An Analog Technique for Distributed

MPPTPV Applications
R.sathiyapriya and R.Rajalakshmi, EEE, SSMIET,Dindigul .

AbstractTEODI is the acronym of a maximum power point
tracking (MPPT) technique which has been recently presented in
the literature. Such a technique is particularly suitable in distrib-
uted MPPT photovoltaic (PV) applications, and it is based on the
equalization of the output operating points, of the dc/dc
converters dedicated to each subsection of the PV array, in
correspondence of the forced displacement of their input
operating points. The main advantages of TEODI, its
performances in terms of MPPT efficiency and speed of tracking,
and the intrinsic capability to attenuate the effect, on the voltages
of the PV modules, of the 100/120 Hz disturbances coming from
the grid are shown by means of simulation results and
experimental findings obtained by using a laboratory prototype
developed by means of analog circuitry only.
Index TermsMaximum power point tracking (MPPT),
photo-voltaic (PV) systems.

I. INTRODUCTION
IN PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) applications, the so-called mis-match
conditions take place in case of different orientations of the PV modules
belonging to the same PV field, shadowing effects determined by clouds and
bodies surrounding the plant, manufacturing tolerances, nonuniformity of
ambient tempera-ture in proximity of each module due to uneven sun
irradiation and air circulation, dust and spot dirtiness such as leaves or bird
droppings, PV cell and/or PV glass protection damages, etc. In mismatch
conditions, the power versus voltage (P-V) characteristic of the PV field may
have more than one peak, and maximum power point tracking (MPPT)
algorithms can fail causing a drastic drop in the overall system efficiency,
unless the entire P-V characteristic is periodically swept. In any case, the
absolute maximum power of a mismatched PV field is lower than the sum of
the available maximum powers that the mismatched modules are able to
provide. Distributed MPPT (DMPPT) [1][4] allows to overcome these
problems, since it is based on the use of a module dedicated dc/dc converter
for the MPPT of each PV module
(Fig. 1).




















Fig. 1. Grid-connected PV system with DMPPT.




In [5], [6] a novel MPPT technique which is suitable for DMPPT
applications has been introduced. Such a Technique is based on the
Equalization of the Output operating points in correspondence of the forced
Displacement of the Input operat-ing points of two identical PV systems and
has been indicated with the acronym TEODI. Indeed, the idea of comparing
the operating points of two identical PV systems was proposed for the first
time in [7]. Nevertheless, the approach proposed in [7] is characterized by
many significant differences with respect to TEODI. In fact, the technique
presented in [7] needs the sensing of both PV currents and voltages, it
requires three different control loops for each dc/dc converter, and it does not
exploit the fact that the output ports of the two dc/dc converters are connected
in parallel or in series. On the contrary, TEODI needs the sensing of the only
output currents (if the output ports of the two dc/dc converters are connected
in parallel) or output voltages (if the output ports of the two dc/dc converters
are connected in series) and requires only one control loop for the whole
system. The design of the control loop required by TEODI is quite simple [6],
while, in the case of the technique discussed in [7], the design of the control
loops must be carried out by taking into account that, in order to avoid
instability, the dynamics of the MPPT inner control loop must be slower than
that one of the outer voltage loop leading to a reduced MPPT speed of the
system. In the following, without loss of generality, we will refer to the case
shown in Fig. 2 where the output ports of the two dc/dc converters are
connected in parallel.
The main advantages offered by TEODI have been discussed in detail in
[5]; they can be summarized as it follows.
1) The hardware implementation of TEODI requires few components,
and it can be done in fully analog form,














Fig. 2. Schematic representation of the operating principle of TEODI.
because it does not need any memory operation. To this regard, it is worth
noting that the two classical approaches, the perturb and observe (P&O) and
the incre-mental conductance (IC) methods require a comparison of
voltage/current/power values in two different operating points of the PV
system, so that the adoption of a memory capability and therefore of a more
or less cheap digital controller is mandatory.
TEODI does not require any measurement of the PV power, that is, it does
not require multiplication of cur-rents and voltages.

