Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Mathematical Problems in Engineering

Volume 2012, Article ID 506709, 10 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/506709

Research Article
PV Maximum Power-Point Tracking by Using
Artificial Neural Network

Farzad Sedaghati,1 Ali Nahavandi,1

Mohammad Ali Badamchizadeh,1 Sehraneh Ghaemi,1
and Mehdi Abedinpour Fallah2
1
Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 51666-16471, Iran
2
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

Correspondence should be addressed to

Mohammad Ali Badamchizadeh, [email protected]

Received 6 July 2011; Revised 6 November 2011; Accepted 30 November 2011

Academic Editor: Mohammad Younis

Copyright q 2012 Farzad Sedaghati et al. This is an open access article distributed under the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

In this paper, using artificial neural network ANN for tracking of maximum power point is
discussed. Error back propagation method is used in order to train neural network. Neural
network has advantages of fast and precisely tracking of maximum power point. In this
method neural network is used to specify the reference voltage of maximum power point under
different atmospheric conditions. By properly controling of dc-dc boost converter, tracking of
maximum power point is feasible. To verify theory analysis, simulation result is obtained by using
MATLAB/SIMULINK.

1. Introduction
Recently, many countries of all over the world have paid a lot of their attention to the de-
velopment of a renewable energy against depletion of fossil fuels in the coming future.
The renewable energy means that the energy density is as high as fossil fuel or higher
than that and the clean energy does not emit any polluted substances such as nitrogenous
compounds, sulfate compounds, and dust. Hydrogen, as a future energy source, is thought
as an alternative of fossil fuels in view of environment and energy security, because hydrogen
itself is clean, sustainable, and emission-free. Hence, there are many ongoing active studies
on the production and application of hydrogen in our society.
The main method for capturing the sun’s energy is the use of photovoltaic. Photovol-
taic PV utilizes the sun’s photons or light to create electricity. PV technologies rely on the
photoelectric effect first described by a French physicist Edmund Becquerel in 1839. Solar
2 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

Rs Icell
+

IPV D Id Vcell
Rp

Figure 1: Equivalent circuit of PV model.

cells and modules using this PV effect are ideal energy generators that they require no fuel,
generate no emissions, have no moving parts, can be made in any size or shape, and rely
on a virtually limitless energy source, namely, the sun. The photoelectric effect occurs when
a beam of ultraviolet light, composed of photons, strikes one part of a pair of negatively
charged metal plates. This causes electrons to be “liberated” from the negatively charged
plate. These free electrons are then attracted to the other plate by electrostatic forces. This
flowing of electrons is an electrical current. This electron flow can be gathered in the form of
direct current DC. This DC can then be converted into alternating current AC, which is
the primary form of electrical current in electrical power systems that are most commonly
used in buildings. PV devices take advantage of the fact that the energy in sunlight will
free electrical charge carriers in certain materials when sunlight strikes those materials. This
freeing of electrical charge makes it possible to capture light energy as electrical current 1.
In general, photovoltaic PV arrays convert sunlight into electricity. DC power
generated depends on illumination of solar and environmental temperature which are
variable. It is also varied according to the amount of load. Under uniform irradiance
and temperature, a PV array exhibits a current-voltage characteristic with a unique point,
called maximum power point, where the PV array produces maximum output power. In
order to provide the maximum power for load, the maximum-power-point-tracking MPPT
algorithm is necessary for PV array. Briefly, an MPPT algorithm controls converters to
continuously detect the instantaneous maximum power of the PV array 2.

2. Photovoltaic Modelling
2.1. Ideal PV Cell Model
The equivalent circuit of the ideal PV cell is shown in Figure 1. The basic equation from the
theory of semiconductors 3 that mathematically describes the I-V characteristic of the ideal
PV cell is as follows:
   
qV
I  IPV,cell − I0,cell exp −1 , 2.1
akT
   
qV
Id  I0,cell exp −1 , 2.2
akT

where IPV,cell is the current generated by the incident light it is directly proportional to the
sun irradiation, Id is the Shockley diode equation, I0,cell is the reverse saturation or leakage
current of the diode, q is the electron charge 1.60217646 × 10−19 C, k is the Boltzmann
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 3

constant 1.3806503 × 10−23 J/K, T in Kelvin is the temperature of the p-n junction, and “a”
is the diode ideality constant 4.

