Photovoltaic Power Optimization Using Sliding

Mode Control with a Two-Axis Tracking

System
Ayedh H. ALQahtani, Muthanna S. Abuhamdeh, Yazan M. Alsmadi, and Vadim I. Utkin

 modules [5]. Fig.1 represents a generic PV array structure.

Abstract—Optimal power tracking techniques are often
employed to more effectively extract the power generated from
photovoltaic (PV) modules. This paper examines the problem of
adjusting PV module’s position to maximize the incident
irradiation, and hence, the power. It introduces a two-axis
rotation control mechanism to track a PV module’s maximum
power based on the sun’s azimuth and elevation angles. The
control mechanism uses the sliding mode control method of self-
optimization without depending on the astronomical data for the
sun trajectory. The power generated depends heavily on the solar
intensity (irradiance); however, total irradiance on any inclined
surface is the sum of direct irradiance, isotropic sky diffuse
irradiance, and ground reflection. The proposed controller
The performance of a PV system is normally evaluated under
the standard test condition (STC), where an average solar
spectrum at AM1.5 is used, the irradiance is normalized to
1000W/m2, and the cell temperature is defined as 25oC [6].
However, under real operating conditions (i.e., varying
irradiance as well as significant temperature changes), most
commercial modules do not necessarily behave as in the
specifications given by the manufacturers [7]. In addition, PV
modules perform differently according to the location, time of
day, and season of the year.
Modules connected in series

architecture efficiently maintains the power around an optimum

value, by orienting a PV module to the corresponding azimuth
and elevation optimal angles.

Index Terms—Sliding mode control, Photovoltaic modeling,

Standard test condition (STC), Maximum power point (MPP),
Two-axis tracking system.

I. INTRODUCTION

T he modern power system is increasingly taking advantage

of renewable energy sources entering the marketplace.
Traditional central power stations with their pollution related
problems will likely be replaced with cleaner and smaller
power plants closer to the loads. The energy generated by the
sun is one of the most promising, nonpolluting, free sources of
energy [1]. Among their benefits, solar systems are easily
expanded. Despite their still relatively high cost, photovoltaic
(PV) systems installed worldwide show a nearly exponential
increase [2]. PV systems have proven that they can generate
power to very small electronic devices up to utility-scale PV
power plant. A PV cell directly converts sunlight into
electricity, and the basic elementary device of PV systems is
the PV cell [3]. The basic building block for PV systems is a
PV module consisting of a number of pre-wired cells in series
[4]. Modules are then connected in series to increase voltage
and in parallel to increase current; the product is power. A PV
array is formed by series and parallel combinations of
A. Alqahtani, Y. Alsmadi, and V. Utkin are with the Department of
Electrical & Computer Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus,
OH 43210 (e-mail: alqahtani.4@osu.edu, alsmadi.1@osu.edu,
utkin.2@osu.edu).
M. Abuhamdeh is with M.C.Dean, Inc., Dulles, VA 20166 (e-mail:
abuhamdeh@yahoo.com).
Fig.1. Generic PV array structure.
It is therefore essential with the growing demand for PV
systems to guarantee that the maximum power is extracted
from PV modules under all environmental conditions.
The paper is organized as follows: Section II reviews
related work on efficiency optimization of a PV system,
Section III details the control strategy proposed to track a PV
module’s maximum power, Section IV provides a simulation
that demonstrates the control approach can yield satisfactory
results in regulating the PV power to maintain an optimum
value over a range of azimuth and elevation angles.
II. RELATED WORK
PV systems generally suffer from low efficiency and high
cost. To deal with this shortcoming, a maximum power point
tracking system, frequently referred to as MPPT, is used
electronically in a manner that steers the PV module’s
operating point to deliver maximum available power. MPPT
may be supplemented with a mechanical tracking system, and
the two should not be confused. See Fig.2. Many publications

