Toward an approach to Improve
MPPT Efficiency for PV System.
JAI ANDALOUSSI Zakariae (1), RAIHANI Abdelhadi(2), ELMAGRI Abdelmounaim(3), BOUATTANE Omar(4)
Signal Laboratory Distributed Systems and Artificial Intelligence (SSDIA)
Ecole Normale Suprieure de lEnseignement Technique Mohammedia, Morocco
Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco
Jaiandaloussizakariae@gmail.com(1), Abraihani@yahoo.fr(2), M agri_mounaim@yahoo.fr(3), o.bouattane@gmail.com(4)
AbstractA solar photovoltaic system requires a regulation to
extract the maximum of its energy taking account the
atmospheric fluctuations and external disturbances [1]. In this
article, we propose to study Maximum Power Point Tracking
(MPPT) system, using an Automatic Selection Algorithm (AS A)
to improve the efficiency of the PV system connected to a load via
a DC-DC converter. The proposed AS A switch between two
conventional MPPT: Incremental Conduction Algorithm (INC)
[2] and Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithm [3]). It selects
automatically the algorithm which should work best according to
the solar irradiance data. The study focuses on the analysis of the
robustness, speed, precision and the yield of the PV system. The
MATLAB/S imulink environment is used to simulate the
performance of the electrical conversion systems.
Keywords- PV system, MPPT controller, Automatic Selection
algorithm, Incremental Conductance Algorithm, Perturb and
Observe Algorithm, Boost Converter.
I. INT RODUCTION
Demand of electric power has been steadily increasing in
recent years. Pollution and g lobal warming are driv ing
research towards the development of renewab le energy
sources. In this context, PV systems offer a highly co mpetit ive
solution. To overcome the problem of solar panel efficiency
and achieve maximu m power, it is necessary to optimize the
PV system. The efficiency depends generally on three factors:
the efficiency of the PV panel is between 8-15%, the
efficiency of the MPPT algorithm is over 98% [4]. The M PPT
algorith ms are necessary because PV arrays have a nonlinear
voltage-current characteristic with a unique point where the
power produced is maximu m [5]. This point depends on the
temperature of the panels and on the irrad iance conditions .
Both input parameters changes during the day and are also
different depending on the season of the year. It is very
important to track the MPP accurately under d ifferent
conditions so that the maximu m available power is always
obtained. In the literature, many MPPT algorith ms have been
published [6]. They differ in many aspects such as complexity,
sensors required, cost or efficiency.
This article is organized as follows : At first, we separate
the two algorithms P&O and INC to predict the different
performance. Then co mpare them with the new control using
the ASA.
978-1-5090-6681-0/17/$31.00 2017 IEEE
II. PRESENT AT ION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SYST EM
A. Photovoltaic Conversion System
A PV system converts the sun radiation into
usable electricity. The load connected PV system contains a
boost converter with a MPPT controller to ext ract the
maximu m power. The boost converter increase DC voltage
fro m 275.5 V to 500V. Th is converter uses a MPPT system
which automatically varies the duty cycle in order to generate
the required voltage to extract maximu m power. The block
diagram of the PV system is showed in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Block diagram of Load-PV array connected.
B. PV Array Model
The elementary co mponent of the photovoltaic panel is the
PV cell. It can be considered as an ideal source of current I
proportional to the incident light power, in parallel with a
diode which is represented by the P-N junction. The solar cell
can be represented by the electrical model shown in Figure 2.
Its current-voltage characteristic is expressed by the following
equation (1):
q.VD
I I ph I S .exp 1 VD .G p
A.K .T
q.(V Rs .I )
I ph I S .exp 1 G p .(V Rs .I ) (1)
A.K .T
where I and V are the solar cell output current and voltage
respectively, IS is the dark saturation current, q is the charge o f
an electron, A is the diode quality factor, K is the Bolt zmann
constant, T is the absolute temperature and RS and RP are the
series and shunt resistances of the solar cell. RS is the
resistance offered by the contacts and the bulk semiconductor
material of the solar cell. The orig in of the shunt resistance is
more difficult to exp lain. It is related to the non-ideal nature of
the P-N junction and the presence of impurities near the edges
of the cell that provide a short-circuit path around the junction
[2]. In an ideal case RS would be zero and RP infin ite
(Gp =1/Rp ). Ho wever, this ideal scenario is not possible and
manufacturers try to minimize the effect of both resistances to
improve their products.
Figure 2: Equivalent circuit of a solar cell.
A PV panel is co mposed of many solar cells, wh ich are
connected in series and parallel so the output current and
voltage of the PV panel are high enough to the requirements of
the grid or equip ment [5-6]. The output current-voltage
characteristic of a PV panel is e xpressed by equation (2),
where n p and n s are the number of solar cells in parallel and
series respectively.
q.(V RS .I )
I n p . I ph I S . exp 1 G p .(V RS .I )
(2)
ns . A.K .T
Two important points of the current-voltage curve must be
pointed: the open circuit voltage Voc and the short circuit
current Isc. At both points the power generated is zero. Vco can
be approximated when the output current of the cell is zero
(the shunt resistance RP is neglected). It is represented by
equation (3). The short circuit current Isc is the current at V=0
and is approximately equal to the photonic current Iph as
shown in equation (4).
A.K .T I ph
Voc . ln 1 (3)
q Is
The maximu m power is generated by the solar cell at a
point of the current-voltage characteristic where product of V
and I is maximu m. This point is known as MPP and is unique,