2) It only requires the sensing of the currents at the output of the dc/dc
converters dedicated to each subsection of the PV string. In its dual
implementation, TEODI only needs the sensing of the converters
output voltages. It is worth noting that, in general, the tracking based
on a minimum number of electrical variables is preferable from a
reliability point of view. Moreover, a reduction in the overall costs of
the control circuitry is also achieved.
3)
4) TEODI approach can be applied to any topology of dc/dc power
converter dedicated to a single module.
5)
6) The MPPT efficiency that TEODI is able to guarantee is higher than
that one obtainable by means of perturbative approaches like P&O and
IC techniques. In fact, it is well known that perturbative approaches
reach a steady-state condition characterized by a periodic oscillation
of the PV voltage around the MPP, so that a kind of parametric
optimization is needed [8]. On the contrary, TEODI is not a
perturbation-based technique, so that, at steady state, there are no
fluctuations of the PV operating point.
7)
8) In this paper, the principle of operation of TEODI is only briefly
recalled since the complete description is provided in [5]. The novelty
of this paper is represented by the experimental validation of the
theoretical results shown in [5] by means of some experimental
measurements performed on a laboratory prototype which has been
entirely developed by using analog



Fig. 3. Power versus voltage characteristic of each subsection.
circuitry. Moreover, an additional new feature of this paper is represented by
the analysis of the rejection of the 100 Hz/ 120 Hz disturbances, which, in
single-phase ac applications, propagate from the dc/ac power stage toward the
PV module. Such an analysis is carried out in detail by using simulation and
experimental results in order to corroborate the theoretical findings.

II. WORKING PRINCIPLE OF TEODI

9) In Fig. 2, the PV subsections A and B represent two iden-tical
subsections of a given PV generator operating under the same levels
of irradiance and ambient temperature. Each PV subsection with its
own associated dc/dc converter will be referred to as switched-mode
PV source (SMPVS). Due to the parallel connection of the output
ports of the two SMPVSs, it is vA2 = vB2 = Vout. Therefore, if it
occurs that iA2 = iB2, then the powers delivered from the two
SMPVSs assume the same value. In such a case, by assuming that the
efficiencies of the power stages of the two dc/dc converters are equal,
the power extracted by the two PV subsections must assume the same
value Pin. Apart from the trivial case vA1 = vB1, the equality of such
powers can occur only in the case in which the operating voltages of
the two PV subsections are properly located at the opposite sides with
respect to the MPP voltage v MPP as shown in Fig. 3. In the system of
Fig. 2, the high-frequency switching content of the quantity k(iA2
iB2), where k is a constant gain equal to 1, is filtered out by means of
a low-pass filter whose output is k(_iA2_ _iB2 _), where variables
within brackets represent the low-frequency content of the
corresponding variables. The proportional-integral controller ensures
that.In the system of Fig. 2, the duty cycles dA(t) and dB(t) driving the
main switches of the two dc/dc converters differ since dA(t) = dB(t)
d where d = dV/Vs (0 < d < 1), Vs is the peak amplitude of the saw-
tooth carrier waveforms of the two pulse width modulation (PWM)
modulators, and dV is a constant voltage offset. Without loss of
generality, by assuming that Vout > vA1 and Vout > vB1, the
operation of TEODI can be explained by assuming that the boost
topology is adopted for the two dc/dc converters. As shown in [5], by
assuming continuous conduction mode operation for each boost
converter, it is always vA1 > vB1, so that three possible cases may
occur.

