Proceedings of 2015 3rd International Conference on Advances in Electrical Engineering

17-19 December, 2015, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Experimental Assessment of PV Arrays Connected

to Buck-Boost Converter using MPPT and Non-
MPPT Technique by Implementing in Real Time
Hardware
Deepak Kumar Chy. Md. Khaliluzzaman
Dept. of Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE) Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE)
University of Information Technology & Sciences (UITS) International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC)
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Abstract— Solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays are a great source up with control this device [3] [5].
of generation of renewable energy. Harvesting clean energy from
photovoltaic cell is reliable, pollution and noise free, low Many researchers have developed and implemented many
maintenance and long lasting energy source. However, typical methods in this research fields. Such as, in [6], proposed the
Voltage-Current (V-I) and Power-Voltage (P-V) characteristics output sensing method implementing P&O just slightly
curves of PV cells depend on the weather conditions such as modified it using MATLAB simulator and measured converter
temperature and irradiation. It is always difficult to fix efficiency. In [9], proposed an adaptive P&O MPPT for a
Maximum Power Point (MPP) on V-I and P-V curve. In order to photovoltaic module connected to the buck-boost converter
achieve maximum efficiency from PV cells, Maximum Power using MATLAB for current, voltage and output power for
Point Tracking (MPPT) is used. This paper presents a non- different solar irradiation. In [10], proposed the comparison
inverting Buck-Boost converter based on MPPT and Non-MPPT between two algorithms P&O and incremental conductance
technique by implementing modified P&O algorithm through method through buck, boost and cuck converter using
MPPT control circuit. The modified P&O algorithm is a simple MATLAB. In [11], authors presented in details
algorithm that does not require previous knowledge of the PV implementation of P&O MPPT using buck and buck-boost
characteristics. A PV system incorporating a solar panel, Buck- converter through MATLAB.
Boost converter and load as battery is modeled and implemented
through hardware. Entire range of the duty cycle needs to be In this paper, a modified P&O algorithm is implemented
used for using this modified algorithm. Without adding much through buck-boost converter controlled by duty cycle using
additional cost a desired efficiency is obtained. A microcontroller automatic controlled with the help of microcontroller. This
based PV system is used in this work. research article implemented modified algorithm with real
time hardware.
Key words — Renewable Energy; Photovoltaic (PV) Array;
P&O Algorithm; Buck-Boost Converter; MPPT, Duty Cycle; The remaining paper is organized as follows. In Section II,
Microcontroller. theoretical background is described. In Section III, system
design and description is given. In Section IV modified MPPT
I. INTRODUCTION algorithm is explained, system performance and analysis are
given in Section V. The paper is concluded in Section VI.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) array is becoming an increasingly
attractive way to generate power around the world in the last II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
few years. The fact is that solar energy can be directly
converted into electrical energy without any intermediate A. PV Module Modeling
conversion process. Since the present world faces both energy A solar PV array is considered as a P-N junction
crisis and global warming. Photovoltaic energy can mitigate semiconductor. When light is incident on a semiconductor
these global problems. It does not emit CO2 emission resulting material DC current is generated. The produced current is
in environmentally friendly and pollution free. However, linearly dependant with solar irradiance. One single diode
extracting energy from photovoltaic arrays is still expensive equivalent circuit of a solar cell is considered as one of the
and inefficient in terms of technological view point compared most popular mathematical model for solar arrays, almost all
to other sources of energy. So it is important to optimize the practical solar cells work under this mathematical principle
efficiency of PV panel. A lot of research has been conducted
[12][7]. Equivalent Circuit of PV Solar Cell is as shown in
to address this matter [1] [2]. A typical solar panel
Fig. 1.
characteristic basically depends on the weather conditions
changing i.e. temperature, illumination. The technology which The current through the diode is given by:
is widely used is a device that continually finds the maximum
power point of a solar array termed as maximum power point 1 (1)
tracker (MPPT) [4]. Many sophisticated algorithms have come

978-1-4673-9695-0/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE 306

 Proceedings of 2015 3rd International Conference on Advances in Electrical Engineering
17-19 December, 2015, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Fig. 1. Equivalent circuit of PV solar cell.

