IJEERI, VOL.2, NO.

1, MAR 2013 ISSN 2301-6132

2013 IJEERI 1

Comparison of CUK and SEPIC Converter Applied in
Maximum Power Point Tracking for PV System
Muhammad Syafei Gozali
Department of Electrical Engineering
Politeknik Negeri Batam
syafei@polibatam.ac.id


Abstractthis paper presents a comparison between CUK and
SEPIC converter in maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of
photovoltaic (PV) system. Advantages and disadvantages of both
converters are described in this paper. Furthermore, Perturb and
Observe (P&O) and constant voltage (CV) method are used as
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm. The
evaluation of the output has been carried out and compared by
software simulation using PSIM.
Keywords photovoltaic; P&O method; CV method; CUK
converter; SEPIC converter
I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, renewable energy is used as source of electrical
energy are increasing with the decrease in fossil fuel reserves.
PV system is one of the power generations that utilize
renewable energy. Use of renewable energy is solar energy. To
reduce consumption of conventional energy, then the PV
system must be connected to grid, either directly or through a
back-up battery [1].
However, the PV system has low efficiency because of the
power generated from PV systems depends on the irradiation
and temperature. To improve the efficiency of the PV system
must be operated at maximum power point. Most MPPT
controllers have at most one closed loop for the input voltage
and the tracking algorithm. MPPT algorithms have been
developed such as P&O, Constant Voltage, Incremental
Conductance method [2-3]. P&O and CV method has problem
to determine the optimal operating point in rapid change of sun
irradiance voltage method but it is easier and very reliable in
normal condition [4].
The next improvement was to maintain the input voltage
constant when a step of irradiance occurs. In this way the
hardware helps the MPPT algorithm to reach the maximum
power point in a shorter time. Boost converter is commonly
used as a MPPT device. But the input of the boost converter
must be smaller than the desired output voltage. This paper will
focus on applying the above configuration in two MPPT
systems, using a CUK and SEPIC converter with wide input
voltage.
II. PV MODEL, MPPT ALGORITHM AND CONVERTER
A. PV Model
PV array is formed from a combination of PV cells
connected in series or parallel. Equivalent circuit of PV cell is
shown in Figure 1. Voltage and current of the PV cell, is
affected by the irradiance and temperature.


Figure 1. Equivalent circuit of PV cell
The mathematical model of PV arrays can be represented
by the following equation [5]:
ln
ph o cell
c
cell s cell
o
I I I
nkT
V R I
q I
+ | | | |
=
| |
\ . \ .

(1)
( ) 1
ph sc c o
I I K T T G ( = +


(2)
( )
2 1 1
exp
s so c o g
o c
I I T T qE kn
T T
( | |
=
( |
( \ .

(3)
exp 1
oc
so sc
s o
qV
I I
nkN T
( | |
=
( |
( \ .

(4)
Here, q is charge of electron, n is the ideality factor of cell
which depends on the PV technology, k is Boltzmann constant,
I
cell
is cell output current, I
ph
is photocurrent which is a function
of cell operating temperature and solar irradiance, I
o
is reverse
saturation current of diode, R
s
is series resistance of cell, T
c
is
cell operating temperature and V
cell
is cell output voltage.
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2013 IJEERI 2

Photocurrent mainly depends on the solar irradiance and
cells working temperature which can be found at equation (2).
Isc is the short circuit current at 25oC temperature and
1kW/m2 irradiance, K1 is cells short circuit current
temperature coefficient, G is the solar irradiance in kW/m2, To
is the cells reference temperature. Also, the cells saturation
current varies the cells operating temperature is expressed in
equation (3). I
so
is the cells reverse saturation current at
reference temperature and solar irradiation 1kW/m
2
, E
g
is the
bang-gap energy of the semiconductor used in the cell. I
so
can
be found from the equation (4).
In this paper, the photovoltaic module BP-583F PV panel
is used. The PV panel specifications are listed in table I.
Table 1. PV Panel Specification
Specification Value
Maximum Power (P
MAX
) 75.5 Wp
Maximum Power Voltage (V
MAX
) 17 V
Maximum Power Current (I
MAX
) 4.5 A
Open Circuit Voltage (V
OC
) 22.3 V
Short Circuit Current (I
SC
) 5 A
I-V and P-V characteristic curves for different solar
irradiation levels are plotted in figure 2, and figure 3,
respectively.

Figure 2. I-V characteristic for different radiation levels

Figure 3. P-V characteristic for different radiation levels
B. P&O Method
P&O control method is widely used because of having the
simple feedback structure and having a small number of
calibration parameter. In this method, the PV system is first
perturbed by moving the operating point in certain direction,
and then observing the output power. If the power increases,
the system is perturbed again in the same direction. If not, the
system is perturbed in the opposite direction. Figure 4, show
the algorithm of the P&O method [6].