Whenever vA1 and vB1 are both on the left side or both on the right
side with respect to vMPP, the powers drawn by the two PV
subsections are different and, as a consequence, iA2 is different from
iB2. In this case, the signal at the input of the PI controller is not null,
and therefore its output signal vc(t) is a decreasing or an increasing
function of time. The same conclusion holds for dB(t), dA(t), and the
voltage conversion ratios of the two dc/dc converters. As a
consequence, with the output voltage Vout fixed, both voltages vA1(t)
and vB1(t) are increasing or decreasing functions of time as required
to move the operating points of both the PV subsections toward the
MPP. The only possible equilibrium condition, in which the input of
the PI controller is nearly equal to zero and quan-tities dB(t), dA(t),
vA1(t), and vB1(t) are nearly constant, is obtained when the operating
voltages vA1 and vB1 are located at the opposite sides with respect to
vMPP, such that PA = PB (Fig. 3). That is, the MPPs of the two PV
subsections are not exactly reached, and there will be an error in the
tracking. Of course, the value of d strongly affects the steady-state
performances of TEODI. In fact it is: vA1 vB1 = Vout d.
Therefore, in equilibrium conditions, the smaller the value of d, the
smaller the displacement of the operating point of each PV subsection
from the MPP and therefore the higher the MPPT efficiency.
However, it is intuitive to understand that, in practical applications,
because of the effect of tolerances of the physical components of the
two SMPVS and of small but nonetheless unavoidable effects (due to
temperature, humidity, and so on) that make the two SMPVS not
perfectly equal, too small values of d could lead to the failure of the
technique. In any case, the value of d also influences the speed of the
whole tracking process in dynamic conditions: the higher the value of

d, the higher such a speed [5]. Therefore, the choice of d must be
made on the basis of a reasonable compromise between accuracy of
MPPT under stationary atmospheric conditions and speed of MPPT
under time varying atmospheric conditions.











Fig. 4. Equivalent block diagram of the system of Fig. 2

Similar considerations also apply as concerns the choice of the
amplitude of the perturbation of the controlled variable to be adopted
when using the P&O technique [8], [9].

As shown in [5], by using the small signal representation of the power
stage of the boost converter [10], it is possible to obtain the transfer
functions which appear in the schematic block diagram of Fig. 4 and
which are indispensable in order to investigate the dynamic
performances of TEODI. In particular, the transfer functions referring
to subsystem A are shown in the equations at the bottom of page) Of
course, the transfer functions referring to subsystem B can be easily
obtained by means of a formal substitution of the letter A with the
letter B in the preceding expressions where symbols with hats
represent small-signal variations around the quiescent values of the
corresponding quantities. RA and RB are the differential resistances of
modules A and B [9]. L is the inductance of the boost inductors, Cin is
the capacitance of the input capacitors, and DA and DB are the dc
values of the duty cycle of the two boost converters. The design of the
compensator transfer function leading to a stable closed-loop system,
with adequate phase margin and a sufficiently high crossover
frequency.
out by applying the phase margin test to the compensated loop gain

Tc(s) = Gc(s) Tu(s) (3)

here, Gc(s) is the proportional-integral controller transfer func-tion,
and Tu(s) is the uncompensated loop gain

III. REJECTION OF LOW FREQUENCY DISTURBANCES

In [5], the performances which can be obtained by adopting TEODI
have been compared with those ones which can be obtained by
adopting the P&O technique. In particular, it has been shown that
TEODI is characterized by a higher tracking speed with respect to the
P&O technique, and this aspect represents a further advantage offered
by TEODI, in addition to those ones already listed in the introduction.