as can be seen in Figure 3, where the foregoing points are
shown.
Figure 3: T he outstanding points of the characteristics I-V and P-V.
III. M AXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKER A LGORITHMS
MPPT algorith ms are necessary in PV applicat ions
because the MPP of a solar panel varies with the irradiat ion
and temperature, so the use of MPPT algorith ms is required in
order to obtain the maximu m power fro m a solar array. Over
the past decades many methods to find the MPP have been
developed and published [5]. These techniques differ in many
aspects such as required sensors, complexity, cost, range of
effectiveness, convergence speed; correct tracking when
irradiation and/or temperature change. Among these
techniques, the P&O and the INC algorith ms are the most
common. These techniques have the advantage of an easy
implementation but they also have drawbacks, as will be
shown later. Most of these methods yield a local maximu m
and some, like the fractional open circuit voltage or short
circuit current, give an approximated MPP.
A. Perturb and Observe Algorithm (P&O)
The P&O algorith m involves perturbation in the operating
voltage of the DC link between the PV array and the power
converter [8]. In th is 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. As can be seen in
Figure 4, on the left of the MPP incrementing the voltage
increases the power whereas on the right decrementing the
voltage increases the power.
. Figure 4: P&O MPPT Principe on the P -V characteristic.
If there is an increment in the power, the perturbation
should be kept in the same direction and if the power
decreases, then the next perturbation should be in the opposite
direction. Based on these facts, the algorithm is imp lemented
[8]. The p rocess is repeated until the MPP is reached. Then the
operating point oscillates around the MPP. The algorith m is
shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: P&O algorithm
B. Incremental Conductance Algorithm (INC)
The incremental conductance compares the incremental
conductance to the instantaneous conductance in a PV module.
Depending on the result, it increases or decreases the voltage
until the maximu m power point (MPP) is reached. Unlike the
P&O algorith m, the voltage remains constant once MPP is
reached. This algorithm can be seen in Figure 6.
Maximum power point is obtained when:
dP dI dI I
I V 0
dV dV dV V (9)
Figure 6: Incremental conductance algorithm.
In both P&O and INC schemes, the fast reaching the MPP
depends on the size of the incre ment of the reference voltage.
The drawbacks of these techniques are mainly two. The first
one is that they can easily lose track of the MPP if the
irradiation changes rapidly [8-9]. In case of step changes, they
track the MPP very well, because the change is instantaneous
and the curve does not keep on changing. However, when the
irradiation changes following a slope, the curve in which the
algorith ms are based changes continuously with the
irradiation. As a consequence, it is not possible for the
algorith ms to determine whether the change in the power is
due to its own voltage increment or due to the change in the
irradiation. The reason we propose a new MPPT technique
combining the two.
C. Automatic Selection Algorithm (ASA)
In order to solve the disadvantages of the two MPPT
algorith ms presented in the preceding paragraphs. We propose
a third strategy explo iting the algorith m of select ion. We apply
this strategy to chase the MPP for the PV system. The idea is
to combine different algorith ms in a super-algorith m that
works better than any of the components individually. This
ASA algorithm aims to correct the failures of the algorithms
P&O and INC. The performance of an algorith m can be good
in an operating regime while another algorith m p resents
excellent result in another one [10]. It remains to choose the
selection parameter and decision-making, to run the algorithm
on a specific instance, to significantly imp rove overall
performance. It can automatically select the algorith m with the
best performances, given the available solar irrad iation data.
The benefits of this algorithm become important when many
instances need to be resolved consecutively.
Figure 7: T he Automatic Selection Algorithm Principe.
The procedure leads to choose the algorithm to run is
based on the changes of the solar irradiat ion Ir. For this
purpose, a simp le algorith m is constructed for comparing the Ir
derivative with a threshold S. We switch to the P&O algorith m
when there is low perturbation, otherwise we clamp on the
INC algorith m. By exp loiting this process, we combine the
advantages of each algorithm and try to eliminate their
disadvantages. The principal of the ASA is showing in Figure
8.
Figure 8: Automatic Selection Algorithm.
In order to obtain good performance, it is necessary to
choose the switching threshold S between the two algorith ms.
For this purpose, we chose that when the derivative of the
signal coming fro m the radiat ion sensor is low, i.e. it
undergoes little variation the switch will keep INC algorith m.
In the other hand, when the signal present sudden variations
switch commuted to P&O algorith m. Therefore, the threshold
is chosen in such a way as to satisfy the following conditions:
I r S then Switch to INC Algorithm
I r S or I r S then Switch to P&O Algorithm
In our case, we chose S=0,5.
IV. SIMULAT ION AND RESULTS
In order to evaluate the performance and efficiency of the
tree proposed Algorith ms , the simulat ions are imp lemented
under the Matlab/Simulink environ ment. The results obtained
react in a dynamic reg ime according to the variation of th e
solar irradiation. These results must answer to the anomalies
presented in the preceding paragraphs .
 In order to study the dynamics of the PV system, a variable B. INC Algorithm Simulation
irradiation is applied as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 11: Power Allure using INC MPPT.