Figure 4. Flowchart of the P&O method
C. CV Method
The output voltage of the solar cell array has the constant
voltage characteristic having the little bit of vibration
amplitude about the solar radiation change. Therefore, it can
be said to the CV method in which it sets as V
ref
and it
controls by the constant voltage. The DC voltage of the output
terminal is consistently maintained by V
ref
. This method is not
needed the calculated power value for an output. Figure 5,
show the algorithm of the CV method [7].
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2013 IJEERI 3

START
Sense V, V
ref
V = V
ref
V>V
ref
D=D+D D=D-D
yes
no
no yes

Figure 5. Flowchart of the CV method

(a)

(b)
Figure 6. Converter Circuit (a) CUK (b) SEPIC
D. DC-DC Converter
The CUK and SEPIC converter circuit is shown in Figure
6. Output voltage magnitude can be either larger or smaller
than that of the input. Polarity of CUK converter is reversal on
the output. On the other hand, the output SEPIC converter is
not reversal polarity. The inductor L1 on the input acts as a
filter for the dc supply to prevent large harmonic content. The
energy transfer for the both converter depends on the capacitor
C1 [7].
The voltage output CUK and SEPIC can be expressed in
the equation (5) and (6), respectively.
1
O S
D
V V
D
| |
=
|

\ .
(5)
1
O S
D
V V
D
| |
=
|

\ .
(6)
Where, D is duty cycle ratio of the PWM signal supplied to
the switch.
III. SIMULATION RESULTS
The PV system was simulated under PSIM environment
with three levels irradiance is 1000, 500, 800 w/m
2
. The
specification and design of the PV system is shown in Table 2
and figure 7-8 for CUK and SEPIC Converter respectively. The
simulation results for PV system with CUK and SEPIC
converter is represented in Figure 9 to 12. The results show that
the power output of the PV system is stable and can find the
maximum power point for both converter and algorithm
MPPT.
Table 2. Specification of PV system
Component Value
CUK SEPIC
L1 5 mH 5 mH
C1 10 uF 10 uF
L2 2.5 mH 10 mH
C2 5 uF 100 uF

(a)

(b)
Figure 7. PV System with CUK converter (a) P&O Method (b)
CV Method


(a)
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2013 IJEERI 4


(b)
Figure 8. PV System with SEPIC converter (a) P&O Method (b)
CV Method


(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 9. Simulation result MPPT with CUK Converter use P&O
method (a) Maximum Power and output PV Power, (b) current
and voltage PV, (c) current and voltage CUK converter

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 10. Simulation result MPPT with CUK Converter use CV
method (a) Maximum Power and output PV Power, (b) current
and voltage PV, (c) current and voltage CUK converter

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 11. Simulation result MPPT with SEPIC Converter use
P&O method (a) Maximum Power and output PV Power, (b)
current and voltage PV, (c) current and voltage SEPIC converter
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2013 IJEERI 5


(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 12. Simulation result MPPT with SEPIC Converter use
CV method (a) Maximum Power and output PV Power, (b)
current and voltage PV, (c) current and voltage SEPIC converter


IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, CUK and SEPIC converter is design and
simulated as MPPT in PV system. P&O and CV method is
used as algorithm MPPT controller. Advantages of CUK
converter is the value of L2 and C2 less then SEPIC converter.
But the polarity of the output CUK converter is reversal, while
SEPIC converter is not reversal. Both P&O and CV method
can find the maximum power point.
REFERENCES
[1] C.V. Nayar, M. Ashari, W. W. L. Keerthipala, A Grid-Interactive
Photovoltaic Uninterruptible Power Supply System Using Battery
Storage and a Back Up Diesel Generator , IEEE Transactions on
Energy Conversion, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 348-353, September 2000
[2] T. Markvart, L.Castaner, Practical Handbook of Photovoltaics:
Fundamentas and Appications, Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd, 2003, pp.
72-455.
[3] J.M. Enrique, J.M. Andujar, and M.A. Bohorquez, A reliable, fast and
low cost maximum power point tracker for photovoltaic applications,
Solar Energy vol. 84, pp. 79-89, November 2009.
[4] D.P. Hohman, and M.E. Roop, Comparative study of maximum power
point tracking algorithms, Progress in Photovoltaic: Research and
Applications vol. 11, pp. 47-62, November 2002.
[5] R. Messenger, J. Ventre Photovoltaic System Engineering, 2
nd
ed.,
Florida, USA, CRC Press, 1999. Electronics, vol. 20, pp. 963-973, July
2005.
[6] D. Sera et, al. Teaching Maximum Power Point Trackers Using a
Photovoltaic Array Model with Graphical User Interface, Institute of
Energy Technology, Aalborg University, December 2008.
[7] Sung-Jun Kang et,al, A Novel MPPT Control of photovoltaic system
using FLC algorithm, 2011 11th International Conference on Control,
Automation and Systems, pp. 26-29, October 2011.
[8] Daniel W. Hart, Power Electronics, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc,
2011, pp. 231-237.

BIOGRAPHY

Muhammad Syafei Gozali was born in Batam Island,
Indonesia in 1989. He received the Bachelor Degree in
electrical engineering from Bung Hatta Unevirsity,
Padang, Indonesia, in 2006. He has been with Polteknik
Negeri Batam since 2007 as a Lecturer in the Department
of Electrical Engineering.
From 2011 to now, he is master student in Department of
Electrical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh
Nopember, Surabaya, Indonesia.
His current research interests include power electronics and renewable energy
source.





























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