V

2
-based power tracking for nonlinear PV sources
M. Veerachary and K.S. Shinoy
Abstract: The photovoltaic generator exhibits a nonlinear i/v characteristic and its maximum-
power point varies with solar insolation. A V
2
based MPP tracking scheme is developed using a
SEPIC topology. Mathematical models are formulated and a tracking algorithm then is evolved. A
combined photovoltaic-system simulation model is developed in the SIMULINK. For a given
solar insolation, the tracking algorithm changes the duty ratio of the convertor such that the solar-
cell-array voltage equals the voltage corresponding to the maximum-power point. This is done by
the tracking algorithm, which mainly computes the power, proportional to the square of the
terminal voltage, and changes the duty ratio of the convertor so that this power is a maximum. The
proposed algorithm is implemented in real time with the help of an analogue device DSP module.
Results are obtained for different types of loads, including battery and other nonlinear loads.
Experimental investigations are carried out for different numbers of samples and an optimum
number of samples is found which results in the minimum magnitude of steady-state oscillations. It
is shown, experimentally, that tracking of the maximum-power point can be achieved within
200ms. The proposed peak-power-tracking effectiveness is compared with that of the conventional
VI-based tracking scheme.
1 Introduction
Photovoltaic (PV) generation is gaining increased impor-
tance as a renewable source owing to its advantages, such as
absence of fuel cost, low maintenance, lack of noise,
elimination of wear through the absence of moving parts
etc. In particular, energy conversion from solar-cell arrays
(SCA) has received considerable attention in the last two
decades. Since the PV generator exhibits a nonlinear V/I
characteristic, its maximum-power point (MPP) varies with
the solar insolation and temperature. At a particular solar
insolation, there is a unique operating point of the PV
generator at which the power output is maximum. There-
fore, for maximum utilisation efciency, it is necessary to
match the PV generator to the load such that the
equilibrium operating point coincides with the MPP of
the PV source. However, since the MPP varies with
insolation and seasons, it is difcult to maintain max-
imum-power operation at all solar insolations without
changes in the system parameters. To overcome this
problem, use of an intermediate DCDC convertor is
proposed [1, 2], which continuously adjusts the voltage and
current and matches the PV source to the load.
The maximum-power-point tracking (MPPT) is applied
to PV systems in order to extract maximum available power
from the SCAs at all solar insolations. Different peak-
power-tracking schemes have been reported in the literature
[36]. However, all these methods depend on the SCA
power output and/or load-power detection using the
instantaneous voltage and current information, which
require voltage and current sensors respectively. Array-
voltage-based maximum-power-point tracking, using DC
DC convertors is increasing in importance. This method of
maximum power tracking has the advantages of straight-
forward array-voltage measurement, no need for current
sensorsFwhich introduce losses and complexity in the
systemFetc. The established MPPT schemes, using basic
switched-mode convertors such as buck and boost con-
vertors, have their own advantages and disadvantages. The
important requirement of any switched-mode DCDC
convertor used in the MPPT scheme is that it should have
a low input-current ripple. Buck convertors and their
derived topologies will give pulsating currents on the array
side and thus require a larger value of input capacitance on
the SCA side. On the other hand, boost convertors and
their derived topologies will present low ripple on the SCA
side, but the load current exhibits more ripple and gives a
voltage higher than the array voltage to the downstream
loads. The requirement of load voltage, either low or higher
than the array voltage, can be realised by means of buck
boost convertors. However, with this convertor the array
and load currents are pulsating in nature. Furthermore, the
load voltage will be inverted with buckboost or CUK
convertors. Under these circumstances single-switch fourth-
order topologies, the SEPIC convertor, provide an alter-
native solution. Although the switch stresses are greater in
fourth-order convertors, they still provide the buckboost
conversion function without polarity reversal, in addition to
the low ripple current on the source and load sides. These
nonpulsating load and source currents are desirable to
minimise the EMI and ltering requirements.
In this paper a fourth-order SEPIC-convertor scheme is
proposed for voltage-based MPPT. Advantages of the
present convertor system are:
(i) it is possible to achieve lower ripple both for buck and
boost modes of operations;
(ii) it is free from load-voltage-polarity reversal;
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute
of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India
E-mail: mvchary@ee.iitd.ernet.in
r IEE, 2005
IEE Proceedings online no. 20045227
doi:10.1049/ip-epa:20045227
Paper rst received 28th May 2004 and in nal revised form 17th April 2005.
Originally published online: 20th June 2005
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 152, No. 5, September 2005 1263
(iii) effective load variation at the SCA terminals,
theoretically from 0-N, is similar to that for the buck
convertor;
(iv) SCA current is continuous; and
(v) there is reduced EMI because of low ripple amplitude of
the SCA current.
Although this convertor requires additional capacitors and
inductors compared with the second-order buckboost
convertor, the actual increase in cost may not be signicant.
Effective equivalent-load variation over wide ranges with
continuous input current is the distinct advantage of the
SEPIC convertor and hence it is considered in this paper for
the MPPT.
2 Mathematical model of the system
The basic conguration of the proposed maximum-power-
tracking scheme is shown in Fig. 1. The tracking scheme is
implemented with the help of an ADMC-401 EVM. The
data-acquisition system uses the on-board A/D and D/A
peripherals of the processor. For generating the PWM
pattern, the programmable on-board PWM channel is used.
The analysis of the system is carried out under the following
assumptions:
(i) switching elements of the convertor are assumed to be
ideal;
(ii) nonidealities of the passive elements are neglected; and
(iii) passive components of the convertor are assumed to be
linear.
Mathematical models for the individual components are
developed in the following Sections.
2.1 PV-generator model
The PV generator is formed by the combination of many
PV cells connected in a seriesparallel fashion to provide the
desired value of output voltage and current. This PV
generator exhibits a nonlinear insolation-dependent V/I
characteristic, mathematically expressed for the SCA [2]
consisting N
s
cells in series and N
p
cells in parallel as
V
A
I
A
R
S
N
s
N
p
_ _

