[Sathya, 2(11): November, 2013] ISSN: 2277-9655

Impact Factor: 1.852

IJESRT
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES & RESEARCH
TECHNOLOGY
Modelling and Simulation of Solar Photovoltaic array for Battery charging
Application using Matlab-Simulink
P.Sathya*1, G.Aarthi 2
*1,2
School of Electronics Engineering, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
[email protected]
Abstract
This paper presents a model of solar photovoltaic array for charging a battery in Matlab/simulink. This
model is used to extract the parameters of a solar module under continuous irradiation. An array of PV modules
created and tested for continuous solar insolation. The output from this array system is provided as input to the
Boost converter to produce a regulated output of 24V. Regulated output from the converter is used for charging a
battery which can be used for powering any application. The entire model is simulated and verified for its suitability
to implement in real time and the resulting outputs are presented here. This model can be used as a basic for
prototype hardware construction in real time.

Keywords: Solar PV Array, Boost Converter, Battery, insolation, Matlab, Simulink.

Introduction
The Renewable energy sources are becoming with Matlab/Simulink and been verified with a
popular nowadays in the field of energy generation to commercial PV module [6].In this paper a Matlab/
meet the energy demand. Among the different sources Simulink based solar PV model is developed and the
available, solar energy is considered as the best source of output parameters are determined. Then a PV array is
energy as it does not produce any pollution. The solar developed for required level of output value using the
module uses the principle of photovoltaic which directly tested PV module. The output from PV array is given to
converts the incoming light radiation into electricity. the DC-DC boost converter for regulating the output
This is mainly used for power generation because of its voltage to 24V. Then the regulated output voltage is
modular in nature which can be easily modified for any provided as input for charging the battery.
level of requirement. It remains functioning for a long
period without requiring major maintenance. The Model of Solar Photovoltaic Module
drawbacks of the system are high capital cost and need A solar PV cell produces an output voltage of
for many storage devices to store the energy around 0.6V. To increase the voltage level, many cells
A model for solar PV cell has been are connected in series to form a PV module. This
created to extract the physical parameters as a function of module in turn can be either connected in series or shunt
temperature and solar radiation and experimental to improve the voltage or current level respectively. The
validation also done [1]. The internal parameters of solar solar cell used for designing a module has the following
PV cell such as ideality factor, series and shunt resistance characteristics shown in table 1. The interconnection of
are extracted using a method which is represented in 20 solar cells in series is shown in figure 2 forms a PV
block diagram simulink model [2]. Simulation of Matlab module. To determine the output parameters such as
based Solar PV module with MPPT using incremental current, voltage and power of the solar module, a test set
conductance for various insolation levels has been tested up is developed here which is shown in figure 1. This test
in [3]. A mathematical model of solar PV module has model consists of a voltage sensor and current sensor for
been developed, I-V and P-V characteristics of PV with sensing the output voltage and current from PV module.
60 W and 64W are simulated and verified with data sheet The input is continuous solar radiation of 1000 W/m2. To
value [4].An accurate two diode model representation of convert the constant data to solar irradiation a Simulink-
PV cell has been developed using Matlab / simulink and Physical signal converter is used at the input side.
the effect of series and shunt resistance has been Similarly a Physical signal to simulink converter is used
observed [5].A generalized PV model which is including at the output side to change the physical signal to
solar PV cell, PV module and array has been created computational data. The output of the sensors is given to
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[Sathya, 2(11): November, 2013] ISSN: 2277-9655
Impact Factor: 1.852

a multiplier to find the output power. A solver block is

used to carry out continuous simulation and computation.