978-1-4673-4444-9/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE

have been published covering the subject of MPPT. However,
mechanical tracking systems are rarely mentioned along with
the MPPT. Mechanical tracking of PV systems involves
aligning the PV modules perpendicular to the sun throughout
the day to receive maximum solar radiation.
Fig.2. Diagram of a PV system major components.
According to [8], the physical tracking can be done
manually or automatically. In manual tracking, the PV module
orientation is manually changed at the beginning of each
season to a predetermined angle. In the case of automatic
tracking, the PV module is mounted on a single-axis or two-
axis tracking mechanism, and is controlled to follow the sun
rays trajectory throughout the day. Employing this type of
control mechanism may increase PV efficiency 20 to 50
percent more than PV modules without sun tracking [9]. The
control mechanisms can be categorized into three different
types. These types are passive, optical, and astronomical
methods. In passive tracking, the method uses compressed gas
fluid that is driven to one side or the other causing the module
to move toward the sun due to an imbalance. The optical
method utilizes feedback photo-sensors, current, voltage, and
auxiliary cells to determine the module reference position. The
astronomical method is based on the geographic location,
date, and time of year. Fig.3 depicts the sun path for a PV
module facing south. Fig.4 shows the azimuth and elevation
angles’ trajectory.
Fig.3. Variation of sun path during the day and seasons.
e
uth Angl
im
Az
Fig.4. Diagram of PV system azimuth angle (Į) and elevation angle (ȕ).
At solar noon, the sun is always directly south in the
northern hemisphere and directly north in the southern
hemisphere [10]. The azimuth angle (Į) is the campus
direction from which the sun is coming. The elevation angle
(ȕ) is the angular height of the sun in the sky measured from
the horizon.
The authors in [9] classified sun tracking systems based on
the motor control realization, a closed-loop or open-loop
control system. All of the above references rely on complex
astronomical equations to find the sun’s angles. They tend to
use a solar tracker, which orients itself along the direction of
the sunlight. The power generated from PV modules depends
heavily on the sun’s direct irradiance; however, total
irradiance on any inclined surface is the sum of direct
irradiance, isotropic sky diffuse irradiance, and ground
reflection. The work in this paper proposes a different
methodology that adjusts the tracker based on measuring the
output power. The proposed controller architecture maintains
the power at an optimum value, by arranging the PV module
to the corresponding azimuth and elevation optimal angles.
III. PROPOSED CONTROL STRATEGY
Fig.5 shows the PV system, DC/DC converter, and the
proposed sliding mode controller to track the maximum power
by modifying the azimuth angle (Į) and the elevation angle (ȕ)
accordingly until the power value is optimum.
D E
Fig.5. PV system, DC/DC converter, electrical MPPT, and the proposed
sliding mode controller.
TABLE I
MITSUBISHI PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS
2
AT 25ஈC, AM1.5, AND 1000W/M
Datasheet specifications
Isc 7.38A
Voc 30.6V
Imp 6.93A
Vmp 24.6V
Ns 50
Dimensions 62”×31.5”×1.8”
Weight 34.2 lb (15.5 kg)
A. PV system
180

The PV system selected for this study is the PV-MF170EB3 170

module by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation [11]. Table I
provides the module electrical characteristics provided by the 160
manufacturer’s datasheet. The cell type used in the module is
polycrystalline silicon (150mm square). 150

Power (W)
Fig.6 demonstrates the P-V characteristic of the PV-
MF170EB3 module by Mitsubishi Electric at various 140
irradiances. In Fig.7 and Fig.8, the power profiles with respect
to the azimuth and elevation angles are obtained. The two 130

figures are generated by conducting a simple calculation on a

free software System Advisor Model (SAM) developed by the 120

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). SAM is

110
designed to execute performance and financial models to 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
facilitate decision making for those involved in the renewable Elevation Angle (degree)

energy industry such as technology developers, project Fig.8 PV module power profile with respect to the elevation angle.
engineers, and researchers.
The curves representing the azimuth angle (Į) and the
elevation angle (ȕ) for any PV module with power are in
180
1000W/m2 reality three-dimensional curves. For that reason, Fig.9 was
160 produced using cubic interpolation for the power curves with
different angle values. The surface fit in the figure represents
140
800W/m2 not only the available points, but also all the points in
120 between.
100 600W/m2
Power(W)

80
400W/m2
60

170
40
200W/m2

20
160
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Power (W)

Voltage(V)
150
Fig.6. P-V characteristic of the PV-MF170EB3 module by Mitsubishi Electric
at various irradiances.
140

180

130
170 60
El 50
ev 60
a ti 40 40
160 on 30
A 20
ng
le 20 0 e (D )
in -20 egre
150 de 10 -40 in d
n gle
Power (W)

gr 0
ee -60 hA
(
E) zi mut
A
140

130 Fig.9. Power output for various combinations of azimuth and elevation angles.

120 B. Control algorithm

110
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 To maximize the PV module output power, a sliding mode
Azimuth Angle (degree) control method of self-optimization is employed. Fig.10
Fig.7. PV module power profile with respect to the azimuth angle. depicts the block diagram for the controller design. Since the
plant output must increase, let it be modeled by a monotone
increasing time function, and the control system’s task is to
track this reference input [12]. Assuming the plant input is x
and the output is y = f(x), the control algorithm relies upon the
following approach:
 and s1 is steered to zero in finite time under the
D 170

dy
Uo ! U .
160

condition

Power (W)
150

E 140

130
60
Ele
50
60
dx
40

dy
va 40
tio 30 20
nA
ng 20 0 e)
le -20 egre
E(d 10 D (d
eg
re 0
-40 An gle
-60 uth