2.2. Modeling the PV Array

Equations 2.1 and 2.2 of the PV cell do not represent the V-I characteristic of a practical PV
array. Practical arrays are composed of several connected PV cells and the observation of the
characteristics at the terminals of the PV array requires the inclusion of additional parameters
to the basic equation 3, 4:

   
V  Rs I V  Rs I
I  IPV − I0 exp −1 − , 2.3
Vt a RP

where IPV and I0 are the PV current and saturation currents, respectively, of the array and Vt 
Ns kT/q is the thermal voltage of the array with Ns cells connected in series. Cells connected
in parallel increase the current and cells connected in series provide greater output voltages.
If the array is composed of Np parallel connections of cells, the PV and saturation currents
may be expressed as IPV  Np IPV,cell , I0  Np I0,cell . In 2.3, Rs is the equivalent series
resistance of the array and Rp is the equivalent parallel resistance. Equation 2.3 describes
the single-diode model presented in Figure 1 4.
All PV array datasheets bring basically the following information: the nominal open-
circuit voltage Voc,n , the nominal short-circuit current Isc,n , the voltage at the MPP Vmpp ,
the current at the MPP Impp , the open-circuit voltage/temperature coefficient KV , the
short-circuit current/temperature coefficient KI , and the maximum experimental peak
output power Pmax . This information is always provided with reference to the nominal
condition or standard test conditions STCs of temperature and solar irradiation. Some
manufacturers provide I-V curves for several irradiation and temperature conditions. These
curves make easier the adjustment and the validation of the desired mathematical I-V
equation. Basically, this is all the information one can get from datasheet of PV arrays
4.
Electric generators are generally classified as current or voltage sources. The practical
PV device presents hybrid behavior, which may be of current or voltage source depending
on the operating point. The practical PV device has a series resistance Rs whose influence is
stronger when the device operates in the voltage source region and a parallel resistance Rp
with stronger influence in the current source region of operation. The Rs resistance is the sum
of several structural resistances of the device. Rs basically depends on the contact resistance
of the metal base with the p semiconductor layer, the resistances of the p and n bodies, the
contact resistance of the n layer with the top metal grid, and the resistance of the grid 5.
The Rp resistance exists mainly due to the leakage current of the p-n junction and depends
on the fabrication method of the PV cell. The value of Rp is generally high and some authors
neglect this resistance to simplify the model. The value of Rs is very low, and sometimes this
parameter is neglected too.
The V-I characteristic of the PV array, shown in Figure 2, depends on the internal
characteristics of the device Rs , Rp  and on external influences such as irradiation level and
temperature.
The amount of incident light directly affects the generation of charge carriers and,
consequently, the current generated by the device. The light-generated current IPV  of the
4 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

35
30
25

Voltage (V)
20
15
10
5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Current (A)

T = 280 K, G = 800 W/m2

T = 290 K, G = 1000 W/m2
T = 300 K, G = 1200 W/m2

Figure 2: V-I characteristic of PV.

elementary cells, without the influence of the series and parallel resistances, is difficult to
determine. Datasheets only inform the nominal short-circuit current Isc,n , which is the
maximum current available at the terminals of the practical device. The assumption Isc ≈ IP V
is generally used in the modeling of PV devices because in practical devices the series
resistance is low and the parallel resistance is high. The light-generated current of the PV cell
depends linearly on the solar irradiation and is also influenced by the temperature according
to the following equation 2.4, 2, 4, 6–8

