In this paper, a nonlinear integral sliding mode control for a hybrid energy storage system (HESS) based stand-alone dc microgrid has been proposed and applied experimentally. This hybrid system comprises a PV, super-capacitor, and battery. A classical PI-based linear control strategy has been designed to control battery and super-capacitor systems based on decoupling the high and low-frequency components to estimate reference current. Since the frequent discharge during operation, super-capacitor power can reach the lowest value, affecting controller performance and making the system unstable. From the experimental result, a nonlinear Integral sliding mode control ISMC is performed as an inner loop controller to regulate battery and super-capacitor power. Also, the PI controller is implemented as an outer loop controller to regulate the dc-link. The proposed control approach is compared with the linear PI controller to improve life extension and minimize stress on the battery. As a result, the proposed control strategy has achieved high dynamic system performance.