Fig. 3. System block diagram with MPPT.
While, the solar cell output current: B. Buck-Boost Converter
(2) A non-inverting buck-boost converter is essentially a
cascaded combination of a buck converter followed by a boost
converter, where a single inductor-capacitor is used for both.
1 3
This converter requires the use of two active switches and is
Where, I is the cell current (A), IL is the light generated designed by combining a buck converter and boost converter
current (A), I0 the diode saturation current , A is diode quality design in the same topology. Due to this design this converter
factor, Vt is thermal voltage, Rs and Rsh are cell series and can work as buck-only, boost-only or buck-boost converter. It
shunt resistance (ohms) and V is the cell output voltage (V). provides an output voltage that may be less than or greater
Making a better mathematical model, the calculation of Iph, Id, than the input voltage, hence the name buck-boost. Basic buck
and Rs parameter including temperature effects should be -boost converter circuit is as shown in Fig. 4.
taken into account.
B. MPPT in PV Solar System
MPPT [4][8] is for Maximum Power Point Tracking for
the case of solar cells to draw maximum power possible from
them, for the specified environmental and structural condition.
Main causes to search for MPP are ambient temperature and
irradiance related as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4. Basic buck-boost converter.

IV. MODIFIED MPPT ALGORITHM

A generic I-V characteristic of PV module shows the
maximum power point (MPP),

= (4)

Where, Vmax and Imax is the PV max voltage and current

respectively. Since these quantities vary in accordance with
climate changes particularly temperature and irradiance of
Fig. 2. Solar panel IV curve with MPPT.
sunlight. It is always critical to set a maximum power point.
To get a maximum power point, a technique is required which
III. SYSTEM DESIGN AND DESCRIPTION can locate the exact position of MPP called MPPT algorithm.
The modified MPPT algorithm is used to control the
maximum power transfer from a PV panel. This algorithm is
executed by a PIC16F73 microcontroller using the PV voltage
and current data to compute the maximum power. This
computed maximum power is compared with instantaneous
actual power from PV panel. The difference between the
maximum power (reference power) and actual power drives
the converter which is controlled by PWM from the
microcontroller. The system block diagram is as shown in Fig.
3.
A. Microcontroller
The MPPT control circuit is implemented in a
microcontroller PIC16F73 that has 8-bits analog-to-digital
Fig. 5. The flowchart of the P&O MPPT method.
(A/D) converter and two PWM mode signals. The buck-boost
converter is controlled by the microcontroller. It read the The P&O MPPT algorithm is as shown in Fig. 5. The idea
voltage and current of the solar panel through the A/D port of behind the traditional P&O algorithm is that it changes the
controller and calculates the output power. The PIC16F73 is a PV-voltage or current until reaching the optimum point termed
perfect combination of performance, features, and low power as MPP. The modified algorithm works as same as traditional
consumption for this application [7]. one except some modification is introduced. The flow chart of

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 Proceedings of 2015 3rd International Conference on Advances in Electrical Engineering
17-19 December, 2015, Dhaka, Bangladesh

this modified algorithm is presented in Fig. 6. This algorithm V. SYSTEM PERFO

ORMANCE AND ANALYSIS
starts with setting the PWM duty cycle vallue at half of duty The specification of PV moodule is as shown in Table I.
cycle or any other values.
The flow chart of the modified methood containing the TABLE I. SPECIFICATTION OF THE PV MODULE
additional block set of the duty cycle att its initial value. Maximum power 50 W
Reading the voltage and current from PV panel, this algorithm Open circuit voltagge 21.60 V
calculated the present power. Comparing the difference of Short circuit currennt 3.23 A
present power and past power which is put into algorithm as Voltage at max pow wer 17.20 V
Current at max power 2.91 A
zero initially and then algorithm decide the next
n step.
Cell Temperature 25oC
When the power difference is greatter than zero, it AM 1.5
increment the duty cycle until the position of correct MPP and Irradiation 1000 W/m2
Weight 5 Kg
vice versa. At this point, the present poweer is equal to past
power. Here the duty cycle value is incremented or In this section we presennt in details implementation of
decremented with a fixed step size. modified P&O MPPT and Non-MPPT technique using buck-
boost converter.
The data shown in Table II was measured on 17th July,
2015, Chittagong in Bangladeesh using buck-boost converter
with Non- MPPT showing circuuit response.

