Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Energy Procedia 90 (2016) 69 77

5th International Conference on Advances in Energy Research, ICAER 2015, 15-17 December
2015, Mumbai, India

A Maximum Power Point Tracking Technique Based on Ripple

Correlation Control for Single Phase Photovoltaic System with
Fuzzy Logic Controller
Ch. L. S. Srinivas, Sreeraj E. S *
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering,
National Institute of Technology Goa, Ponda and 403401, India

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique by integrating ripple correlation control (RCC)
with fuzzy logic controller (FLC) for single-phase, single-stage grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. RCC is suitable for
implementing MPPT in single-phase PV systems and it possess advantages of less complexity, low cost of implementation and
high rate of convergence. The proposed MPPT technique based on RCC integrated with FLC is working satisfactorily under varying
insolation conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed technique has been verified by performing numerical simulation studies.
2016
2016Published
The Authors.Published
by Elsevier Ltd. by Elsevier
This Ltd.access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
is an open
Peer-review under responsibility ofthe organizing committee of ICAER 2015.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ICAER 2015
Keywords: Power Point Tracking; Photovoltaic; Ripple correlation control; Fuzzy logic Controller.

1. Introduction

The relevance of renewable energy resources (like solar, wind etc.) as sources of electric power has been increased

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-8975320849.

E-mail address: sreeraj@nitgoa.ac.in

1876-6102 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ICAER 2015
doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2016.11.171
70 Ch. L.S. Srinivas and E.S. Sreeraj / Energy Procedia 90 (2016) 69 77

over the years because of the increasing demand of electricity, limited availability of conventional energy resources,
and as a potential alternate to tackle global warming [1]. Among renewable energy sources, solar photovoltaic (PV)
system is considered one of the most promising technologies, as electrical energy is available directly and is suitable
for distributed generation. It is eco friendly and requires less maintenance and operating cost [2]. In the distributed
generation applications, PV system operates in two modes, namely, standalone mode and grid connected mode. In
grid connected mode, the operation strategy of PV system is to extract maximum available power from the PV array
and feed it to the grid.

Fig. 1. Single phase single stage PV system

A typical Grid connected PV system has more than one stage of power conversion. The first stage consist dc-dc
converter to boost the voltage level such that it can extract maximum power from the PV array and the second stage
consists a dc-ac converter which supplies the extracted power from the PV array to ac grid. The cost and complexity
of PV system can be reduced by adopting single stage topologies. Single-stage PV system is more reliable as compared
to multistage PV system owing to its reduced component count and complexity of the system [2-4]. The dc-ac inverter
present in the single-stage PV system perform the functions of extracting maximum power from PV array and supplies
that power to grid.
Since the v-i characteristics of the PV cell are nonlinear which is dependent on the solar insolation and temperature
[5], there is a need for efficient maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques. Various MPPT techniques such
as Hill climbing, Perturb and Observe, Incremental conductance are reported in the literature [5-8]. Even though these
methods are more popular and can track maximum power point (MPP), each method has their own drawbacks. The
drawbacks of Perturb and Observe and Hill climbing methods are deviation in the operating point from MPP due to
sudden change in the atmospheric conditions like sudden variations in the solar insolation. Also, the correct
perturbation size is important for satisfactory performance in dynamic as well as steady state operation [5-9]. The
choice of the proper perturbation size affects the performance of Incremental conductance based MPPT technique also
[5, 6]. Efforts have been made to solve this problem by providing variable perturbation step size, but it requires costly
and complex control circuits [7].
Another method called ripple correlation control (RCC) yields fast and parameter insensitive MPPT of PV system
[9, 10]. MPPT based on RCC is suitable for single-phase, single-stage PV system. In single phase PV system, PV
array voltage is subjected to the 100 Hz ripple (double the grid frequency) because of the oscillating nature of the
power fed to the grid [9-12]. This ripple is used to track the maximum power point (MPP). Since the ripple is naturally
available by switching of the inverter in single-phase PV system no artificial perturbation is needed, which is drawback
in the aforementioned Perturb and Observe, Hill climbing and Incremental conductance MPPT methods.
In this paper a novel RCC based MPPT algorithm along with a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) has been proposed. FLC
has been used to improve the dynamic performance of the system specially under varying insolation condition as FLC
does not require accurate mathematical description of plant [13, 14]. Fig. 1 shows the typical single phase single stage
PV system with FLC. The output of PV array is connected to the dc link capacitor C, which is acting as input to the
voltage source inverter (VSI). The output of the VSI is fed to the grid and is controlled by MPPT & FLC and PWM
 Ch. L.S. Srinivas and E.S. Sreeraj / Energy Procedia 90 (2016) 69 77 71

