IJDACR

ISSN: 2319-4863

International Journal of Digital Application & Contemporary research

Website: www.ijdacr.com (Volume 2, Issue 2, September 2013)

Maximum Power Point Tracking Using Perturb & Observe

Algorithm and Compare With another Algorithm
UmaShankar Patel1 Ms. Dhaneshwari Sahu2 Deepkiran Tirkey3
uspatel.eee2gmail.com1 dhaneshwari87@gmail.com2 rinky_486@yahoo.co.in3

ME Scholar, POWER ELECTRONICS1, 3

Assistant Professor in Dept. of Electrical Engineering2
RITEE Raipur (CG)

Abstract – Compared to the traditional energy resources, power generation is very low, especially under low radiation
photovoltaic (PV) system that uses the solar energy to states, and the other drawback is the amount of electric power
produce electricity considered as one of renewable energies generated by solar arrays is always changing with weather

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has a great potential and developing increasingly fast conditions, i.e., irradiation and temperature. it can be observed
compared to its counterparts of renewable energies. Such that the output power characteristics of the PV system as
system can be either stand-alone or connected to utility grid. function of irradiance and temperature is nonlinear and is
While, the disadvantage is that PV generation depended on crucially influenced by solar irradiation and temperature. The
Maximum Power Point (MPP) of the PV array changes
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weather conditions. The major problem with photovoltaic
(PV) systems is the amount of electrical power generated by continuously; consequently the PV system’s operating point
solar arrays depends up on a number of conditions (i.e. must change to maximize the energy produced. Therefore a
solar irradiance, temperature and angle of incident light Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is an essential part of
etc.). In order to maximize the output of a PV system, the PV system to ensure that system operates at the maximum
continuously tracking the maximum power point (MPP) is power of the PV array.
necessary. In this thesis there is a implementation of
maximum power point tracking (MPPTs) algorithm for a Basic principle
PV system so as to extract maximum power from the solar
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arrays during unfavorable condition, also the effect on V-I According to the theory of maximum power transfer, the power
and V-P characteristics of PV array module due to change in delivered to the load is maximum when the source internal
irradiance and temperature are delineated. MPPT algorithm impedance matches the load impedance.
plays an important role in increasing the efficiency of
system. A proposed MPPT algorithm is implemented in ZS=ZL* (1)

boost converter and compared with various MPPTs Thus, the impedance seen from the converter side needs to
Algorithm. match the internal impedance of the solar array.

Keywords – Photovoltaic, Maximum power point tracking PV system with MPPT control
(MPPT), Perturb and Observe Algorithm.
The operation of MPPT cannot be achieved unless a tunable
I. INTRODUCTION matching network is used to interface the load to the PV array.
The photovoltaic system has a non-linear current-voltage and The main constituent components of a PV system are power
power-voltage characteristics that continuously varies with stage and controller as shown in fig.1The power stage is realized
irradiation and temperature. In order to track the continuously using switch mode DC-DC converters (boost, buck-boost),
varying maximum power point of the solar array the MPPT employing PWM control.The control parameter is duty ratio δ
(maximum power point tracking) control technique plays an which is used for the tuning of the network for maximum
important role in the PV systems. The task of a maximum power extraction of power.
point tracking (MPPT) network in a photovoltaic (PV) system is
to continuously tune the system so that it draws maximum
power from the solar array regardless of weather or load
conditions. In recent years, a large number of techniques have
been proposed for tracking the maximum power point (MPP).In
this literature a MPPT method is proposed. Its implementation
and performance is presented. Also comparison and analysis
with the other conventional methods is presented.
Two existing drawbacks encountered while generating power
from PV systems are: the first one that the efficiency of electric Fig.1 PV System with MPPT
 IJDACR
ISSN: 2319-4863

International Journal of Digital Application & Contemporary research

Website: www.ijdacr.com (Volume 2, Issue 2, September 2013)

