IECON2015-Yokohama

November 9-12, 2015

Control of Single-Stage Grid-Connected

Three-Phase Solar Photovoltaic System Using
Sliding Mode Control
Sameer Rokade , B. Bandyopadhyay , Vivek Agarwal and Sukumar Mishra
Systems and Control Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Mumbai400 076, India
Email: sameerrokade19@gmail.com, bijnan@ee.iitb.ac.in
Department of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Mumbai400 076, India
Email: agarwal@ee.iitb.ac.in
Department of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
New Delhi110 016, India
Email: sukumar@ee.iitd.ac.in

AbstractIn this paper, two approaches based on sliding mode
control for controlling a single-stage grid-connected three-phase
solar photovoltaic system have been presented. The sliding mode
control is robust and has good disturbance rejection as compared
to the conventional proportional-integral control. Another advan-
tage is that feedback linearization is not required for controlling
nonlinear systems. There are two controlled variables namely
the dc-link voltage and the q-axis component of the line current
of the Voltage Source Converter. In the rst approach, twisting
controller and rst order sliding mode controller have been used.
Super twisting controller has been used to control both the
variables in the second approach. The propsed control scheme
has been simulated to verify the results.
I. I NTRODUCTION
In recent years, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have at-
tracted extensive research due to the adverse effects of the
use of fossil fuels on the environment and global energy
crisis. National policies have been adopted in favor of green
energy. Moreover, in India, availability of high solar insolation,
falling prices of solar PV panels and increasing cost of grid
power have provided further encouragement to explore the
possibilities of improving the performance of the solar PV
systems.
The control objectives in a single-stage three phase grid-
connected solar PV system are (a) to regulate the dc-link
voltage at a reference value generated by the Maximum Power
Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm which leads to maximum
active power extraction from the PV array and (b) to make
the quadrature axis component of the ac-side line current to
track its reference value for deliveing the desired reactive
power. A solar photovoltaic power plant is a nonlinear system
and coupling of the equations of Voltage Source Converter
(VSC) makes the control complicated. In order to control
such systems, it is a standard practice to use PI controller
after decoupling and linearizing the system by using feedback
linearization techniques.
However, the disadvantages of PI controller-based approach
are tedious procedure for tuning the controller, lack of ro-
bustness and poor disturbance rejection. Moreover, in case of
nonlinear systems, feedback linearization has to be performed
for using PI control. The PI controller-based approach has
been demonstrated in [1]. On the other hand, sliding mode
controllers are robust and have good disturbance rejection.
The sliding mode controller-based approach for VSC with
feedback linearization has been demonstrated in [2], [3] and
[5]. But sliding mode control techniques belong to the class
of nonlinear control techniques. Hence, there is no need of
perfoming feedback linearization in case of nonlinear systems.
The advantages of using sliding mode control for photovoltaic
system are evident in [8], where super twisting controller has
been used to control DC-DC boost converter. Super twisting
controller [11], [12], [13], [14], [16], [15] and twisting con-
troller [9],[10] are second order sliding mode controllers. In
this paper, two approaches based on sliding mode control have
been proposed to acheive the control objectives without using
any feedback linearization technique. In the rst approach,
second order twisting controller is used to track the dc-link
reference voltage and rst order sliding mode controller is used
to track the reference value of quadrature axis component of
the ac side line current. In the second approach, super twisting
controller is used to track both the reference values.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. The model
of the system considered is presented in Section II. Section
III includes the rst approach using twisting controller and
rst order sliding mode control. Section IV presents the

978-1-4799-1762-4/15/$31.00 2015 IEEE 003749

 Fig. 2. Power-voltage characteristics curve of a PV array

Fig. 1. Single Stage Grid Connected Three Phase Solar Photovoltaic System

second approach using super twisting controller. Simulations

are presented in Section V. Section VI concludes the paper.

II. M ATHEMATICAL MODEL OF THE SOLAR PV SYSTEM

Figure 1 shows a single-stage, three-phase, grid-connected
solar PV system connected to the grid. The PV system consists
of a PV array, a VSC and a three-phase interface reactor lter.
PV array is made of np strings of panels connected in parallel
depending upon the required power. And depending upon the
desired dc voltage, ns panels are connected in series. The
PV array is connected in parallel to the dc-link capacitor
C and dc-side terminals of the VSC. Space vector pulse-
width modulation (SVPWM) is used to control the VSC. The
three phases of the VSC are connected to the grid through
a three-phase interface reactor. L denotes the inductance of
the interface reactor. Ps and Qs denote the active and reactive
power delivered to the grid by the PV system respectively.
A. PV System
The current-voltage characteristic of the PV array [1] is
given by
   