TABLE II. MEASURED VA

ALUE FROM CIRCUIT RESPONSE

Time Input Input Duty Cycle

D Output Output
Voltage Current (%) Voltage Current
11:40 17.8 0.41 0.420 12.9 0.27
11:50 17.2 0.56 0.429 12.9 0.50
12:00 17.1 0.56 0.429 12.9 0.49
12:10 17.08 0.54 0.430 12.9 0.49
12:20 17.05 0.53 0.431 12.9 0.46

I data were measured on 17st

The Table III and Table IV
July, 2015, Chittagong in Banngladesh using modified MPPT
algorithm through buck boost converter
c at different times.
Fig. 6. Flowchart of the modified MPPT algorithm.
TABLE III. MEASURED VALUE BY
B MPPT ALGORITHM FROM CIRCUIT
The algorithm implemented in this worrk is called power RESP
PONSE

reading algorithm since it works sensing the power of PV st

17 July, 2015 at 10.00 AM
M, Chittagong in Bangladesh
array. The Significant difference between the modified and Time Input Input Duty Output Output
conventional P&O algorithm is that the moddified algorithm is Voltage Current Cycle Voltage Current
used to govern the MPPT directly drawn thhe power from PV 10.00 17.5 2.46 173 12.9 3.17
10.10 18.1 2.33 155 12.9 3.19
array, whereas conventional P&O algorithm
m is used to control 10.20 18.6 2.53 160 12.9 3.48
the MPPT by periodically increasing or deecreasing the solar 10.30 17.9 2.67 180 12.9 3.17
array voltage. 10.40 17.7 2.52 178 12.9 3.30
10.50 18.3 2.25 150 12.9 3.03
wn in Fig. 7. This
The MPPT tracking process is as show 11.00 17.6 2.50 176 12.9 3.25
curve is obtained under standard testiing condition at 11.10 18.4 2.06 138 12.9 3.79
irradiation level1kw/m2 and at 250 c. 11.20 17.8 2.35 158 12.9 3.10
11.30 18.7 2.32 170 12.9 3.21

TABLE IV. MEASURED VALUE BY

B MPPT ALGORITHM FROM CIRCUIT
RESP
PONSE
st
17 July, 2015 at 2.20 PM, Chittagong in Bangladesh
Time Input Input Duty Output Output
Voltage Current Cycle Voltage Current
2.20 17.5 2.36 152 13.15 2.99
Fig. 7. Ideal MPPT tracking process. 2.30 17.9 2.45 157 13.2 3.23
2.40 18.5 2.10 138 13.2 2.84
2.50 18.9 2.22 140 13.2 3.03
3.00 16.6 2.76 165 13.2 3.31
3.10 17.8 2.08 95 13.26 2.69
3.20 18.3 2.10 105 13.29 2.73
3.30 18.6 2.23 170 13.35 2.96
3.40 17.8 2.37 155 13.4 3.02
Fig. 8. Measuring data with solar paanel. 3.50 19.00 2.23 160 13.42 3.02

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 Proceedings of 2015 3rd International Conference on Advances in Electrical Engineering
17-19 December, 2015, Dhaka, Bangladesh

From Table II we see that the input voltage and current is

greater than output voltage and current showing the
characteristic of buck-boost converter. From Table III we see
that the output powers are fluctuate very little. In this solar
panel the indicated power is 50W. Average output power is
measured from solar panel for MPPT and Non-MPPT is
(a) (b) 40.78W and 5.7W respectively which are around 81.56% for
Fig. 9. Duty cycle Vs. Output Power characteristics: a) at time 10.00 AM
MPPT and 11.4% for Non-MPPT.
b) at time 2.20 PM. From above analysis we observed that applied modified
algorithm works efficiently regardless of weather conditions.
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper presented experimental evaluation of PV cells
designed on MPPT and Non-MPPT scheme. Results reveal
that significant amount of power is wasted when Non-MPPT
.
(a) (b) scheme is introduced. According to measured data 81.56%
average power is achieved compared to Non-MPPT technique
Fig. 10. Duty cycle Vs. Input Power characteristics: a) at time 10.00 AM which is 11.4%. Moreover, the result shows that MPPT is
b) at time 2.20 PM.
more efficient than Non-MPPT which is about 86.02%
Input and output power at different instant of tracking according to average output power.
process also changes between different periods of day time as
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