N
s
L
_ _
ln 1
N
p
I
ph
I
A
N
p
I
0
_ _
1
where L(q/AKT), q is an electric charge; A is a
completion factor; K is Boltzmanns constant; T is absolute
temperature; R
s
is the cell series resistance; I
ph
is the photo
current; I
0
is the cell reverse saturation current; and I
A
and
v
A
are the SCA current and voltage, respectively. For given
values of SCA parameters, the V
A
/I
A
characteristic depends
on the solar insolation and the MPP varies with the solar
insolation. Rewriting (1) as
V
A
I
A
R
s
N
s
N
p
_ _

N
s
L
_ _
ln
I
pha
I
0
_ _
ln 1
I
A
N
p
I
pha
_ _ _ _
2
where I
pha
I
ph
+I
0
and expanding the term ln[1I
A
/
(N
p
I
pha
)] into Taylor series and neglecting higher-order
terms results in the equation
V
A
I
A
R
sg

2N
s
LN
p
I
pha
_ _

N
s
L
_ _
ln
I
pha
I
0
_ _ _ _
3
where R
sg
N
s
R
s
/N
p
. Eqn. (3) denes the simplied V/I
characteristic used in the simulation studies.
2.2 SEPIC-convertor model
The intermediate SEPIC convertor controls the average DC
voltage applied to the load. Further, the convertor
continuously matches the output characteristic of the PV
generator to the input characteristic of the load so that
maximum power is extracted from the SCA. The mathe-
matical model of this convertor operating in continuous-
inductor-current mode (CICM) is derived using the state
space-averaging technique [7]. In the general case, a greater
number of modes is possible for this convertor depending
on the control signals, switching frequency and load value.
The analysis presented here is only for the CICM of
operation. However, statespace models for other operating
conditions can easily be obtained on similar lines. For
the CICM of operation, there are two operating modes:
mode-1: S-on, D-off; mode-2: S-off, D-on. The resulting
statespace-average model is
_
X AX BU 4
where AA
1
D
1
+A
2
D
2
, BB
1
D
1
+B
2
D
2
and D
1
+D
2
1.
The corresponding A and B matrices are
A

r
1
L
1
0
D
2
L
1

D
2
L
1
0
r
2
L
2

D
1
L
2

D
2
L
2
D
2
C
1

D
1
C
1
0 0
D
2
C
2
D
2
C
2
0
1
RC
2
_

_
_

_
B
1
L
1
0
0
0
_

_
_

_
X
i
1
i
2
vc
1
vc
2
_

_
_

_
U V
A

The steady-state voltage gain of the convertor, from

X
ss
A
1
BU, is
V
0
V
A

RD
1
D
2
D
1
D
2

RD
2
2
D
1
D
2

2
r
1
D
2
1
r
2
D
2
2
_ _ 5
If D
1
D, r
1
r
2
r, r{R, then the relationship between
load and SCA voltage is
V
0