Table 1. Parameters of a Solar Cell

Parameters Values
Short circuit current 4.34 A
(ISC)
Open circuit voltage 0.6 V
(VOC)
Solar Irradiation (Irr) 1000 W/m2
Quality Factor (N) 1.5
Series Resistance 10

Figure 3. Model of Solar PV Array to test output

parameters

Model of DC-DC Boost Converter

The output of the PV array is connected to the
input of DC-DC boost converter. The boost converter is a
power electronics circuit which is used to convert dc
Figure 1. Model of Solar PV module to test output voltage at lower level to another dc voltage at higher
parameters level. They generally perform the conversion by applying
a dc voltage across an inductor for a period of time
which causes current to flow through it and store energy
magnetically, then switching this voltage off and causing
the stored energy to be transferred to the voltage output
in a controlled manner. The output voltage is regulated
by adjusting the ratio of on/off time of the pulse
generator. The Pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal
allows control and regulation of the total output voltage.
Since the output of solar array is variable dc voltage, a
boost converter is required to produce constant regulated
high dc voltage. In this project, a boost converter is
designed to step up 12V to constant 24V output at 50%
duty cycle of PWM signal with switching frequency of
20 kHz.

Figure 2. Model of Internal architecture of a Solar PV

module

Model of Solar Photovoltaic Array

The PV module tested above is used for
construction of solar array. Here 6 PV modules are
connected in parallel to enhance the current level of the
array. This PV array model is irradiated with continuous
solar radiation of 1000 W/m2. Using a solver Figure 4. Circuit diagram of Boost converter
configuration, the output parameters are determined. The
entire PV array model for determination of output The dc-dc boost converter shown in figure 4 is
parameters is shown in figure 3. operated in two modes.

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Mode-1: When the MOSFET switch is in ON state

(closed), the whole circuit will be divided into two loops
one at the output side and another at the input side. The
closed loop at input consisting of inductor gets charged
by the current flowing through the loop during this
period. This current will increase linearly till the time the
switch is in closed condition. In the same time interval,
inductor voltage is also high as it is not delivered to any
load but to itself. Diode is off during this mode. The
equivalent circuit representation of mode 1 is shown in Figure 7. Model of DC-DC Boost Converter
figure 5.
Model of Battery Circuit
PV panels only provide power during the
daylight hours and many applications require energy
when the sun is set, hence a battery is often needed to
store energy. A real battery has an internal resistance
and is often modeled with an equivalent circuit
consisting of an ideal battery of voltage VB in series with
some internal resistance Ri. During the charge cycle, the
applied voltage needs to be greater than the battery
voltage and during discharge cycle; the output voltage is
less than VB.

Figure 5. Equivalent Circuit of Mode 1

Mode-2: When the switch is in OFF state

(Open), there will be a closed loop consisting of power
source, inductor and RC load. The energy stored in the
inductor during ON state is discharged to the RC load
circuit through the diode. Thus inductor current is
reducing linearly, charging the capacitor at the load side.
The equivalent circuit for mode 2 is shown in figure 6.

Figure 8. Equivalent circuit of battery and I-V

characteristic graph.

Battery is an electrochemical device that

converts chemical energy into electrical energy. The
most commonly used battery is the lead acid battery
because of its low cost and simple charging process. The
cell in a lead acid battery consists of lead electrodes in an
electrolyte of aqueous sulphuric acid. The anode is made
up of lead and cathode is lead oxide. Inside the cell, the
oxidation and reduction reaction takes place for
Figure 6. Equivalent Circuit of Mode 2 discharging and charging. The regulated output from the
boost converter is fed to the battery circuit for storing
Thus for closed switch time inductor gets energy. Here two lead acid batteries are used in series for
charged and capacitor is delivering the required power to storing the charge. Each battery has the following
the load, and for the opened switch time inductor will characteristics shown in table 2. The complete model for
discharge supplying the full power to load and charging testing the battery characteristics is shown in figure
capacitor simultaneously. The model of boost converter 8.The discharge characteristics of the battery is shown in
done in matlab is shown in figure 7. figure 9.

