A Variable Step Size Perturb and Observe Method Based MPPT for Partially Shaded Photovoltaic Arrays

Konferenz: PCIM Europe 2016 - International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management
10.05.2016 - 12.05.2016 in Nürnberg, Deutschland

Tagungsband: PCIM Europe 2016

Seiten: 8Sprache: EnglischTyp: PDF

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Autoren:
Ahmad, Jawad; Spertino, F.; Di Leo, P.; Ciocia, A. (Energy Department, Politecnico di Torino, Corso duca degli Abruzi 24, Torino, Italy)

Inhalt:
Due to the effect of partial shading, multiple peaks appear in the Power vs. Voltage (P-V) characteristics of Photovoltaic (PV) array. If a conventional Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm is applied to a partially shaded PV array it may result in the tracking of a Local Peak (LP) instead of Global Peak (GP). It is therefore important to apply special MPPT technique for tracking the GP under partial shading conditions. Many methods reported in the literature perform blind scanning of the P-V curve in order to find the GP. This type of scanning takes a long time during which the array is not operated at the MPP which results in a considerable amount of power loss. In this paper an MPPT algorithm is proposed which quickly tracks the GP among various LPs. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm tracks the GP in a much shorter time than other methods reported in the literature. A modified form of the conventional Perturb and Observe method is employed to accelerate the tracking process.