V
A
D
1 D
6
S
C
D
V
g
C
1
C
2
V
o
DSP-based data
acquisition and
MPPT control
l
o
a
d
L
1
,r
1
L
2
,
r
2
Fig. 1 DSP-based PV system with MPPT control
1264 IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 152, No. 5, September 2005
Using power balance, the relationship between SCA current
and load current can be expressed as
I
A

I
0
D
Z1 D
7
where Z is the efciency of the convertor. Transforming the
load to the SCA side gives the expression
R
eq

RZ1 D
2
D
2
8
i.e.
V
A
I
A

RZ1 D
2
D
2
9
Substituting the expression I
A
from (3), subsequent
simplication then results into the array-voltage expression
V
A

RZ1 D
2
D
2
R
sg

2N
s
LN
p
I
pha
_ _
N
s
L
ln
I
pha
I
0
V
A
_ _
10
From the above equation note that, for given values of SCA
parameters, load and solar insolation, the array voltage
depends on the convertor duty ratio (DD
n
). The above
equation together with the voltage expression (3), gives the
power extracted from the SCA and it is in the form of
P
g
f
ib
c; R; D
n
11
The above equation indicates that, for given parameters, the
SCA power output P
g
depends on the convertor duty ratio
D
n
, i.e. by varying the duty ratio of the convertor it is
possible to extract maximum power from the SCA.
Although the above expression is obtained for a PV-
supplied SEPIC convertor system, a similar expression can
easily be established for other types of PV system that use
different switched-mode convertors for power tracking by
simply replacing the R
eq
given by (8). The expressions for
R
eq
for commonly used switched-mode convertors are given
in Table 1.
For the buck convertor, the effective load variation is (N-
0) and power tracking is possible for most of the loads, but
for the boost convertor effective load variation is in between
R and 0. As a result, the connected load of the boost
convertor has a substantial effect on the MPPT. In this case,
to ensure maximum power tracking, the connected load
should be higher than the MPP effective-load value. With
SEPIC topology, one can achieve effective load variation
similar to that of the buck convertor with the additional
benet continuous input current. This fact reduces the
ltering and EMI requirements.
3 Maximum-power-point tracking algorithm
As the V/I characteristics of the solar panels are nonlinear,
direct connection of load to the PV system will not operate
at MPP. This is because the constant-load line intersects the
V/I characteristic of PV source at a point other than the
MPP. Hence, to operate the PV system at MPP it is
required to modify the slope of the load line and direct it
towards the MPP. This can be achieved easily by
interposing a DCDC convertor between the xed load
and the PV source. To analyse the tracking mechanism, the
intermediate convertor and its load are replaced by an
equivalent resistance at the PV terminals. The power
extracted from the SCA is given by
P
g
V
A
I
A
12
Now the power extracted from the SCA depends on the
equivalent resistance appearing across the SCA terminals.
The function of any switched-mode convertor between the
PV source and a xed load is to transform the xed load R
into an adjustable load R
eq
. Accordingly, substituting the
current I
A
V
A
/R
eq
in the above equation then results into
the equation
P
g
kV
2
A
13
where k1/R
eq
. The SCA -terminal voltage depends on R
eq
and indirectly depends on the duty ratio of the convertor.
This is because R
eq
f(D). Therefore, the power extracted
from the SCA depends on the terminal voltage and duty
ratio [P
g
f(V
A
, D)]. Since the power output of the SCA
depends on the terminal voltage and convertor duty ratio,
change in any one of these parameters affects the other
parameters as well. Therefore, the power-tracking process
needs to change the duty ratio of the convertor and then
observe the power at the SCA terminals. Although the
above V
2
-based power-tracking discussion is given here for
the SEPIC convertor, the theory is equally valid for other
types of convertor. To account for different types of
convertor we need to change only the expression k in (13).
Computation of power using (12) can be achieved by
measuring both array voltage and current. In this case the
current sensing must be wideband to reect accurately the
actual current signal. There are several problems with
current sensing. This is mainly due to the pulsating nature