G
IPV  IPV,n  KI ΔT  , 2.4
Gn

where IPV,n in amperes is the light-generated current at the nominal condition usually 25◦ C
and 1000 W/m2 , ΔT  T − Tn T and Tn being the actual and nominal temperatures in
Kelvin, resp., G watt per square meter is the irradiation on the device surface, and Gn is
the nominal irradiation. Vt,n is the thermal voltage of Ns series-connected cells at the nominal
temperature Tn .
The saturation current I0 of the PV cells that compose the device depend on the
saturation current density of the semiconductor J0 , generally given in A/cm2  and on the
effective area of the cells. The current density J0 depends on the intrinsic characteristics of
the PV cell, which depend on several physical parameters such as the coefficient of diffusion
of electrons in the semiconductor, the lifetime of minority carriers, and the intrinsic carrier
density 9. In this paper the diode saturation current I0 is approximated by the fixed value
6 mA.
The value of the diode constant “a” may be arbitrarily chosen. Many authors discuss
ways to estimate the correct value of this constant. Usually, 1 ≤ a ≤ 1.5 and the choice
depends on other parameters of the I-V model. Some values for “a” are found in 6 based on
empirical analyses. Because “a” expresses the degree of ideality of the diode and it is totally
empirical, any initial value of “a” can be chosen in order to adjust the model. The value of
“a” can be later modified in order to improve the model fitting, if necessary. This constant
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 5

700
600
500

Power (W)
400
300
200
100
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Current (A)

T = 280 K, G = 800 W/m2

T = 290 K, G = 1000 W/m2
T = 300 K, G = 1200 W/m2

Figure 3: P-I characteristic of PV.

affects the curvature of the V-I curve and varying a can slightly improves the model accuracy
4.

3. Maximum Power-Point Tracking

3.1. Maximum power-point tracking methods
By change of environment temperature and irradiance, the maximum power is variable
Figure 3. Since the maximum available energy of solar arrays continuously changes with
the atmospheric conditions, a real-time maximum power-point tracker is the indispensable
part of the PV system. Proposed maximum power point tracking MPPT schemes in the
technical literature 10 can be divided into three different categories 11.
1 Direct methods.
2 Artificial intelligence methods.
3 Indirect methods.
In the direct methods, which are also known as true seeking methods, the MPP is
searched by continuously perturbing the operating point of the PV array. Under this category,
Perturb and Observe P&O 12, Hill Climbing HC 13, and Incremental Conductance
INC 14 schemes are widely applied in PV systems. P&O scheme involves perturbing
the operation voltage of the PV array to reach the MPP. Analogous to P&O scheme, hill
climbing method perturbs the duty cycle of the dc-dc interface converter. Simplicity is the
main feature of these methods; however, intrinsic steady state oscillation limits these methods
to low-power applications. Reduced steady state oscillation is possible with the incremental
conductance method, which is based on the fact that the slope of the power versus voltage is
zero at the MPP. Artificial intelligence and indirect methods have been proposed to improve
the dynamic performance of MPP tracking. Concentrating on nonlinear characteristics of
the PV arrays, the artificial intelligence methods provide a fast, and yet, computationally
demanding solution for the MPPT problem.
The indirect methods are based on extracting the MPP of the array from its output
characteristics. Fractional open-circuit voltage OCV 15 and short-circuit current SCC
16 schemes provide a simple and effective way to obtain the MPP.
6 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

Hidden
layer

Input
layer
b3 Output
T
layer
Vmpp
b1
G
b4 b6

b2

b5

Figure 4: Neural network structure.

I L D

T + +

Load
PV array V Vo C
V
− −

T Vmpp
Neural Control
network unit
G

Figure 5: DC-DC chopper includes PV as a input and its control units.

3.2. MPPT by Using Neural Network

In this paper for tracking maximum power point, an artificial neural network is used. A three-
layer neural network is used to reach MPP, which is shown in Figure 4.
Temperature T and irradiance G are two input variables and voltage of MPP Vmpp 
is the output variable of ANN. It is necessary to obtain some data as input and output
variable to train the neural network. Consequently, weights of neurons in different layers
are acquired. PV model programming in MATLAB is used in order to obtain data. There are
several methods to train ANN. In this paper error back propagation method is used to train
the ANN.
After training the ANN and specification of neuron weights, for any T and G as inputs
of ANN, output of ANN is the Vmpp . Now, current of maximum power point Impp  can
be obtained by using V-I characteristic of the modeled PV. Consequently, maximum power
Pmax  is reached by multiplying Vmpp and Impp .
Figure 5 shows PV and maximum power point tracker system, which is composed of
a dc-dc boost converter and neural network-based control unit. In every moment to control
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 7

Table 1: Parameters of the KC200GT solar array at 25◦ C, A.M1.5, 1000 W/m2 .