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[Sathya, 2(11): November, 2013] ISSN: 2277-9655
Impact Factor: 1.852

Ripple factor of the boost converter output is equal to

Table 2. Parameters of a Lead acid Battery 1.195%. The voltage across the battery is shown in figure
Parameters Values 13.
Nominal voltage 12 V
Rated Capacity 6.5 Ah
Initial state of charge 100 %
(SOC)
Nominal discharge 1.3 A
current

Figure 9. Model of Battery Circuit

Nominal Current Discharge Characteristic at 0.2C (1.3A)

14
Discharge curve
Nominal area
Voltage

12 Exponential area

10
Figure 11. Output waveform of Solar PV module
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time (hours)
E0 = 12.269, R = 0.018462, K = 0.051866, A = 0.82078, B = 138.4615

6.5 A
12 13 A
Voltage

32.5 A

10

8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Time (Minutes)

Figure 10. Discharge characteristics of lead acid battery

Result and Analysis

The simulink model of solar PV module shown
in figure 1 is simulated and observed output waveforms
are shown in figure 11. It produces an output voltage of
11.8 V, current of 1.2 A and power of 14 W for a
continuous irradiation of 1000 W/m2. Simulink model of
solar PV array is then simulated and the output
waveforms are shown in figure 12. In this case, the
output values are 11.75 V, 11.75 A and 137 W. The
output of solar PV array is fed to the boost converter and
its regulated output is shown in figure 13. The ripple
factor of the output voltage is calculated using the Figure 12. Output waveform of Solar PV array
following formula;
Ripple factor () = ( Vmax Vmin) / Vavg
From the graph,
= (23.56 23.28) / 23.42
= 0.0119.

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[Sathya, 2(11): November, 2013] ISSN: 2277-9655
Impact Factor: 1.852

preliminary test and it forms the base for making

prototype hardware.

References
[1] Tarak Salmi*, Mounir Bouzguenda**, Adel
Gastli**, Ahmed Masmoudi,
MATLAB/Simulink Based Modelling of Solar
Photovoltaic Cell, International journal of
Renewable energy research, Vol.2, No.2, 2012.
[2] ] Zameer Ahmad and S.N. Singh, Extraction of
the Internal Parameters of Solar photovoltaic
Module by developing Matlab / Simulink Based
Model, International Journal of Applied
Engineering Research, ISSN 0973-4562 Vol.7
Figure 13. Output waveform of Boost converter No.11 (2012).
[3] Kinal Kachhiya, Makarand Lokhande, Mukesh
Patel, MATLAB/Simulink Model of Solar PV
Module and MPPT Algorithm, National
Conference on Recent Trends in Engineering &
Technology, 13-14 May 2011.
[4] S. Sheik Mohammed, Modeling and
Simulation of Photovoltaic module using
MATLAB/Simulink, International Journal of
Chemical and Environmental Engineering,
October 2011, Volume 2, No.5.
[5] Kashif Ishaque_, Zainal Salam, and Hamed
Taheri, Accurate MATLAB Simulink PV
System Simulator Based on a Two-Diode
Model , Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 11,
No. 2, March 2011.
[6] Huan-Liang Tsai, Ci-Siang Tu, and Yi-Jie Su,
Member, IAENG, Development of
Generalized Photovoltaic Model Using
MATLAB/SIMULINK, Proceedings of the
World Congress on Engineering and Computer
Science 2008, WCECS 2008, October 22 - 24,
2008, San Francisco, USA.
Time (s)
Figure 14. Voltage across Battery circuit

Conclusion
In this paper, a Matlab / simulink based Solar
PV array has been modeled and is connected to the
battery charging circuit through boost converter. At each
stage the output parameters like, voltage, current and
power has been determined. The boost converter
produced a step up voltage of 24V from 11.75 V input
from PV array. This regulated dc output has a ripple
content of 1.19%. Two lead acid battery connected in
series is used for storing the energy. The charging and
discharging characteristics of the battery has been
observed. This simulink model can be used as a

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