of the current waveform, resulting from the presence of the
intermediate switched-mode convertor. Even if the array
current is smooth, it contains the superimposed switching-
frequency noise components. Signal-to-noise ratio is usually
very low, i.e. noise is dominating the actual useful current
signal, and hence it is difcult to achieve perfect control
over the full range of operation. Moreover, current sensing
requires additional circuitry and involves some power loss.
Because of the above disadvantages of current sensing, it is
preferable to use the voltage-based power-tracking scheme
for PV systems. Eqn. (13) suggests that power extracted
from the PV array is directly proportional to the square of
the array terminal voltage, which mainly depends on the
duty ratio of the convertor and load. This means that, by
using a simple hill-climbing algorithm together with
changing duty, it is possible to reach the MPP. This process
indirectly moves the effective-load line on the power curve
to a position where maximum power can be extracted from
the SCA.
In real-time systems, the tracking process is initiated by
outputing a small duty ratio of the desired frequency. This
can be achieved by simply loading a small-duty-ratio count
into the PWM-channel control register of the DSP. This
duty ratio is sufcient to drive the convertor and gives a
nonzero terminal voltage. Based on this sensed voltage, the
tracking process takes the decision on increasing or
decreasing the duty ratio so that tracking progresses
towards the MPP. The duty-ratio control word is
continuously modulated to maximise the power. In every
Table 1: Equivalent reected loads of the switched-mode
convertors
Buck convertor ZR
D
2
Boost convertor
ZR1 D
2
Buckboost convertor
ZR1 D
2
D
2
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 152, No. 5, September 2005 1265
case, the duty-ratio modulation satises the equation
D
n
D
p
7Dd, where D
p
and D
n
are the present and new
duty ratios. The sign of the incremental duty ratio Dd is
determined by the incremental power DP and operating-
point movement in the forward or reverse direction. If DP is
positive and the operating point is to the left of the MPP,
then D
n
(D
p
+Dd); otherwise D
n
(D
p
Dd). Along simi-
lar lines, if DP is negative and the operating point is to the
left of the MP point, then D
n
(D
p
+Dd); otherwise
D
n
(D
p
Dd). This tracking-control process repeats itself
until the MPP is reached and then stays within an allowable
tolerance range about the steady-state operating point. If we
use a xed allowable tolerance band, say some percentage
of maximum power, then the MPPT performance is
satisfactory only for a few solar insolations. At lower solar
insolations, this band becomes greater than the maximum
power at that point. As a result, poor tracking performance
results with a xed band. To obtain better tracking
performance for all solar insolations we have used an
adaptive tolerance band, which depends on the power
value.
4 Convertor-design guidelines
The design procedure for the converter elements of the PV-
supplied system is presented in this Section. As stated
above, the function of the switched-mode DCDC
convertor in the PV system is to adjust the effective
resistance across the PV-array terminals. The effective
resistance provided by the SEPIC convertor given by (8)
denes the resistance of the PV array at MPP as R
m
V
n
/
I
m
. As the MPP voltage and current depend on the solar
insolation, this resistance R
m
also depends on the solar
insolation. However, for a given solar insolation, this value
is xed.
For the PV-supplied convertor system, the convertor
input voltage will change with solar insolation. Let us
assume that this convertor is provided with an MPPT
system so that the duty ratio of the convertor is adjusted to
the MPP value for each solar insolation. The expected
convertor input-voltage range is equal to the range of MPP-
voltage variation. For the given SCA, we can easily obtain
the MPP quantities (V
m
, I
m
, P
m
) from low-to-rated solar
insolations. If the solar-insolation variation is low to high,
determine the MPP voltages (V
ml
, V
mh
) and effective
resistances (R
e
, R
efh
) corresponding to minimum and
maximum expected solar insolations. Compute the effective
resistances from the expressions
R
efl