qvdc
ipv = np Iph np Irs exp 1 , (1)
kAns
where Irs is the reverse saturation current of a p-n junction,
q(=1.602 1019 C) is the unit electric charge, vdc is the dc-
link (PV array) voltage, k(=1.381023 J/K) is the Boltzmans
constant, is the p-n junction temperature (in Kelvin), A is
the ideality factor, Iph is the short-circuit current of one string
of the PV panels. Iph , a function of the temperature, is a linear
function of the solar irradiation level S, as
S
Iph = [Iscr + k ( r )] , (2)
100
where r is the cell reference temperature, Iscr is the short-
circuit current of one PV cell at the reference temperature and
Fig. 3. Flowchart of the Perturb and Obsevre algorithm
irradiation level, and k is a temperature coefcient. From (1),
the power delivered by the PV array, i.e., Ppv , is given as [1]
Ppv = ipv vdc = f (vdc , S, )
   
qvdc (3)
Ppv = np Iph vdc np Irs vdc exp 1 .
kAns
For a particular solar irradiation level, Ppv , as a function
of vdc is shown in gure 2. At vdc = 0, Ppv = 0. As vdc
is increased, Ppv increases. But increase in Ppv continues
only upto the voltage at which Ppv is maximum. When vdc
is increased further, Ppv starts decreasing. Thus, we can see
that Ppv can be maximised by controlling vdc . This is known
as Maximum Power Point Tracking.
There are many MPPT algorithms available in the literature.
In this paper, Perturb and Observe algorithm has been used.
It is the most widely used algorithm in practice. Perturb
and Observe algorithm is implemented by imposing periodic,
incremental or decremental, perturbations on the dc-link (PV
array) voltage and then comparing the resultant power output
with its value in the previous perturbation cycle [4]. Figure
3 shows the owchart of the algorithm. V denotes the

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voltage increment step. If it is observed that dPpv /dvpv is objective is to track wc and iq to their reference values wc r
positive, for the next cycle, the voltage is changed in the same and iq r respectively. It should be noted that wc r = 12 C(vdc r )2 ,
r
direction as that in the previous cycle. On the other hand, if where vdc is obtained from the MPPT algorithm.
dPpv /dvpv is negative, the voltage is changed in the opposite
direction. It can be noted that if dPpv /dvpv is zero, maximum III. F IRST APPROACH USING TWISTING CONTROLLER AND
FIRST ORDER SLIDING MODE CONTROLLER
power point is acheived. However, the exact maximum power
point is never reached and settled at so that power exhibits First we have to design the sliding surfaces. Consider the
periodic oscillations around its maximum value [4]. But the sliding surfaces as s1 = wc wc r and s2 = iq iq r .
accuracy of the maximum power point can be increased by s1 is having relative degree two which means s1 has to be
reducing the voltage increment step V . The MPPT algorithm differentiated twice with respect to time so that the input vd
continuously provides the reference dc-link voltage vdc r to the appears in the expression.
controller. s1 = wc = Ppv vsd id
The reference value of the q axis component of the line
current, iq r , is determined from the reactive power demand. s1 = wc = Ppv vsd id

vd vsd 
Usually, the value of iq r is taken as zero in order to acheive = Ppv vsd iq +
unity power factor. L L
vsd vsd 2
B. System Equations and Control Objectives s1 = Ppv vsd iq vd + .
L L
Assuming that grid voltage is used as reference for angle in By formulating the input as
dq transformation, the dynamics of the grid side of the inverter
L
are described by the following equations [18],[1]. vd = (k1 sgn(s1 ) + k2 sgn(s1 )), (8)
vsd
did vd vsd
= iq + where k1 , k2 > 0, we get
dt L L (4)
diq vq vsd 2
= id + , s1 = Ppv vsd iq + k1 sgn(s1 ) k2 sgn(s1 ).
dt L L
where is the grid frequency, id and iq are the d, q Let
vsd 2
components of the grid side line current, vsd is the amplitude d1 = Ppv vsd iq + .
of the grid voltage, vd and vq are the d, q components of the L
inverter reference voltage given to the PWM generator. Hence, we get
Based on the principle of power balance, the dynamics of
the dc-link voltage are described as [1] s1 = d1 k1 sgn(s1 ) k2 sgn(s1 ). (9)