blocks. MPPT block generates the reference dc link voltage Vref, by taking the PV array voltage and PV array current
as inputs. The output of the MPPT block is compared with the dc link voltage and given as an input to the FLC. The
output of the FLC is change in load angle , which is given as an input to the PWM control block which generates the
switching signals for the VSI. Extensive numerical simulations are carried out to validate the proposed scheme. The
proposed MPPT technique with FLC improves the dynamic performance of the PV system especially under varying
insolation conditions.
Following sections of this paper are organized as follows: the operating principle and implementation of MPPT
algorithm is discussed in Section 2. Design of the fuzzy logic controller is presented in Section 3. Simulation results
of a PV generation system are presented in Section 4 and concluding remarks are presented in Section 5.

2. Operating Principle and Implementation of MPPT Algorithm

For a single-phase system, the value of instantaneous power pg(t) injected into the grid pulsates at twice the grid
frequency. This causes the dc-link capacitor voltage to oscillate at 100Hz. For the single-stage system given in Fig. 1,
the terminals of the PV array is directly connected across the dc link capacitor, and therefore the output voltage of the
PV array, vpv(t) also oscillates at 100 Hz. The PV array current, ipv(t) and the power fed by the PV array, ppv(t) also
contains ripple. The ripple content of a general time varying quantity, x(t) can be expressed as:

~

x(t) 
x(t)
x(t) (1)

where, ~x(t) represents the ripple content, and x(t) represents the moving average component. The general quantity,
x(t), can be PV array voltage, vpv(t); current, ipv(t); or power, ppv(t).
The power produced by PV arraycan be obtained by finding the product of PV array voltage and PV array current
as expressed in (2)

v i

ppv(t)pv(t) pv(t) (2)

By expressing vpv(t) and ipv(t) as in (1) and substituting them in (2), the PV array power can be written as

~ ~ ~ ~

ppv(t)
vpv(t)ipv(t)
ipv(t)v pv(t)
vpv(t) ipv(t)
v pv(t) ipv(t) (3)

The power ripple can be find out by subtracting the average component of PV array power from (3), written as

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ppv(t)ipv(t)v pv(t)
vpv(t) ipv(t)
v pv(t) ipv(t) (4)

~ ~
The product of ppv(t)and v pv(t) can be expressed as

~


i (t) 
  ~ ~

~ppv(t)v~pv(t) 
v~pv2(t) ipv(t)
vpv(t) v~pv (t) 
v pv2(t) ipv(t) (5)


pv

and also, the derivative of PV array power with respect to PV array voltage can be expressed as
72 Ch. L.S. Srinivas and E.S. Sreeraj / Energy Procedia 90 (2016) 69 77
gy ( )

dppv(t) dipv(t)
ipv(t)
vpv(t) (6) dvpv(t) dvpv(t)

Fig. 2. PV array power and current versus PV array voltage

Linearization of v-i curve as shown in Fig. 2 at the point (vo,io) gives


dipv(t) 
o 
~ipv((tt)) (7) dvpv(t) v vpv

~ ~
Based on (6) and (7), ppv(t)v pv(t) can be written as [12]

~ ~ ~ 2  ~ ~
ppv(t)v pv(t) 
v pv (t) 
dpdvpvpv((tt))

v pv
2
(t) ipv(t) (8)

~ 2 ~ ~
From (8), following things can be observed, over a cycle, as the average value of v pv (t) ipv(t) is zero and v pv2(t)
~ ~
is always positive, the magnitude of the average value of error signal ppv(t)v pv(t) , henceforth called as e(t), is
dppv
directly proportional to magnitude of . Since, e(t) proportional the slope of the curve between PV array power
dvpv
and PV array voltage, it represents the distance of the operating point from MPP.
When the operating point is far left of MPP (Region 1 in Fig.3), the average value of e(t) is positive. When the operating
point is in the left vicinity of MPP (Region 2 in Fig. 3), the average value of e(t) is positive with smaller magnitude
and when the operating point is at MPP (Region 3 in Fig. 3), average of the e(t) is zero. In Region 4, the operating
point is right of MPP and e(t) is negative. As the average value of error signal indicates the distance of the operating
 Ch. L.S. Srinivas and E.S. Sreeraj / Energy Procedia 90 (2016) 69 77 73

point from MPP, the operating point can be controlled by passing the average error signal through a PI controller. The
~ ~
implementation of the proposed MPPT algorithm is shown in Fig. 4. The ripplesv pv(t) and ppv(t) can be obtained by
subtracting the average values from the respective signals using LPFs. The product of PV array voltage ripple and PV
array power ripple is used as input to a PI controller. The output of the PI controller is considered as reference voltage
signal, Vref(t) to control the dc-link voltage [12]. The reference voltage signal is compared with the dc link voltage .

