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Modelling of a grid connected solar PV system using MATLAB/simulink

Article  in  International Journal of Simulation: Systems, Science & Technology · March 2017

DOI: 10.5013/IJSSST.a.17.41.45

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JAWAIRIA ATIQ et al: MODELLING OF A GRID CONNECTED SOLAR PV SYSTEM USING MATLAB/SIMULINK

Modelling of a Grid Connected Solar PV System Using MATLAB/Simulink

Jawairia Atiq, Prashant Kumar Soori

Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department

Heriot Watt University, Dubai Campus
Dubai, UAE

Abstract — This paper presents an easier approach for modelling a 10.44 kW grid connected photovoltaic (PV) system using
MATLAB/Simulink. The proposed model consists of a PV array, Maximum power point tracker, Boost converter, Inverter and an
LC filter. Modelling of these components has been described and demonstrated in detail. The impact of solar irradiance and
temperature on the overall power generation of a grid connected PV system has been studied. Control to maintain constant voltage
at the inverter output and for synchronization of the output frequency with the electric utility grid, phase locked loop and
regulators have been designed and modelled. Modelling method is quite simple and can be adopted easily to study system
characteristics at different conditions of temperature and solar insolation.

Keywords - incremental conductance; inverter control; MPPT; photovoltaic; PV array.

I. INTRODUCTION II. METHODOLOGY

Most of the world’s energy is derived from fossil fuels A. PV Array

mainly by burning of coal. But this traditional way of
electricity generation is a challenging issue as it contributes A Solar cell is the basic unit of a photovoltaic (PV) system.
to greenhouse gas emissions. Besides, Fossil fuels and all Combination of solar cells in series forms a PV panel or PV
the non-renewable resources to generate electricity are also module. These modules when connected in series and
depleting with time and the population is increasing. parallel form PV arrays.
On the other hand, renewable energy resources offer Modelling of PV array has been done considering single
promising alternate solutions for these problems as they are diode of PV cell [1]. The basic diagram and the equations
believed to be permanent and clean sources. Therefore, at used for modelling a solar cell have been considered. These
present these issues are being handled by adopting equations have been modified based upon the number of
renewable resources which includes Solar photovoltaic, solar cells in PV panels and total number of these panels
wind, tidal, wave and biomass as alternate sources to connected in series and parallel.
produce electricity [1]. The circuit diagram of a single non- ideal solar cell is
From past few decades, solar photovoltaic energy has shown in Figure 1.
turned into one of the important sources of renewable
energy as it requires less maintenance and is noise and
pollution free. Solar PV panels are used with power
converters to deliver power efficiently. This forms a
photovoltaic system. There are various configurations of
PV systems. Among these standalone and grid connected
system configurations are the most important ones [1].
A grid connected solar system has more advantages than
a standalone PV system as in it electricity can be taken or
send to the electric grid depending upon the load demand. It Figure 1. Single diode model of PV cell.
reduces bill cost as net electricity consumption can be
reduced by sending extra electricity to the grid. They can From the Figure1 current equation can be written as
also be installed without battery backup. Any photovoltaic
system installed without battery backups produces more I = Ipv – ID – Ish (1)
power as no storage losses are involved in the system [2].
In this paper, a 10.44 kW grid connected PV system has Where, I is the current generated by a solar cell, Ipv is the
been modeled using MATLAB /Simulink. The presented photon current, ID is the diode current and Ish is the current
system is composed of a solar PV array, maximum power
flow through shunt resistor Rp.
point tracker to extract maximum power from the PV array,
DC-DC boost converter to regulate and boost the PV array For a solar cell[1]:
output, an inverter to convert DC power into AC power, an
LC filter to filter current harmonics from the inverter output
current.

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JAWAIRIA ATIQ et al: MODELLING OF A GRID CONNECTED SOLAR PV SYSTEM USING MATLAB/SIMULINK

At this point when equation (9) is satisfied, Rs and Rp are

determined. P_max┬calculated is given by [4]

Equation (1) can now be written as

Where, I_ois the reverse saturation current, R_s and R_p From (9) and (10)
are the series and shunt resistance of a PV cell respectively,
a is diode ideality factor, V_th is the thermal voltage. It is
given as:

Rearranging equation (11)

K is Boltzmann constant =1.38×〖10〗^(-23) J/K, T is the

cell temperature, q is the charge of an electron
=1.6×〖10〗^(-19) C.
Knowing the total number of series connected solar cells These values are calculated for standard conditions of
N that result in a solar panel/module and from the numbers temperature and solar insolation which are 25°C and 1
of series Ns and parallel Np connected solar panels, Current kW/m². R_sand〖 R〗_p at any temperature has same value
equation for a PV array is given by: as at standard temperature. For PV array,

1) Parameters Extraction Method:

