As primary energy source such as coal and oil has been dried up and has bad influence on environment, human urgently need renewable energy which is friendly to environment. So in the future, solar energy will be very important energy source. It is noticeable that the output characteristics of a PV array are influenced by the environment factors, and the conversion efficiency of PV arrays is very low. Photovoltaic array simulations can be used to find better methods to implement maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control for efficient solar power systems. This paper establishes a kind of PV model based on the physical and mathematical models of photovoltaic array in application of MATLAB/Simulink. Conventional MPPT methods can be simulated by using this PV model. Characteristics of photovoltaic arrays based on MATLAB simulation are also analyzed.