Fig. 3. Dc-link voltage, power ripple and product of power and voltage ripple for different operating regions

Fig. 4. Block diagram representation of proposed MPPT algorithm

74 Ch. L.S. Srinivas and E.S. Sreeraj / Energy Procedia 90 (2016) 69 77

3. Design of Fuzzy Logic Controller

The control block diagram of fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is shown in Fig. 5. The difference between the Vref and vpv
is ev given as a input to the FLC and change in load angle, is output of the FLC.
The design of FLC consists of three stages namely, fuzzification, design of rule base and defuzzification. Fuzzification
is the process of converting a numerical variable to a linguistic variable. Seven fuzzy levels have been used for high
accuracy with Gaussian membership function as shown in Fig. 6. Fuzzy levels are represented by NB (negative big),
NM (negative medium), NS (negative small), Z (zero), PS (positive small), PM (positive medium), PB (positive big)
and these fuzzy levels have been used in both input and output variables. The rule base of FLC is given in Table 1.
Based on the rule base FLC produces output for

Fig. 5. Control block diagram of Fuzzy logic controller

Fig. 6. Membership function for (a) input ev ; (b) output .

Table 1. Rule base of a fuzzy logic controller.

Sl. No Rule Base

1 IF ev is NB THEN is PB

2 IF ev is NM THEN is PM

3 IF ev is NS THEN is PS

4 IF ev is Z THEN is Z

5 IF ev is PS THEN is NS
 Ch. L.S. Srinivas and E.S. Sreeraj / Energy Procedia 90 (2016) 69 77 75

6 IF ev is PM THEN is NM

7 IF ev is PB THEN is NB

corresponding input. Mamdani fuzzy implication has been used for evaluation of individual rules. Defuzzification is
the process of converting linguistic variable to real numerical variable, centriod of area (COA) method of defuzzication
has been implemented in this paper.
4. Simulation Results

The proposed MPPT algorithm with FLC has been simulated using Matlab/Simulink. The details of the PV system
have been given in Table 2. The performance of the PV generation system has been evaluated for varying insolation
conditions under transient as well as steady state.
Initially system is simulated with insolation of 1000 W/m2 and it is noted that PV array voltage is 411 V and PV array
power 1.45 kW which corresponds to MPP for 1000 W/m2 insolation as shown in Fig. 7(a) and 7(b). Further, a step
change of insolation level from 1000 W/m2 to 600 W/m2 is applied at 2 seconds and the PV array voltage and power
is settled at 404 V and 0.83 kW which corresponds to MPP for insolation level of 600 W/m2 as shown in Fig. 7(a) and
7(b). From Fig. 7(a) shows that the operating point reaches the MPP less than 0.5 seconds and it is observed that the
proposed MPPT technique performs satisfactorily

Table 2. PV generation system parameters.

Parameter Value

Rated power of PV array 1.45 kWp

DC link capacitance, C 1000
F

AC link inductor, L 15.5 mH

PWM carrier frequency 10 kHz

Short circuit current (1000 W/m2, 25 C) 3.8 A

Open circuit voltage (1000 W/m2, 25 C) 510 V

76 Ch. L.S. Srinivas and E.S. Sreeraj / Energy Procedia 90 (2016) 69 77

Fig. 7. Simulated performance during step change in solar insolation. (a) PV array power; (b) Reference voltage and dc link voltage

Fig. 8 shows the grid voltage and grid current at insolation level of 600 W/m2, the PV system has been designed to
supply only real power to the grid. From Fig. 8 it can be noticed that the VSI feeding power to the grid with unity
power factor. The total harmonic distortion (THD) in grid current has been analyzed and it is observed that THD is
2.54 % and peak value of fundamental component of grid current is 7.274 A for 1000 W/m2 insolation. For 600 W/m2
insolation condition, THD of grid current is 3.58 % and peak value of the fundamental component of grid current is
3.754 A. as shown in Fig. 9. It is observed that the THD of the grid current is within the limits for both 1000 W/m2
and 600 W/m2 insolation conditions.

Fig. 8. Simulated steady state performance of the system: Grid voltage (100 V/div.) and Grid current (10 A/div.)