For modelling a PV array, all parameters in equation (6)

should be known. But, Solar PV panels datasheets do not
contain values of all of these parameters. This section
highlights more on these parameters value determination.
The diode ideality factor (a) and Energy gap (Eg) values for
a solar cell does not need to be extracted using any method
or equation as these parameters depend upon the material
from which solar PV cell is made of [3]. Since Sunpower’s
panels that have been used in modelling in this papers are
made using mono-crystalline silicon so, a and E_g values
for mono-crystalline silicon which are 1.2 and 1.12
respectively, were used. At reference temperature (T_ref =
298.15 K), photon current is given by [4]:

Rs and Rp at reference temperature are found using the

approach shown in Figure 2. Power at maximum power
point is found using:

The algorithm takes datasheet values and the required Figure 2. Iterative programming approach to find Rs and Rp values.
constant values as inputs. Using these inputs maximum
value of Rs and minimum value of Rp is found. Initial value
of Rs is set as 0. Algorithm increments the value of Rs 2) Modelling of PV array:
until:
10.44kW PV array has been modelled using 24 sun power
(SPR-435NE-WHT-D) 435 W panels. The datasheet values
for this panel are shown in Figure 3.The parameter values

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JAWAIRIA ATIQ et al: MODELLING OF A GRID CONNECTED SOLAR PV SYSTEM USING MATLAB/SIMULINK

from datasheet and those determined using the procedure

described in parameter extraction section has been used in
the PV array model
Modelling of reverse saturation current at reference is
shown in Figure5.

Figure 5. - Modeling of Reverse saturation current at reference

temperature.

At different conditions of temperature, the reverse

saturation current is determined using [4]:

Where, 〖I_( o)〗_n is Reverse saturation current at standard

temperature, E_gis energy gap value = 1.12 (for mono-
crystalline silicon). Modeling of this current is shown in
Figure6.

Figure 3. SPR-435NE-WHT-D module datasheet values [5].

Current based model of PV array has been modelled

using the following subsystem models:
Photon current: Photon current has been modelled using
[3]:

Where, Iph_nis the photon current value at reference

conditions, KI is the current temperature coefficient, T_refis
reference temperature = 273.19K, T is the cell temperature,
G is the irradiance value and G_nis the irradiance value at Figure 6. Reverse saturation current modeling.
standard temperature. Photon current modelling is shown in
Figure4. Current through diode in PV array model using reverse
saturation current is given by [4]:

Diode current modelling is shown in Figure7.

Figure 4. Photon current modeling.

3) Diode current: Diode current at any temperature takes

reverse saturation current into account. Reverse saturation
current at standard condition is found by [4]

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JAWAIRIA ATIQ et al: MODELLING OF A GRID CONNECTED SOLAR PV SYSTEM USING MATLAB/SIMULINK

is set based upon the requirement at the output of the DC-

DC boost converter.
Modeling of MPPT is shown in Figure 9.

Figure 7. Modelling of Diode current.

4) Complete modelling of PV array: The output current

from PV array can be modelled using equation (6). The
complete modelling of PV array has been depicted in Figure Figure 9. Maximum power point tracking using incremental conductance
8. with internal regulator.

C. Boost Converter

A DC-DC boost converter is used to boost and regulate the

output voltage of the PV array and to implement Maximum
power point tracking. The modelled boost converter circuit
is shown in the Figure 10.
The converter output is given by:

Inductor and capacitor in the circuit were selected using the

following equations.
Figure 8. Complete PV array modeling.

B. Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)

The solar PV array has a nonlinear behaviour and its Where in these equations, V_o is the output voltage,V_in is
output changes repeatedly due to change in weather input voltage, D is the duty cycle value, f is the converter
conditions. MPP tracker helps the PV array to deliver frequency, ∆I is the current ripple,C_1 and C_2are the
maximum power at its output and thus increases the system capacitors capacitances, ∆V_out is the output voltage ripple
efficiency. It sets a suitable duty cycle value at the gate of and R_(load )is the load resistance given by V_out/I_out.
Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) switch used in
boost converter so that maximum power can be extracted.
Incremental conductance technique with internal regulator
has been used to model MPPT. At maximum power point :

Now,

Figure 10. DC to DC boost converter modeling.

MPPT tests for (dI )/dV and I/V to be zero. If the sum is not
zero, PI controller/regulator treats the sum as error and D. DC to AC Converter:
minimizes this error. The obtained value at the output of the
PI controller is the change in duty cycle value. This is Three-phase three level voltage source converter has
added to the initial value of duty cycle (D). Initial D value been used to convert DC power into AC. Simulink block
used for this purpose is shown in Figure 11.

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JAWAIRIA ATIQ et al: MODELLING OF A GRID CONNECTED SOLAR PV SYSTEM USING MATLAB/SIMULINK

Capacitors at the output of boost converter provide neutral

point N for the inverter. Gate signals at the inverter controls
the IGBT switches on and off period. These signals are
generated by inverter control loop.
Designed inverter control loop consists of
Phase locked loop (PLL) and dq0 transformer
DC voltage control loop
Current control loop
Reference voltage and PWM generator

Figure 13. - Phase locked loop and dq0 transformation.

