Application of sliding mode control for maximum power point tracking of solar photovoltaic systems: A comprehensive review

A robust maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control is of paramount importance in the performance enhancement and the optimization of photovoltaic systems (PVSs). Solar panel exhibits nonlinear behavior under real climatic conditions and output power fluctuates with the variation in solar irradiance and temperature. Therefore, a control strategy is requisite to extract maximum power from solar panels under all operating conditions. Sliding mode control (SMC) is extensively used in non-linear control systems and has been implemented in PVSs to track maximum power point (MPP). The objective of this work is to classify, scrutinize and review the SMC techniques used to extract maximum power from PVSs in both off-grid and grid connected applications. The first order, perturb and observe, incremental conductance, linear expression based sliding mode control algorithms and their adaptive forms are discussed in detail. The advanced form of SMC, terminal sliding mode control (TSMC), super twisting theorem (SIT) and artificial intelligent (AI) algorithm based are also presented with the focused application of MPPT of PVSs. A tabular comparison is provided at the end of each category to help the users to choose the most appropriate method for their PV application. It is anticipated that this work will serve as a reference and provides important insight into MPPT control of the PV systems. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.