V
2
ml
P
ml
14
R
efh

V
2
mh
P
mh
15
For a given load R, the MPP duty ratios (D
ml
, D
mh
) of the
convertor for minimum and rated solar insolations can
easily be computed from the equations
D
ml

1
1
R
efl
R
_ _ _ _ _ 16
D
mh

1
1
R
efh
R
_ _ _ _ _ 17
Once D
ml
, D
mh
values are computed, all the information for
design of the convertor is available and now the task is
merely substitution of the above values in the closed-form
equations. For the SEPIC convertor in CICM, the design
equations can easily be obtained and are given in Table 2.
The convertor parameters are required to calculate both
for lower and rated solar insolations. From these two sets of
convertor parameters, choose the higher values of induc-
tance and capacitance so that the convertor operates in
CICM for all solar insolations. The above design procedure
is employed to design the convertor to be suitable for the
prototype 30W PV system. Through experiments, the MPP
quantities for low and rated solar insolation are determined
and these are tabulated in Table 3.
From the above results, given in Table 3, it is evident that
the convertor-input voltage, MPP voltage, varies between
13 and 17.5V and the duty ratio is in the range 0.5070.71.
Assuming 5% ripple in the capacitor-voltage convertor,
parameter values are computed using the equations given in
Table 2 and these are tabulated in Table 4.
The above tabulated component values are critical values
corresponding to the boundary between CICM and DCM.
Since the convertor is assumed to operate in CCM, the
convertor inductance L and capacitance C should be greater
than the corresponding values given in Table 4. Finally,
trade-off parameter values are chosen, given in Table 5, so
as to result in optimum convertor performance.
5 DSP-based tracking and experimental-system
description
The basic conguration of the proposed PV system
is shown in Fig. 1. For both data acquisition and
Table 2: SEPIC-convertor design equations
L
1

R
2f
s
1 M
L
2

R
2f
s
1 M
C
1

D V
0
Rf
s
DV
1
C
2

D T V
0
Rf
s
DV
0
M
V
0
V
g
V
0
V
g

D
1 D
Table 3: Maximum power point data
Low solar
insolation
Highsolar
insolation
P
m
3W 30W
V
m
V
g
13V 17.5V
V
0
13.02V 42.43V
R
ef
56.3O 10.2O
D
m
0.507 0.708
Table 4: Convertor parameters obtained from design
equations
Low solar
insolation
Highsolar
insolation
L
1
0.15mH 0.038mH
L
2
0.15mH 0.089mH
C
1
1.904mF 2.359mF
C
2
1.904mF 2.359mF
1266 IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 152, No. 5, September 2005
MPPT-algorithm implementation the on-board ADCs and
PWM generators of ADMC-401 [8] are used. This ADMC-
401 has the following major features:
(i) xed-point 16-bit processor with 76.92ns at 13MHz
clock frequency;
(ii) 16-bit ALU with 26 MIPS performance;
(iii) three independent PWM generation units;
(iv) eight dependent 12-bit ADC channels with simulta-
neous sampling; and
(v) independent 12-bit serial DAC channel.
The voltage is given to the ADC channel of the DSP
module. The switching frequency of the PWM units is set to
75kHz. The owchart shown in Fig. 7 is implemented in
the DSP. The program code was written in an interrupt
service routine, i.e. the vectored PWM synchronous
interrupt and the ADC end of conversion interrupt. Each
of these interrupts has a dedicated length of 4bytes. The
sampling frequency should be at least twice the switching
frequency because the code is written within this routine. As
far as the priority is concerned, the ADC EOC comes
before the PWM synchronous interrupt, so to serve the
PWM synchronous interrupt we need to disable the ADC
EOC within the ADC interrupt routine.
To verify the proposed tracking method, an experimental
prototype SEPIC convertor circuit has been built and
measurements were taken from the prototype. The
semiconductor devices used are: IRF530 power MOSFET,
MUR820 fast-recovery diode, IR2110 gate driver and 1C
6N137, used for isolation purposes. Buffer circuits are used
in between the power convertor and the DSP for safe
operation of the ADC channels. The articial sun is
realised, in the laboratory, by the incandescent lamp set and
the solar insolation on the PV panel is changed by changing
the magnitude of AC supply voltage.
6 Results and discussion
To verify the proposed tracking algorithm, for nonlinear
PV sources, the mathematical models given by (1)(4),
together with MPPT, is transferred into the SIMULINK
platform as shown in Fig. 2. Taking the convertor and PV-
source parameters, given in Table 4, exhaustive simulation
studies have been made for different operating conditions.
ODE15s stiff/NDF solver with variable step size was used
while performing simulations. For illustration, a few
important simulation results are plotted in Figs. 35. Figure
3 shows the starting performance and MPPT effectiveness.
It is clear that, for a given load and solar insolation, the
duty ratio of the convertor is continuously changing such
that the SCA voltage tracks to the MPP voltage. Further,
the simulation-tracking characteristics for different solar
insolations (C
1
, C
3
) are also obtained, and these are shown
in Fig. 4. Although the tracking algorithm is developed
assuming that the load is constant, it is still equally valid for
different kinds of load-cycle combination. The tracking
algorithm-effectiveness for load change from 10O to 60O is
shown in Fig. 5. From all these simulation results, it clear
that the algorithm is capable of tracking MPP. To verify the
proposed theory and simulation results, experimental
investigations are discussed below.
Experimental studies were carried out to investigate the
MPPT capability of SEPIC-convertor-supplied PV systems.
A prototype system was constructed in the laboratory using
a DSP-based data-acquisition system. The experimental
Table 5: Photovoltaic-array and convertor parameters
Maximum power P
m
32W
Open circuit voltage V
oc
20.5V
Short circuit current I
sc
2.6A
Operating voltage at maximum power V
m
16.5V
Operating current at maximum power I
m
1.94A
Module efciency 11%
Module size 6.455.5cm
r
1
0.05O
r
2
0.07O
L
1
0.15mH
L
2
0.15mH
C
1
10mF
C
2
100mF
f 75kHz
AM 1.5, 1kW/m
2
, 251C
in1
out1
K insolation c1
PV system
load
insolation
SEPIC convertor
MPPT
out2
in1
in2
[D]
[D]
[Pg]
[Pg]
[IA]
[IA]
[VA]
[VA]
[VA]