0
e)
Azim

If
dx
Then:
Fig.10. Block diagram for the controller design for both azimuth and elevation dy
angles. s2 s1 Uo  U  0
dx
x Generate a reference signal g , monotonously and s2 is steered to zero in finite time under the
increasing, g U  M v  s1 , s2  and U > 0. dy
condition Uo ! U .
x v  s1 , s2  v  H  with H g  y , s1 H, dx
In sliding mode, either y  g 0 or y  g G , the
s2 H G and G > '.
output y follows the reference g to increase. When the
x Determine x , such that the performance y follows
the reference g to increase towards its maximum.
dy
sliding condition U o ! U does not hold, y continues
dx
x x u and u U o sign  s1s2  .
increasing while oscillating. After the transient settle [13], the
x Tracking error: maximum value of y does not exceed ymax  ' .
dy
H g  y U  M v  s1 , s2   U o is the The functions u and v are plotted in Fig.11. The
dx parameters uo , G , and M are positive constants. U is
tracking error.
positive value that is constant or varying depending on the
dy particular search technique. The hysteresis width 2' should
x With M > Uo  U , the function dP
dx not exceed G , and the inequality M ! uo  U should
dD
M v  s1 , s2  enforces g into a manifold where
be satisfied for M . Generally, suitable selection of the
v = 0. controller parameters is a tuning process. However, the
x If H < - G - ' or H > ' , for either case mentioned guidelines are extremely valuable for effective
dy calibration of the controller.
s1 s2 U o  U  M v has the opposite
dx
sign to s1 and s2 .
x Without the loss of generality, assume G > 2 ' . In
finite time, '  G  H  ' will be enforced,
and the function v becomes zero.
x With v = 0, the reference signal is given by
g U .
x In the manifold ^'  G  H  '` , s1  0 and
s2 ! 0 :
dy
If !0
dx
Then:
dy
s1  U o sign  s1 , s2   U
dx
dy
Uo  U ! 0
dx
Fig.11. The functions u and v used in the control algorithm.
 The above algorithm is for one-dimensional optimization
plant. For multidimensional plant, where the input x is an n-
dimensional vector with components x1,…,xn, and it is
required to maximize the scalar output y=f(x), the motion of
such a system is described by the equation:
x ku
where k is a piecewise constant vector (k1,…,kn) and the scalar
control u depends on the method of one-dimensional
optimization. With respect to the output, the equation of the
system motion is as follows:
power P | 170 W within six seconds. This point is
*
obtained by steering the azimuth angle to the corresponding
*
optimum angle D | 0 degree. The corresponding control
input is also shown.
Similarly, the second simulation is performed for the
elevation angle. Fig.14 illustrates the case where the power
steadily converges towards the expected optimum power, then
oscillates within a neighborhood of the optimum point. The
corresponding optimum elevation angle is E * | 30 degrees.
y  grad f <k  u
180
df 170
where grad f is a row vector with elements . With a

Power(W)
160
dxi 150

constant vector k the describing point moves from any initial 140
130
position along a straight line parallel to that vector until it 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
reaches the directional extremum on that straight line at the Time (second)

point  grad f <k  0 . When the directional extremum is

Azimuth Angle (degree)

50

reached, the direction of searching should be changed by 0

changing the vector k. -50

C. PV module tracker realization -100

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time (second)

In order to implement the proposed controller, a two-axis 20

tracker with a mounted 170-W PV module is needed. The

Control input, u

10
tracker should have a rotary mechanism with a DC motor and 0
a worm gear drive that rotates the PV module about the -10
vertical axis [8]. Another DC motor is required for the
-20
horizontal axis. The PV module azimuth and elevation angles 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time (second)
are then adjusted by the motors to follow optimum power. The
control system for steering the angles can be treated as two
independent systems, one for the azimuth angle, and one for Fig.13. Power, optimizing variable (azimuth angle: Į), and control input u.
the elevation angle. This is because the interaction effects are
usually small [14]. See Fig.12. 180