II. MPPT ALGORITHMS

(A) Hill-climbing techniques

Both P&O and INC algorithms are based on the “hill-climbing”

principle, which consists of moving the operation point of the
PV array in the direction in which power increases and .Hill-
climbing techniques are the most popular MPPT methods due to
their ease of implementation and good performance when the
irradiation is constant . The advantages of both methods are the
simplicity and low computational power they need. The
shortcomings are also well-known: oscillations around the MPP
and they can get lost and track the MPP in the wrong direction
during rapidly changing atmospheric conditions. These
drawbacks will be explained later.
Among these techniques, the P&O and the INC algorithms are

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the most common. These techniques have the advantage of an
easy implementation but they also have drawbacks, as will be
shown later. Other techniques based on different principles are
fuzzy control, neural circuit, fractional open circuit voltage or
AC
short circuit current, current sweep, etc. Most of these methods
yield a local maximum and some, like the fractional open circuit
voltage or short circuit current, give an approximated MPP, not Figure 4-3- PV panel characteristic curves.
the exact one. In normal conditions the V-P curve has only one
maximum, so it is not a problem. While, if the PV array is
partially shaded, there are multiple maxima in these curves. If there is an increment in the power, the perturbation should be
According to order to relieve this problem, some algorithms kept in the same direction and if the power decreases, then the
have been implemented. These techniques differ in many aspects next perturbation should be in the opposite direction. Based on
such as required sensors, cost, complexity,convergence speed these facts, the algorithm is implemented [1]. The process is
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range of effectiveness, correct tracking when irradiation and/or repeated until the MPP is reached. Then the operating point
change in temperature, hardware needed for the implementation oscillates around theMPP. This problem is common also to the
or popularity. INC method, as was mention earlier. A scheme of the algorithm
is shown in Figure 3
a) Perturb and Observe

The P&O algorithm is also called “hill-climbing”, while both

names refer to the same algorithm depending on how it is
implemented. Hill-climbing consist of a perturbation on the duty
cycle of the power converter and P&O a perturbation in the
operating voltage of the DC link between the PV array and the
power converter. In the case of the Hill-climbing, perturb the
duty cycle of the power converter implies modifying the voltage
of the DC link between the PV array and the power converter, so
both name refer to the same technique.

In this method, the sign of the last perturbation and the sign of
the last increment in the power are used to decide what the next
perturbation should be.on the left of the MPP incrementing the
voltage increases the power whereas on the right decrementing
the voltage increases the power.

Fig. 3 Flowchart for P & O Algorithm

 IJDACR
ISSN: 2319-4863

International Journal of Digital Application & Contemporary research

Website: www.ijdacr.com (Volume 2, Issue 2, September 2013)

b) Incremental conductance
The incremental conductance algorithm is based on the fact that
the slope of the curve power vs. voltage (current) of the PV
module is zero at the MPP, positive (negative) on the left of it
and negative (positive) on the right
V P=0 (IP=0) at the MPP V
P>0 (IP<0) on the left V P< 0 (IP>0) on the right
By comparing the increment of the power vs. the increment of
the voltage (current) between two consecutives samples, the
change in the MPP voltage can be determined.
A scheme of the algorithm is shown in Figure .4

Figure.5 P-V curve depending on the irradiation

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The other handicap of both methods is the oscillations of the
voltage and current around the MPP in the steady state. This is
due to the fact that the control is discrete and the voltage and
AC current are not constantly at the MPP but oscillating around it.
The size of the oscillations depends on the size of the rate of
change of the reference voltage. The greater it is, the higher is
the amplitude of the oscillations.
(B) Fuzzy logic
Fuzzy logic control [2][3]generally consists of three stages:
fuzzification, rule base lookup table and defuzzification. During
fuzzification, numerical input variables are converted into
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linguistic variables based on a membership function. The inputs