In this section, an additional, interesting feature exhibited by TEODI
will be analyzed. It is represented by the inherent capability exhibited
by TEODI in attenuating low-frequency disturbances propagating
from the output ports of the dc/dc converters toward their input ports,
that is at the terminals of the two PV module subsections. This aspect
is particularly relevant in single-phase grid-connected applications. In
fact, it is worth noting that the energy-storage bulk capacitor placed at
the interface between the dc/dc and the dc/ac stage of any grid
connected PV system is the source of oscillations of the PV voltage
taking place at the second harmonic of the grid frequency fac. It is
well known that the voltage of such a capacitor must be allowed to
increase or decrease in order to store or release the required energy.
This allows to balance the dc power extracted from the PV array, with
the instantaneous power injected into the grid. The presence of low-
frequency oscillations in the PV voltage causes a more or less
significant sweep, with frequency equal to 2 fac, of the operating point
of the PV modules around the MPP. This of course is undesirable
since, not only the operating point of the PV array is forced to
oscillate more or less far from the MPP, but the MPPT algorithm can
be confused leading to an additional waste of available energy. In the
literature, some solutions aimed at reducing the amplitude of such
oscillations have been proposed. The first solution is represented by
the direct filtering which can be obtained either by means of passive
or of active filters. As concerns passive filters, the easiest solution is
represented by the adoption of larger capacitances at the interface
between the dc/dc stage and the dc/ac stage and/or of larger
capacitances at the PV array terminals. Indeed, the reduction of
capacitances is highly desirable since this might allow the use of
metalized polypropylene capacitors in order to get higher reliability
with respect to the case of adoption of electrolytic capacitors.
Moreover, with specific reference to the capacitor placed across the
PV array terminals, the lowest its capacitance, the highest the MPPT
speed. Of course, also more complicated passive filters could be
adopted and placed across the PV array terminals; unfortunately, the
necessity to damp such filters involves additional losses in the filters
themselves leading to a more or less consistent decrease of the
efficiency of the system. As concerns active filters, they generally
involve an increased complexity in terms of control and the use of
additional active and passive components. In [11], [12], an approach,
based on a feedforward control structure, has been proposed for both
PV and fuel cell-based applications. The main drawback of such a
technique is represented by the need of a perfect phase lock of the
sinusoidal oscillation at 2fac; therefore, the use of an auxiliary phase
locked loop circuit is necessary. Furthermore, as in any feedforward
approach, the proposed technique suffers from disturbances and
uncertainties related to unmodeled phenomena and tolerances.
Another limi-tation is represented by the fact that the attenuation is
obtained only at a frequency equal to 2fac; in practical cases, such an
harmonic component is the prevailing one, but also additional
harmonics are produced by the system nonlinearity which also need to
be removed. A further approach which can be applied to eliminate
periodic disturbances is represented by repetitive control implemented
in both analog and digital way [13], [14]. Such a solution is not able to
remove all those disturbances, appearing in practical systems, which
are characterized by frequencies that are difficult to be foreseen during
the design process. In principle, by using adaptive repetitive control
[14], it is possible to overcome such a drawback but at the expense of
an increased complexity of the control circuitry which must be
implemented in digital form. In [9], the problem of optimizing the
P&O MPPT performances has been faced; no attempt has been made
to reduce the 2fac voltage oscillations. In order to avoid mistakes of
the P&O controller, in [9], it is shown that it is necessary to adopt very
large values of the amplitude of the duty cycle perturbation. Of course,
this is not desirable from the point of view of the steady-state MPPT
efficiency. In [15], [16], in order to reduce the 2fac PV voltage
oscillations, the P&O controller does not directly act on the duty cycle
of the dc/dc stage (as in [9]), but it provides a proper reference voltage
which must be followed by the PV voltage. The error voltage is then
processed by a compensation network.

In the following section, it will be shown that the 100-Hz disturbances
coming from the output are not able to cause the failure of TEODI,
and, moreover, that the proposed technique is intrinsically able to
provide an attenuation of such disturbances on the PV voltage.

The presence of the loop (evident in Fig. 2 or in Fig. 4) characterized
by the compensated loop gain Tc is the respon-sibility of the
attenuations of 100/120-Hz disturbances, which, in single-phase ac
applications, propagate from the dc/ac power stage toward the PV
module. If a boost topology is adopted, the total attenuation of 100-Hz
disturbances from the output to the input is approximately given by
(VMPP/Vout)/|1 + Tc(100 Hz)|, where (VMPP/Vout) is the intrinsic
attenuation provided by the boost topology and 1/|1 + Tc(100 Hz)| is
the attenuation effect provided by TEODI. TEODI could be
implemented, in principle, also by using a power stage topol-ogy
different from the boost topology adopted in this paper. Should a
different power stage topology be adopted, since the loop
characterized by the compensated loop gain Tc is always present, then
the attenuation effect provided by TEODI would be always given by
1/|1 + Tc(100 Hz)|.

