Adaptive fuzzy gain scheduling PID controller for maximum power point tracking of photovoltaic system

This paper proposes a methodology of designing a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) controller for photovoltaic systems (PV) using a Fuzzy Gain Scheduling of Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) type controller (FGS-PID) with adaptation of scaling factors (SF) for the input signals of FGS. The proposed adaptive FGS-PID method is based on a two-level control system architecture, which combines the advantages of fuzzy logic and conventional PID control. The initial values of the PID's gains are determined by the Ziegler-Nichols tuning method. During transient and steady states, the PID's gains are adapted by the FGS-PID to damp out the transient oscillations, to reduce settling time and to guarantee system stability and accuracy. Also, the conditioned input signals of the FGS-PID are tuned dynamically by gain factors which are based on fuzzy logic system (FLS). The FLS is characterized by a set of fuzzy rules which are fuzzy conditional statements expressing the relationship between inputs (error and change of error) and outputs. This approach creates an adaptive MPPT controller and achieves better overall system performance. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive FGS-PID and show that this approach can achieve a good maximum power operation under any conditions such as different levels of solar radiation and PV cell temperature for varying PV sources. Compared to conventional methods (PID, perturb and observe method P&O), this method shows a considerable high tracking performance. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.