to a MPPT fuzzy logic controller are usually an error E and a
Figure. 4 Incremental Conductance algorithm
change in error E. The user has the flexibility of choosing how
to compute E and E. In the defuzzification stage, the fuzzy
In both P&O and INC schemes, how fast the MPP is reached logic controller output is converted from a linguistic variable to
depends on the size of the increment of the reference voltage. a numerical variable still using a membership function .This will
provide analog signal that will control the power converter to the
The drawbacks of these techniques are mainly two. The first and MPP.
main one is that they can easily lose track of the MPP if the 𝐸(𝑘) = 𝑃(𝑘) − 𝑃(𝑘 − 1) ÷ 𝑉(𝑘) − 𝑉(𝑘 − 1) (2)
irradiation changes rapidly In case of step changes they track 𝐸(𝑘) = 𝐸(𝑘) − 𝐸(𝑘 − 1) (3)
the MPP very well, because the change is instantaneous and the
curve does not keep on changing. However, when the irradiation Fuzzy logic controllers have the advantages of working with
changes following a slope, the curve in which the algorithms are imprecise inputs, not needing an accurate mathematical model,
based changes continuously with the irradiation, as can be seen and handling nonlinearity but the basic drawback is high cost of
in Figure , so the changes in the voltage and current are not only implementation.
due to the perturbation of the voltage. As a consequence it is not
possiblealgorithms to determine whether the change in the (C)Neural Network
power is due to its own voltage increment or due to the change
in the irradiation. Neural networks commonly have three layers: input, hidden, and
output layers. The input variables can be PV array parameters
like VOC and ISC, S and T, or any combination of these. The
output is usually one or several reference signal(s) like a duty
cycle signal used to drive the power .Since most PV arrays have
different characteristics, a neural network has to be specifically
trained for the PV array with which it will be used. It also has
high cost of implementation.

(D) Fractional open circuit voltage

 IJDACR
ISSN: 2319-4863

International Journal of Digital Application & Contemporary research

Website: www.ijdacr.com (Volume 2, Issue 2, September 2013)
proportional relationship is an approximation. Furthermore,
This method uses the approximately linear relationship between k2changes if the PV array is partially shaded, which happens due
the MPP voltage (VMPP) and the open circuit voltage (VOC), to shades or surface contamination. To overcome this problem,
which varies with the irradiance and temperature [1]: [4] proposes an online tuning of k2 and [6] a periodical sweep of
𝑉𝑀𝑃𝑃 𝐾𝐼 𝑉𝑂𝐶 (4) the PV voltage from open circuit to short circuit to update k2 and
guarantee that the real MPP is reached in the presence of
Wherek1 is a constant depending on the characteristics of the PV
multiple maxima which obviously increases the complexity of
array and it has to be determined beforehand by determining the
the system. Most of the literature using this MPPT technique
VMPP and VOC for different levels of irradiation and different
uses a DSP as controller [1].
temperatures. According to [1] the constant k1 has been reported
to be between 0.71 and 0.78.
Once the constant of proportionality, k1, is known, the MPP LIMITATIONS OF PERTURB & OBSERVE
voltage VMPP can be determined periodically by measuring VOC. ALGORITHM
To measure VOC the power converter has to be shut down
momentarily so in each measurement a loss of power occurs.
Another problem of this method is that it is incapable of
tracking the MPP under irradiation slopes, because the
determination of VMPP is not continuous. One more disadvantage

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is that the MPP reached is not the real one because the
relationship is only an approximation.

To overcome these drawbacks, some solutions have been

proposed, as is reported in [1]. For example, pilot cells can be
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used to obtain VOC. They are solar cells that represent the PV
array’s cells and which are not used to produce electricity but to
obtain characteristics parameters such as VOC without interfering
with the power converters. These pilot cells have to be carefully
chosen and placed to represent the PV array characteristics and
the irradiation conditions. One drawback of using these pilot
cells is that the cost of the system is increased.Depending on the
application, this technique can be used because it is very easy to
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mplement and it is cheap - it does not require DSP or

microcontroller control and just one voltage sensor is used [1]. Figure.6 P-V curve depending on the irradiation.
However, according to [8] this method is not valid under partial
shading of the PV array because then the constant k1 changes.
To update voltage sweep is proposed though this increases the In a situation where the irradiance changes rapidly, the MPP also
complexity of the system, the cost increases and there are more moves on the right hand side of the curve. The algorithm takes it
power losses during the sweep. as a change due to perturbation and in the next iteration it
changes the direction of perturbation and hence goes away from
the MPP as shown in the figure 6.
(E) Fractional short circuit current
However, in this algorithm we use only one sensor, that is the
Just like in the fractional open circuit voltage method, there is a
voltage sensor, to sense the PV array voltage and so the cost of
relationship, under varying atmospheric conditions, between the
implementation is less and hence easy to implement.The time
short circuit current ISC and the MPP current, IMPP, as is shown
complexity of this algorithm is very less but on reaching very
by:𝐼𝑀𝑃𝑃 𝐾2 𝐼𝑆𝐶 close to the MPP it doesn’t stop at the MPP and keeps on
The coefficient of proportionality k2 has to be determined perturbing in both the directions. When this happens the
according to each PV array, as in the previous method happened algorithm has reached very close to the MPP and we can set an
with k1. According to [1]the constant k2 has been reported to be appropriate error limit or can use a wait function which ends up
between 0.78 and 0.92. increasing the time complexity of the algorithm.