Fig. 8 shows the grid voltage and grid current at insolation level of 600 W/m2, the PV system has been designed to
supply only real power to the grid. From Fig. 8 it can be noticed that the VSI feeding power to the grid with unity
power factor. The total harmonic distortion (THD) in grid current has been analyzed and it is observed that THD is
2.54 % and peak value of fundamental component of grid current is 7.274 A for 1000 W/m2 insolation. For 600 W/m2
insolation condition, THD of grid current is 3.58 % and peak value of the fundamental component of grid current is
3.754 A. as shown in Fig. 9. It is observed that the THD of the grid current is within the limits for both 1000 W/m2
and 600 W/m2 insolation conditions.

Fig. 9. Harmonic Spectrum of the grid current. (a) with 1000 W/m2 insolation; (b) with 600 W/m2 insolation
 Ch. L.S. Srinivas and E.S. Sreeraj / Energy Procedia 90 (2016) 69 77 77

5. Conclusion

A novel MPPT technique based on ripple correlation control for with fuzzy logic controller is proposed for single-
phase single-stage grid connected PV systems. The MPPT block uses the product of voltage and power ripple to drive
the operating point towards MPP. The proposed algorithm with FLC is working quite satisfactorily under dynamic
irradiance conditions. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm has been proved through extensive numerical
simulations results.
References

[1] European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), 2010. Decentralised Energy Systems. IP/A/ITRE/ST/200916.
Available from: www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/201106/20110629ATT22897/20110629ATT22897EN.pdf (accessed
01.10.2015).
[2] B.N. Alajmi, K.H. Ahmed, G.P. Adam, B.W. Williams, Single-Phase Single-Stage Transformer less Grid-Connected PV System, IEEE
Trans. on Power Electron.,vol.28, no.6, June 2013, pp.2664-2676.
[3] E. S. Sreeraj, K. Chatterjee, S. Bandyopadhyay, One-cyclecontrolled single-stage single-phase voltage-sensorless grid-connected PV system,
IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 60, no. 3, Mar. 2013 pp. 12161224.
[4] S. Jain, V.Agarwal, A Single-Stage Grid Connected Inverter Topology for Solar PV Systems With Maximum Power Point Tracking, IEEE
Trans. on Power Electron., vol.22, no.5, Sept. 2007, pp.1928-1940.
[5] B. Subudhi, R. Pradhan, A Comparative Study on Maximum Power Point Tracking Techniques for Photovoltaic Power Systems, IEEE Trans.
on Sustainable Energy, vol.4, no.1, Jan. 2013, pp.89-98.
[6] Fangrui Liu, Yong Kang, Yu Zhang, Shanxu Duan, Comparison of P&O and hill climbing MPPT methods for grid-connected PV converter,
in Proc. 3rd Conf. IEEE Ind. Electron. Applicat., ICIEA June 2008, pp.804-807.
[7] Weidong Xiao, W.G. Dunford, A modified adaptive hill climbing MPPT method for photovoltaic power systems, in Proc. 35th Annu. IEEE
Power Elecron. Conf., vol.3, June 2004, pp.1957-1963.
[8] M.A.G. de Brito, L. Galotto, L.P. Sampaio, G. de Azevedo e Melo, C.A. Canesin, Evaluation of the Main MPPT Techniques for Photovoltaic
Applications, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol.60, no.3, Mar. 2013, pp.1156-1167.
[9] P.T. Krein, Ripple correlation control, with some applications, in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Circuits Syst., vol.5, 1999, pp. 283286.
[10] T. Esram, J.W. Kimball, P.T. Krein, P.L. Chapman, P. Midya, Dynamic Maximum Power Point Tracking of Photovoltaic Arrays Using
Ripple Correlation Control, IEEE Trans. on Power Electron., vol.21, no.5, Sept. 2006, pp.1282-1291.
[11] D. Casadei, G. Grandi, C. Rossi, Single-phase single-stage photovoltaic generation system based on a ripple correlation control maximum
power point tracking, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conv., vol.21, no.2, June 2006, pp.562-568.
[12] Satish R, Ch. L. S. Srinivas, E. S. Sreeraj, A Maximum Power Point Tracking Technique based on Ripple correlation Control for SinglePhase
Single-Stage Grid Connected PV System, National Power Electronic Conference (NPEC), IIT Bombay, Dec., 2015.
[13] Gwon-Jong Yu, Myung-woong Jung, Jinsoo Song, In-Su Cha, In-Ho Hwang, Maximum power point tracking with temperature compensation
of photovoltaic for air conditioning system with fuzzy controller, in Proc. 25th IEEE Photovolt. Spec. Conf., May 1996, pp. 14291432.
[14] Syafaruddin, E. Karatepe, T. Hiyama, Artificial neural network-polar coordinated fuzzy controller based maximum power point tracking
control under partially shaded conditions, IET, Renewable Power Generation,vol.3, no.2, June 2009, pp.239-253.