A Low-Cost Arduino Validation of a Nonlinear Control Technique for a Standalone Photovoltaic System

The rapidly increasing demand for standalone photovoltaic (PV) system deployment requires not only highly efficient control methods under rapidly changing environmental conditions but also methods that are economically affordable for real-world applications. In the PV field, conventional techniques may fail in the face of these significant challenging events, making their practical execution on low-cost hardware boards demanding. This study investigates the real-time implementation feasibility of a Nonlinear Backstepping Control (NBC) method for a standalone PV system, using an Arduino Due platform, within MATLAB/Simulink software. The applied system integrates a PV generator based on Kyocera 200GT (KC200GT) modules, linked to a DC–DC boost converter supplying a DC load. The proposed Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) ensures stable, controlled extraction of the PV power under abrupt atmospheric conditions. The obtained results demonstrate a superior tracking efficiency that exceeds 97%, without exhibiting significant oscillations. In contrast to classic control strategies such as Perturb & Observe (P&O), which produce high fluctuations, leading to poor MPPT efficiency, especially under Standard Test Conditions (STC), the Arduino-in-the-loop evaluation of this nonlinear technique establishes high consistency between embedded and simulation results, indicating its superior accuracy, rapid convergence, and smooth power extraction, showing its suitability for real-world standalone PV system applications under cost-effective embedded systems.