product1
VA,IA,Pg,D
Fig. 2 SIMULINK block diagram of PV-supplied SEPIC convertor
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 152, No. 5, September 2005 1267
I
A
/V
A
and P
g
/V
A
characteristics of the prototype PV
generator are shown in Fig. 6. Based on the tracking theory
given in the preceding Sections, a modular assembly-
language program, which appears just like a program in C
was developed in the ADMC401 motor-control debugger
environment for real-time MPPT of the SCA. The array
voltage is sensed by the DSP through its on-board ADC
channel. The ADC channel has a lowpass lter, with a cut-
off frequency of 35kHz on the input side, which eliminates
the switching-frequency noise components. Based on the
measured voltage, a new duty cycle is calculated by the
CPU using the predened tracking algorithm. This is passed
to a PWM module which controls the switch-on and
switch-off of the DCDC convertor. Measurement of the
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
time, s
P
g
V
g
p
o
w
e
r
,

W
/

v
o
l
t
a
g
e
,

V
Fig. 3 Simulated MPPT-tracking characteristics during starting
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
V
g
P
g
p
o
w
e
r
,

W
/

v
o
l
t
a
g
e
,

V

1
time, s
Fig. 4 Simulated MPPT-tracking characteristics for variable solar
insolation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 0.5 1.5
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
P
g
p
o
w
e
r
,

W
time, s
l
o
a
d

c
u
r
r
e
n
t
,

A
I
o
R = 60 R = 10
Fig. 5 Simulated MPPT-tracking characteristics for step change
in load (C
1
)
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
0 5 10 15 20 25
voltage, V
c
u
r
r
e
n
t
,