IV. NUMERICAL RESULTS

The results shown in this section refer to the following set of values
for the two boost converters: L = 47 H; Vout = 12 V; fs = 100 kHz;
Cin = 33 F. Each subsection of the PV module considered for the
numerical tests has the electrical characteristics reported in Table I.
The crossover frequency of Tc(s) has been chosen equal to
about 1500 Hz; moreover, d = 0.05; Vs = 1; Gc(s) = (2.5 106s +
0.059)/(5 105s), LP(s) = 1/(2.53 1010s2 + 2.228 105s + 1).

In Figs. 5 and 6, the Bode plots of Tu, Tc, and 1/(1 + Tc) are shown.
The magnitude of Tc at 100 Hz is equal to about 22 dB. Therefore, as
an example, if superimposed on Vout, we consider a sinusoidal 100-
Hz disturbance with a peak-to-peak value of 3 V, we expect a
sinusoidal 100 Hz component, on the voltage of each PV subsection,
with a peak-to-peak value approximately equal to the value obtainable
in open loop (3V M P P/V out) multiplied by |1/(1 + Tc(100 Hz))|.
That is, the expected peak-to-peak value of the 100-Hz dis-turbance
on the PV voltage is approximately equal to (22/20) V = 0.175 V.

Results shown in Fig. 7 obtained in PSIM simulation en-vironment, by
superimposing on Vout a sinusoidal 100-Hz disturbance with a peak-
to-peak value equal to 3 V, confirm the validity of the above
observations. In particular, in Fig. 7, the time-domain behavior of the
voltages of the two subsections of the PV module and of the output
voltage are shown by considering the following values of irradiance G
and ambient temperature T: G = 1000 W/m2, T = 25 C.
















































































































































Fig. 6. (a) Bode plots of Tc. (b) Bode plots of 1/(1 + Tc).

















Fig. 7. Time-domain behavior of the voltages of the two subsections of the
PV module (G = 1000 W/m
2
, T = 25

C).

In Fig. 8, the powers of the two subsections of the PV module, during the
turn on transient of the boost converters, are shown and compared with the
maximum power. In Fig. 9 the duty cycles driving the two dc/dc converters
are reported.
The significant attenuation effect provided by TEODI and evidenced in
Fig. 7 can be explained just by analyzing the waveforms reported in Fig. 9.
The presence of 100-Hz oscil-lations in the duty cycle waveforms of the two
boost converters just represents the correction action played by TEODI
control circuitry. Should such oscillations of the control variables be absent,
then there would be no possibility to attenuate the


















Fig. 8. Time-domain behavior of the powers of the two subsections of the PV
module (G = 1000 W/m
2
, T = 25

C).
















Fig. 9. Time-domain behavior of the duty cycles of the two subsections of the
PV module (G = 1000 W/m
2
, T = 25

C).

effect of 100-Hz disturbances propagating from the output
ports toward the input ports of the dc/dc converters.


V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The experimental results shown in this section have been
obtained by using a laboratory prototype which has been de-
veloped by means of analog circuitry only. Two subsections of a
commercial PV module have been used. The nominal electrical
parameters of each PV subsection are reported in Table I. In order
to minimize the path for the control loop, the two dc/dc
converters have been integrated into a single board, as shown in
Fig. 10(a). The values of the components of the dc/dc power
stages and the converter operating conditions are the same
reported in Section III. Some details on the implemen-tation of
the analog control circuitry are reported in Fig. 10(b) and (c). In
Fig. 11, some preliminary results are shown. The vertical lines,
shown together with the P-V characteristics of the two
subsections, put into evidence the operating voltages of the two
subsections in the three possible cases discussed in Section II.
Even if some discrepancy exists between the P-V characteristics
of the two modules, due to manufacturing tolerances, the
theoretical predictions regarding the sign of the difference of the
output currents of the two SMPVSs are confirmed, as shown by
the clock-shaped indicators reported on the right high side of each
figure. In each one of the

Fig. 10. (a) Picture of the laboratory prototype developed by using analog circuitry
only. (b) Schematic for generating two synchronized PWM modulator.
(c) Schematic of the TEODI compensation network.

plots in Fig. 11, the color bars (on the right side) show the
instantaneous duty cycle (Duty) of the PWM signal used to
drive the MOSFET of the converter connected to the section A