SOLAR PANEL CONTROL USING SLIDING MODE

In this paper, a new sliding mode controller is proposed as the indirect control method and compared to a simple direct control method in order to control a buck converter in photovoltaic applications. The solar arrays are dependent power sources with nonlinear voltage-current characteristics under different environmental conditions. From this point of view, the DC/DC converter is particularly suitable for the application of the sliding mode control in photovoltaic application, because of its controllable states. Solar tracking allows more energy to be produced because the solar array is able to remain aligned to the sun. This method has the advantage that it will guarantee the maximum output power possible by the array configuration. Problems and possible improvements will also be presented.