Parameter Value
Isc 8.21 A
Voc 32.9 V
I0 6 mA
IPV 8.21 A
a 1.3
Rp 415.405 Ω
Rs 0.221 Ω
Ns 54
Np 3
Kv −0.123 V/K
KI 0.0032 A/K
Lchopper 570 µH
Cchopper 300 µF

chopper with specified Vmpp and Impp duty cycle of chopper is obtained by the following
equation:


Vmpp Iout
D 1− × , 3.1
Impp Vout

4. Simulation Results
To verify theoretical analysis mentioned in previous sections, a stand-alone PV system which
is connected to a boost dc-dc converter is simulated by using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The
simulated model characteristics are as shown in Table 1.
First, the neural network model is trained by series of data containing temperature,
irradiance, and voltage of maximum power point. Error back propagation method is used to
train ANN. After getting neurons weights, the neural network model is simulated by using
MATLAB/SIMULINK and jointed to the control unit. Now, for any T and G as inputs of
ANN, the output is related to Vref,mpp automatically.
Simulation is done in three states with three different temperatures and irradiances.
Three different temperatures and irradiances, which is applied in simulation, are shown in
Figure 6. The neural network output which is reference voltage of maximum power point
Vref,mpp  for these three pairs of T and G is shown in Figure 7a. By specification of Vref,mpp
reference current of power point Iref,mpp  is obtained from control unit Figure 7b.
By applying Vref,mpp and Iref,mpp to the chopper control unit, switching pulses are
generated in such a way that the output voltage and current of PV track the Vref,mpp and
Iref,mpp . In Figure 8 output voltage and current of PV are shown. It is obvious from this figure
that output voltage and current of PV are tracking Vref,mpp and Iref,mpp . By comparison of
reference of maximum power and power which is drawn from PV, it can be found that the
maximum power reference is tracked Figure 9. As there figures show, in voltage, current,
and consequently maximum power-point tracking, control system has a good dynamic
performance.
8 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

320 1400
Temperature (Kelvin)

Irradiance (W/m2 )
310 1300
1200
300 1100
290 1000
280 900
800
270 700
260 600
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Time (s) Time (s)
a b

Figure 6: a Three different temperatures, b Irradiances applied to simulation results.

26
Reference voltage (V)

Reference current (A)

18
24
17
22
16
20
15 18
14 16
13 14
12 12
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Time (s) Time (s)
a b

Figure 7: a Reference voltage of maximum power point generated by ANN, b Reference current of
maximum power point.

30 30

25 25
PV-current (A)
PV-voltage (V)

20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Time (s) Time (s)
a b

Figure 8: a Output voltage of PV, b Output current of PV.

Figure 10 shows output voltage of chopper which can be applied to charge a battery
or input voltage of a regulator converter.

5. Conclusion
This paper discusses neural network-based MMPT. Under any variation in atmospheric
conditions, by using neural network, point of maximum power is specified fast and precisely.
Another advantage of the neural network in PV maximum power-point tracking is its better
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 9

500 500
Reference power (W)
450
400 400

PV-power (W)
350
300 300
250
200 200
150
100 100
50
0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Time (s) Time (s)
a b

Figure 9: a Reference maximum power, b drawn power from PV.

60

50
Load voltage (V)

40

30

20

10

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Time (s)

Figure 10: Output voltage of chopper.

dynamic performance in comparison with the other methods. Also the maximum power
point is tracked by dc-dc boost chopper. So the maximum power solar energy and the best
efficiency are obtained.

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