Model validation and maximum power point tracking of photovoltaic module

For efficient operation of a photovoltaic (PV) system accurate model of the PV module is required. In this paper a PV simulation model has been developed and has been validated with experimental results of a commercial PV module, ELDORA-40. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) must be incorporated in the PV system to get maximum power from the PV system. Maximum power of PV depends on two external parameters, temperature and solar irradiation. Since solar irradiation has faster dynamics than temperature an effort has been given to track maximum power of a PV module using perturb and observe (P&O) MPPT for change of insolation. The study has been carried out in MATLAB-Simulink graphical user interface environment.