dvdc Equation (9) is called twisting controller. Since d1 is bounded,

Cvdc = f (vdc , S, ) Pdc . (5) let |d1 | M1 , where M1 is a constant. If conditions given in
dt  
Ppv [17],[9], [10] are satised and k1 , k2 are designed such that
Neglecting the losses in the inverter and the interface reactor, k2 > M1 , k1 > k2 + M1 ,
we get Pdc = Ps = vsd id + vsq iq . But vsq = 0, as the grid
voltage is reference for dq transformation. Thus (5) is, s1 and s1 will become zero in nite time. wc , vdc will become
equal to wc r , vdc r respectively.
dvdc
Cvdc = Ppv vsd id . (6) Since s2 has relative degree one, it is differentiated once.
dt
vq
Equation (6) can be transformed by dening the new variable s2 = iq = id + .
L
1
wc = Cvdc 2 , By formulating the input as
2
which is the stored energy in the dc-link capacitor [6]. Then vq = Lk3 sgn(s2 ), (10)
we get the system equations as where k3 > 0, we get
did vd vsd
= iq + s2 = id k3 sgn(s2 ).
dt L L
diq vq Let d2 = id . Hence,
= id + (7)
dt L
dwc s2 = d2 k3 sgn(s2 ).
= Ppv vsd id .
dt Since d2 is bounded, let |d2 | M2 , where M2 is a constant.
The system equations (7) are nonlinear as Ppv is a nonlinear If k3 is designed such that k3 > M2 , Lyapunov condition
function of wc . The state variables are id , iq and wc . The s2 s2 < 0 is satised. So, s2 will become zero and iq will
inputs are vd and vq . The outputs are wc and iq . The control track iq r .

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 IV. S ECOND APPROACH USING SUPER TWISTING
CONTROLLER
Although twisting controller gives good performance with-
out need of feedback linearization, the disadvantage is that the
input given to the system is discontinuous. To overcome this
difculty, super twisting controller can be used which results
in continuous input to the system. d 
Consider the slding surfaces as s1 = dt + k) wc wc r ),
where k > 0 and s2 = iq iq r . s1 is having relative degree
one which means s1 has to be differentiated once with respect
to time.
s1 = wc + k wc = Ppv vsd id + k wc

vd vsd 
= Ppv vsd iq + + k(Ppv vsd id ).
L L
Fig. 4. Tracking dc link reference voltage vdc r =270 V by twisting controller
By formulating the input as
t
L 0.5
vd = (g1 |s1 | sgn(s1 ) + g2 sgn(s1 )dt), (11) Equation (14) is also a super twisting controller. Since d4 is
vsd 0
bounded, let |d4 | M4 , where M4 is a constant. If g3 and g4
where g1 , g2 > 0, we get are designed such that the conditions of convergence given in
vsd 2 [7], [11], [12], [13], [14], [16] are satised, s2 will become
s1 = Ppv vsd iq +
0.5
+ k(Ppv vsd id ) g1 |s1 | sgn(s1 )zero in nite time. And iq will become equal to iq r .
t L
g sgn(s )dt. V. S IMULATION
2 1
0 Both the proposed control approaches were simulated in
Let MATLAB/ SIMULINK. R The simulation parameters are L=

vsd 2 1 mH, C= 1500 F, k1 = 3107 , k2 = 1106 , k3 = 2105 ,

d3 = Ppv vsd iq + + k(Ppv vsd id ). g1 = g2 = 1.2 105 , g3 = g4 = k = 1 104 , rated PV
L
array current ipv = 15 A, rated PV array voltage vdc = 300 V,
Hence, we get
ampitude of phase to neutral grid voltage= 120 V. Figure 4
t
0.5 shows tracking performance of the twisting controller for dc
s1 = d3 g1 |s1 | sgn(s1 ) g2 sgn(s1 )dt. (12) link voltage. The dc link voltage reference is tracked in nite
0
time just before the instant t=0.016 s. Due to the discontinuous
Equation (12) is called super twisting controller. Since d3 is
input, the error is not perfectly zero but oscillates about
bounded, let |d3 | M3 , where M3 is a constant. If g1 and g2
zero. This is the chattering effect. This is also exhibited in
are designed such that the conditions of convergence given in
the tracking of q axis component of line current using rst
[7], [11], [12], [13], [14], [16] are satised, s1 will become
order sliding mode controller as shown in gure 5. However,
zero in nite time. So, wc , vdc will become equal to wc r , vdc r
chattering effect is reduced when super twisting controller is
respectively.
used which has continuous control input (see gure 6). But
Again s2 is differentiated as given in previous section.
chattering effect is not completely eliminated because ideal
vq
s2 = iq = id + . sliding mode controller requires theoretically innite sampling
L frequency which is not possible in practice.
By formulating the input as
t VI. C ONCLUSION
0.5
vq = L(g3 |s2 | sgn(s2 ) + g4 sgn(s2 )dt), (13) In this paper, two approaches based on slding mode control
0 for controlling single stage grid connected three phase solar
where g3 , g4 > 0, we get PV system were presented. Both of them can achieve the
t desired control objectives without using any feedback lin-
0.5
s2 = id g3 |s2 | sgn(s2 ) g4 sgn(s2 )dt. earization technique. The control inputs required for both the
0 approaches were derived. The proposed control scheme was
Let simulated and the results were veried.
d4 = id .
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