2) DC voltage control loop:This loop regulates the DC

voltage at the input of the inverter. PI controller gains were
selected using the formulas [7] :

Figure 11. Simulink three phase Voltage source inverter bridge block.

Inputs to the control loop are the three-phase grid voltage Where, K_p and K_I are the proportional and integral
and currents. Complete inverter control loop is shown in the gains of the PI controller,C is the boost converter capacitor
Figure 12. value and T_s is the switch period of the inverter switches.
DC voltage regulator is shown in Figure14.

Figure 14. Input DC voltage regulator.

3) Current control loop: This loop regulates current in dq0
reference frame. The loop is shown in the Figure15.
Figure 12. Inverter control loop modeling.

The output from the inverter control loop is the

controlled PWM signals. These signals control the
switching on and off of IGBT switches in inverter. Inverter
generates three phase sinusoidal voltage and currents.

1) Phase locked loop (PLL) and dq0 transformer: This

section in the inverter control converts the voltage and
currents to per unit values. PLL takes the grid voltage and
finds its angle and frequency. This plays an important role
in making inverter output and grid angles equal. dq0
transformer converts three phase voltages and currents from
abc to dq0 reference frame. Conversion into dq0 frame
provides accurate control for the signals. The modelled PLL
and dq0 transformer block is shown in the Figure13.

Figure 15. Current control loop modeling.

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 JAWAIRIA ATIQ et al: MODELLING OF A GRID CONNECTED SOLAR PV SYSTEM USING MATLAB/SIMULINK

frequency of the filter. Suitable inductor and capacitor

PI controller gains were selected using [7]: values are selected using
(26)
(28)
(27)
Where L is inductor inductance and C is capacitor
Where, L is the LC filter inductor value, T_s is the Inverter capacitance.
switching period, τ is the time constant given by L/R, Complete grid connected system is shown in the Figure16.
Where R is the Filter resistance = 1 Ω.
Reference voltage and PWM generator: This section
converts the voltage back into abc reference frame from dq0 III. SIMULATION AND RESULTS
frame. Pulse width modulator (PWM generator generates
PWM signals by the comparison of the three phase The designed grid connected system was tested with
reference signals and the triangular wave with the particular three phase 2.75 kW load. The generated PV array power,
frequency. Selected frequency for PWM generator is the power available at the inverter output and that flowing
1975Hz. to and from the grid was observed with varying solar
insulation and temperature values. PV array power, Boost
-E. LC filter: converter output, Inverter and the grid powers under
different temperatures and solar insulations are shown in
LC filter at the output of the inverter is used to reduce Figure17 to Figure20.
inverter current harmonics. 50 Hz was selected as cut off

Figure 16. Complete modelled grid connected PV system.

Figure 18. DC voltage at boost converter output.

Figure 17. Input solar irradiance in kW/m² and temperature to the system
and generated power by PV array.

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 JAWAIRIA ATIQ et al: MODELLING OF A GRID CONNECTED SOLAR PV SYSTEM USING MATLAB/SIMULINK

PV array modeling using datasheet values was

presented. To maximize the output power of PV array,
incremental conductance with internal regulator technique
was used along with the DC-DC boost converter. A DC to
AC PV inverter along with an LC filter was designed to
convert DC voltage and current to AC values. Controlled
SPWM modulation technique to generate reference signals
for inverter IGBT switches has been utilized.
For testing, System was simulated under varying
temperature and solar insolation values. It was observed
Figure 19. AC Power generated by PV inverter. that the system output power is more affected by solar
irradiance than with varying temperature. The presented
model can be used to study system output characteristics at
any condition of temperature and solar irradiance.

REFERENCES
[1] Rauschenbach, H.S. Solar Cell Array Design Handbook. The
Principles And Technology Of Photovoltaic Energy Conversion.
New York, N.Y.: Van Nostrand Reinhold,1980, 1980. Print.
[2] ”A New Approach to Design of an optimized Grid Tied Smart Solar
Figure 20. Power supplied or taken from electric utility grid. Photovoltaic (PV) System”. International Journal of Advancements
in Research & Technology, Volume 1, Issue6, ISSN 2278-7763,
November-2012.
From the simulation results shown above, it can be seen [3] Chedid, R.; Tajeddine, R.; Chaaban, F.; Ghajar, R., "Modeling and
simulation of PV arrays under varying conditions,"in
that change in solar irradiance affects power generation MediterraneanElectrotechnical Conference (MELECON), 2014 17th
more than the change of temperature. Initially at high IEEE , vol., no., pp.536-542
irradiances, inverter output is more than the load demand [4] M. G. Villalva, J. R. Gazoli and E. R. Filho, "Comprehensive
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1208
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less than the requirement and therefore, the grid supplies SUNPOWER, 2011. [Online].
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