Measuring the short circuit current while the system is operating Proposed Method
is a problem. It usually requires adding an additional switch to The proposed method solves the problem caused in hill-climbing
the power converter to periodically short the PV array and process from those caused by irradiance changing by decoupling
measure ISC. In [4]ISC is measured by shorting the PV array with the PV power fluctuations. This method adds an irradiance-
an additional field-effect transistor added between the PV array changing estimate process in every perturb process to measure
and the DC link capacitor. the amount of power change caused by the change of
One other option is shown in [5] a boost converter is used and atmospheric condition, and then compensates it in the following
the switch of the converter is used to short the PV array. Short perturb process. There are two operation modes named: Mode 1
circuiting the PV array also leads to a loss of power. One last for estimate process; and Mode 2 for perturb process as shown
handicap is that the real MPP is not reached because the
 IJDACR
ISSN: 2319-4863

International Journal of Digital Application & Contemporary research

Website: www.ijdacr.com (Volume 2, Issue 2, September 2013)
in fig.4.8. m
Mode 1 measures the power variation due to the previous
Fuzzy logic Fast High Yes varies
voltage change and atmosphere change, and keeps the PV
voltage constant for the next control period. control
Mode 2 measures the power variation and determines the new
Neural Fast High Yes varies
PV voltage based on the present and the previous power
variations. network

III. SIMULINK MODEL

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AC
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Fig. 7 Proposed method

Table 1: Characteristics of different MPPT techniques

MPPT Conver Implemen- Period Sensed

techniques
gence tation ic Para-
speed complexity tuning meters
Perturb & varies Low No voltage
observe
Incremental varies Medium No Voltage Fig. 8 SIMULINK™ Model of MPPT system using P&O
algorithm
conductance , current
Fractional Mediu Low Yes voltage
Voc m
Fractional Ioc Mediu Medium Yes current
 IJDACR
ISSN: 2319-4863

International Journal of Digital Application & Contemporary research

Website: www.ijdacr.com (Volume 2, Issue 2, September 2013)
IV. SIMULATION RESULT

Case 1: RUNNING THE SYSTEM WITHOUT MPPT

Fig.12 Plot of Output current at load side v/s time without

MPPT

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Fig 9 Plot of O/P voltage of PV panel v/s time without MPPT
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Fig.13 Plot of Power obtained at load side v/s time without

MPPT
Fig.10 Plot of Power O/P of PV panel v/s time without MPPT

Fig.11 Plot of O/P Voltage at load side v/s time without MPPT
Fig. 14 Plot of PI Control gain v/s time without MPPT
 IJDACR
ISSN: 2319-4863

International Journal of Digital Application & Contemporary research

Website: www.ijdacr.com (Volume 2, Issue 2, September 2013)
Case 2: Running the system with MPPT

Fig. 18 Plot of O/P Voltage at load side v/s time with MPPT

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Fig.15Plot of O/P voltage of PV panel v/s time with MPPT
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Fig. 19 Plot of O/P current at load side v/s time with MPPT

Fig.16 Plot of Power output of PV panel v/s time with MPPT

Fig.20 Plot of Power obtained at load side v/s time with MPPT

Fig 17 Plot of cal MPPT Vref voltage v/s time with MPPT
 IJDACR
ISSN: 2319-4863

International Journal of Digital Application & Contemporary research

Website: www.ijdacr.com (Volume 2, Issue 2, September 2013)
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& Observe algorithm. Implementation of proposed MPPT
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