Figure 9: T he solar irradiation reference.
In this simu lation 100 kW PV array is used to shows the
performers of this system. The main parameters of this
electricity production system are noted in the table below.
TABLE I. PV Array parameters on standards conditions
Parameters Values
Open Circuit Voltage Voc 321
The INC algorith m is more specific then P&O technique. The
controller maintains this voltage until the irrad iation changes .
This method requires more co mputation in the controller, but
can track changing conditions. We notice that it can produce
oscillations in MPP.
C. AS Algorithm Simulation

Short Circuit Current Isc 393.36

Maximal Power P m 100.71

Current on the MPP I mpp 368.28
Number of series panel 5

Number of parallels panel 66

A. P&O Algorithm Simulation

The figure 10 presents the simulat ion of the PV system Figure 12: Power Allure using ASA MPPT.
using the P&O Algorithm.
The proposed MPPT algorithm is implemented in order to
overcome the above-mentioned problem. Figure 12 shows the
PV module and load power with AS algorithm. We can notice
that is more fast and precise then the two previous algorithms.
The two first production systems based on the PV array
with P&O and INC MPPT algorith ms are simu lated and
compared with our proposed solution using the ASA under the
same conditions. The Comparisons between the three
algorithms for various parameters are given in Table II.

TABLE II. COMP ARAISON BETEWEN THE P&O, INC AND ASA

Figure 10: Power Allure using P&O MPPT. MPPT Technique

Parameters P&O INC AS
As seen in Figure 10, the algorith m cannot track accurately Algorithm Algorithm Algorithm
the MPP when the irradiance changes continuously. The yield Output
257.7 V 261.2 V 262.5 V
Voltge
presented by the P&O technique is better, if we take account
the speed of simulation. We find that this algorith m is fast, but Speed 0.13 s 0.2 s 0.09 s
less precise. This problem is due to the incrimination step. Very
Accuracy Good Excellent
Good
Yield 98.45 % 98.62 % 98.79 %
 V. CONCLUSION: [10] Carrasco, J. M., Franquelo, L. G., Bialasiewicz, J. T., Galvan,E., Portillo
Guisado, R. C., Ma,A., Martacute, Leon J. I., and Moreno-Alfonso, N.,
In this art icle , we presented a new approach to find the Power-electronic systems for the grid integration of renewable energy
MPP by using an Automatic Selection Algorith m. A lso, most sources: A survey, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., Vol. 53, No. 4, pp.
MPPT algorith ms are reviewed: P&O and INC are selected for 10021016, June 2006.
[11] Syafaruddin, E., Karatepe, and Hiyama, T., Articial neural network-
further analysis. The proposed MPPT uses a DC/DC boost polar coordinated fuzzy controller based maximum power point tracking
converter to track the MPP effectively under different control under partially shaded conditions, IET Renew. Power Gener.
irradiations . The article demonstrated the performance of the Vol. 3, pp. 239253, 2009.
proposed ASA MPPT technique performs well in terms of the [12] A El Fadili, F Giri, A El Magri. Backstepping Control for Maximum
Power Tracking in Single-Phase Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems,
successful, good tracking and speed. The results show that the IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 2013, pp. 659-664
proposed MPPT algorithm has satisfactory tracking accuracy
under steady state and adaptability during transient conditions.
The simulation results verify the robustness properties of the
proposed MPPT under sudden changes in irradiat ion
conditions. The limitation of the proposed technique is that it
requires prior knowledge of the irrad iation function in order to
improve the efficiency o f the PV system. On the other hand,
there is mo re co mp lex technique such as Artificial Neural
Network (ANN) or Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC) algorith ms
[11]. Those controllers are based on machine learning.

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