Current-sensor-based photovoltaic MPP tracking algorithm with efficient dynamic response

The power available from photovoltaic sources peaks at a particular operating point only. This point continuously varies with varying atmospheric conditions. Due to load characteristic mismatch, electronic maximum power point trackers are often employed to continuously follow this changing peak power for optimum utilization. This paper proposes a maximum power point tracking algorithm that uses only a current sensor at the array side. Auto tuning of ad-hoc factors such as variable search step size and scaling parameter are also introduced. This results in efficient startup, drift avoidance and dynamic & steady state performances of the tracker. Experimental results based on solar array simulator as a source feeding a laboratory boost converter based tracker are presented to validate the proposed technique.