Transactions on Power
Systems, June 2008.
[4]. Ali M. Eltamaly; P.N. Enjeti; H.H. EI-Tamaly;, An Improved
Maximum Power Point Tracker For Photovoltaic Energy
Systems.
[5]. Chihchiang Hua, Jongrong Lin and Chihming Shen;, “
Implementation of a DSP-Controlled Photovoltaic System
With Peak Power Tracking” IEEE Transactions On Industrial
Electronics, Vol.45,No.1, February 1998
[6]. S. Yuvarajan and Shanguang Xu,” Photovoltaic Power
Converter with a Simple Maximum Power Point Tracker”,
IEEE 2003.
[7]. I.H. Altas and A.M. Sharaf: A Novel On-Line MPP Search
Algorithm For PV Arrays, IEEE Transactions on Energy
Conversion, vol.11, No.4. December 1996. pp. 748-754.
[8] . Y-C. Kuo, T-J. Liang, and, J-F. Chen: Novel Maximum-Power-
Point-Tracking Controller For Photovoltaic Energy Conversion
System, IEEE Transactions On Industrial Electronics, Vol. 48,
No. 3, June 2001, Pp. 594-601.
[9]. Nicola Femia, Member IEEE “Optimization of Perturb and
Observe Maximum Power Point Tracking Method”, IEEE
2005.
[10]. Balakrishna S. Thansoe,Nabil A, Rajamohan , Kenneth A.S,
Ling C.J,” The Study and Evaluation of Maximum Power Point
Tracking Systems”ICEE 2006
[11]. Martina Calais; Vassilios G. Agelidis, “A Single Stage Three
Phase Grid connected Topology for PV Systems with
Maximum Power Point Tracking ”. IEEE 1998.
[12]. K.H.Hussein; I.Muta; T.Hoshino; M.Osakada, “Maximum
Photovolatic Power Tracking: An Algorithm for Rapidly
Changing Atmospheric Conditions”. IEEE 1995..

Available online @ www.ijcscn.com 16

View publication stats