A
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
p
o
w
e
r
,

W
I-V
P-V

5
Fig. 6 Experimental I
A
/V
A
and P
S
/V
A
characteristics of the solar-
cell array
start
yes no
is
C > 0?
is
is
d > 1?
d = 1 d = 0
is
d < 0?
yes
no
yes
no
PWM sync. interrupt
ADC EOC interrupt
declare and initialize
constants, variables
dummy loop
compute power 'PP'
yes no
is
ADC interrupt?
read voltage sample
and decrement counter
no
yes
compute average voltage,
incremental power (P),
and disable ADC conversion
P > ?
Pm = PP
d = d+d
Pm = PP
d = dd
Fig. 7 Flow chart of DSP-based MPPT algorithm
1268 IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 152, No. 5, September 2005
voltage, calculation of the new duty ratio as per the
algorithm sequence, and updating of the duty cycle require
a nite amount of time, so there is an inherent time delay in
the entire process that reects in the MPPT time.
Based on this voltage, the algorithm starts tracking
towards the MPP. The tracking logic, implemented in DSP,
is shown in Fig. 7. Initially the tracking was implemented
based on instantaneous sample voltage but it was found
that the accuracy of tracking was not effective. During
experimentation it was sometimes observed that the
tracking was making steady-state oscillations around the
operating point. To obtain better accuracy of tracking, we
have used an average sample voltage, based on ve samples,
rather than the instantaneous sample voltage. This
optimum number of samples was found from a series of
experiments. Use of a greater number of samples unne-
cessarily increases the wait time involved in the ADC
conversion and the MPPT time.
The proposed scheme tracks the MPP by continuously
adjusting the duty ratio of the convertor depending on the
status of present and previous power values. As an
illustration, experimental tracking characteristics are pre-
sented for a solar insolation C
1
in Fig. 8. These character-
istics include SCA power and terminal voltage.
Examination of these characteristics reveals that the
tracking method is working satisfactorily and the maximum
power obtained under this condition closely matches that
obtained from the actual test. On similar lines the tracking
performance of the proposed method is veried for variable
solar insolations (owing to lack of space results are not
given here), and it was found that the results closely
matched the actual values obtained from conventional
testing methods.
In practical cases the load may not be constant as
has been assumed during experiments. To verify the
effectiveness of the proposed method under such situations,
we created articial load disturbances, from 10O to 60O,
and measured the tracking characteristics. These are shown
in Fig. 9. As expected, the power is constant for the entire
range of load cycle but it undergoes intermediate dynamics
at the instant of load change. The above observations are
valid only for a resistive load connected to the convertor.
However, in most cases PV systems are supplying a variety
of loads, such as resistive, battery, load-side convertors,
combination of these etc. In such cases the suitability of the
proposed tracking scheme needs to be veried. For
illustration, tracking effectiveness is veried here for two
different cases: a load wherein a battery is in series with a
resistive load and the load cycle is changed from a battery in
series with a resistive load to only a battery; and secondly at
the convertor load terminals one more boost convertors is
connected in addition to its local load. The tracking
characteristics obtained for the above two cases are plotted
in Figs. 10 and 11. These results indicate that the proposed
tracking scheme is capable of tracking power from the SCA
for all types of loads and their combinations.
For comparison, the conventional power-tracking meth-
od, using both voltage and current, was also realised. Under
identical conditions to those used for demonstrating the
proposed scheme, the experimental measurements were
observed and in almost all cases the power-tracking results
matched the results shown in Figs. 811. Thus the
performance of the proposed tracking method is identical
to that of the conventional MPPT method. Experimental
results are slightly different from the simulated values. This
difference is due to:
(i) the difculty of accurate representation of the non-
idealities of the convertor in the simulations,
(ii) use of built-in differential equation solvers and variable-
step-size limitations,
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
V
g
P
g
p
o
w
e
r
,

W
/

v
o
l
t
a
g
e
,

V
time, s
Fig. 8 Experimental MPPT characteristics
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
P
g
p
o
w
e
r
,

W
time, s
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
l
o
a
d

c
u
r
r
e
n
t
,

A
R = 10 R = 60
I
o
Fig. 9 Experimental MPPT characteristics for step change in load
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0.4 0.2 0 0.2 0.4
time, s
p
o
w
e
r
,

W
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
c
u
r
r
e
n
t
,

A
I
o
P
g
R-E
b
E
b
Fig. 10 Experimental MPPT characteristics for battery-charging
load
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 152, No. 5, September 2005 1269
(iii) the power is measured with the scope math function;
thus power-data points are obtained by means of a serial
port with instrument-compatible software, wherein there is
a limitation on the data points and
(iv) errors in the measuring instruments etc.
Other reasons for the deviation from the ideal conditions
are the errors in sampling the voltages and the A/D
conversion delay in the DSP controller.
7 Conclusions
Current sensor-less power tracking for nonlinear PV sources
has been proposed and demonstrated. Mathematical
models for the PV system have been formulated and a
tracking algorithm developed. A simulation model for the
combined MPPT system has been developed in SIMU-
LINK and then the MPPT-performance characteristics
have been predetermined. Simulation results were validated
experimentally. Tracking effectiveness was also veried for
different loading conditions and load cycles. For the
tracking-algorithm verication, a ADMC-401 DSP was
used and it was found that the tracking could be achieved
within 2ms. Further reduction of this tracking time is
possible if a processor having a low instruction-cycle time
is employed. However, the total response of the system
is also partly determined by the switched-mode convertor
employed for tracking.
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3 Kislovski, A.S.: Power tracking methods in photovoltaic applications.
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4 Hua, C., Lin, J., and Shen, C.: Implementation of a DSP controlled
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5 Tse, K.K., Ho, M.T., Henry, S.H., Chung, S.Y., and Hui, S.Y.: A
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8 ADMC401: Analog Devices user manual, undated
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0.4 0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.5
p
o
w
e
r
,

W
/

v
o
l
t
a
g
e
,

V
time, s
R = 40 R = 60
P
g
V
g
Fig. 11 Experimental MPPT characteristics for series convertors
1270 IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 152, No. 5, September 2005