170
Power(W)

160

150

140
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time (second)
Elevation Angle (degree)

40

30

20

10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time (second)

10
Control input, u

Fig.12. View of the PV module tracker mechanism (vertical and horizontal). 5

0
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION -5

To demonstrate the proposed tracking control approach, a -10

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
simulation is carried out using Matlab/Simulink environment. Time (second)
At first, the control algorithm is applied to the azimuth angle
with the power profile shown in Fig.6. Then another Fig.14. Power, optimizing variable (elevation angle: ȕ), and control input u.
simulation is performed with the elevation angle with the
power profile in Fig.7. The simulation result in Fig.13
indicates that the controller indeed converges to the optimum
 V. CONCLUSIONS
A self-optimization controller is designed based on sliding
mode control, for a mechanical maximum power tracker of a
PV module. The proposed control approach was implemented
for a selected PV module from Mitsubishi Electric. Power
profiles relating the power to the azimuth and elevation angles
were used to verify the outcome of the proposed controller.
The results of the simulations revealed that the controller was
able to enforce the tracking system to reach a neighborhood of
the equilibrium within a relatively short time, corresponding
to optimum performance values. The control methodology in
this paper also showed that the use of complex astronomical
equations to find the sun angles was avoided.

REFERENCES

[1] W.T. da Costa, J.F. Fardin, and V.B.M Neto, "Identification of

photovoltaic model parameters by Differential Evolution," 2010 IEEE
International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT), vol., no.,
pp.931-936, 14-17 March 2010.
[2] D. Sera, R. Teodorescu, and P. Rodriguez, "PV panel model based on
datasheet values," IEEE International Symposium on Industrial
Electronics, 2007. ISIE 2007., vol., no., pp.2392-2396, 4-7 June 2007.
[3] M.G Villalva, J.R. Gazoli, and E.R. Filho, "Comprehensive Approach to
Modeling and Simulation of Photovoltaic Arrays," IEEE Transactions
on Power Electronics, , vol.24, no.5, pp.1198-1208, May 2009.
[4] G.M. Masters. Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems.
Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & sons, 2004, pp. 468.
[5] R. Ramaprabha, and B.L. Mathur, "MATLAB Based Modeling to Study
the Influence of Shading on Series Connected SPVA," Emerging Trends
in Engineering and Technology (ICETET), 2009 2nd International
Conference on , vol., no., pp.30-34, 16-18 Dec. 2009.
[6] X. Weidong, W.G. Dunford, and A. Capel, "A novel modeling method
for photovoltaic cells," Power Electronics Specialists Conference, 2004.
PESC 04. IEEE 35th Annual , vol.3, no., pp. 1950- 1956 Vol.3, 20-25
June 2004.
[7] E. Saloux, M. Sorinand and A. Teyssedou, “Explicit Model of
Photovoltaic Panels to Determine Voltages and Currents at the
Maximum Power Point,” CanmetENERGY, Ottawa, Canada, Rep.
CETC Number 2010-156, 2010.
[8] A. Al Nabulsi, and R. Dhaouadi, "Efficiency Optimization of a DSP-
Based Standalone PV System Using Fuzzy Logic and Dual-MPPT
Control," Industrial Informatics, IEEE Transactions on , vol.8, no.3,
pp.573-584, Aug. 2012.
[9] S. Seme, G. Štumberger, and J. Voršiþ, "Maximum Efficiency
Trajectories of a Two-Axis Sun Tracking System Determined
Considering Tracking System Consumption," Power Electronics, IEEE
Transactions on , vol.26, no.4, pp.1280-1290, April 2011.
[10] C. Honsberg and S. Bowden. “Photovoltaic Education Network.”
Internet: http://pveducation.org, Feb.18, 2013 [Feb. 18, 2013].
[11] altE Store. “Mitsubishi electric mf170eb3 170w 18v solar panel.”
Internet: http://www.altestore.com/store/, Feb.18, 2013 [Feb. 18, 2013].
[12] V. Utkin. Sliding Modes in Control Optimization. Heidelberg, New
York: Springer-Verlag, 1992, pp. 199.
[13] V. Utkin. Sliding Modes and Their Application in Variable Structure
Systems. Moscow: MIR Publsihers, 1978, pp. 216.
[14] M. Gopal. Control Systems: Principles and Design. Tata McGraw-Hill
Education, 2002, pp. 17.
[15] The MathWorks. MATLAB Version 7.9 R2009b. Natick, MA, Sept.
2009.