Design and Performance Analysis of Fuzzy Sliding Mode Controller for Maximum Power Point Tracking Photovoltaic Water Pumping System (Case Study: Bahir Dar University Health Science College, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia)

The application of photovoltaic (PV) system in different sectors increases dramatically since it is clean, sustainable, and easy to maintain. However, PV systems have a nonlinear voltage-current characteristic, with a distinct maximum power point (MPP), which depends on environmental factors like temperature and irradiation. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is crucial for PV power systems to consistently extract the maximum power from solar panels as it optimizes power output under varying conditions. In this paper, a standalone PV-powered water pumping system is designed for Bahir Dar University Health Science College. Then fuzzy sliding mode control (FSMC) is designed for MPPT. The proposed controller is simulated in MATLAB/ SIMULINK and the controller's performance for optimizing the system's power output under different environmental and load conditions is evaluated. The effectiveness of the proposed MPPT algorithm is validated by comparing its performance with fuzzy logic control (FLC) and sliding mode control (SMC). Based on the simulation result FSMC has an MPPT efficiency of 99.13% compared with 80.21% in FLC and 97.81% in SMC.