Fast converging MPPT control of photovoltaic systems under partial shading conditions

A novel high performance control to track the maximum power point (MPP) of a photovoltaic (PV) module under rapidly fluctuating operating conditions like irradiation change and partial shading has been developed. A DC-DC boost converter is selected as the Power Conditioning Unit (P.C.U) to coordinate the operating point of the system with the maximum power point of the PV array. The proposed algorithm uses a scanning technique to measure the maximum power delivering capacity of the panel and the proposed control makes the system to operate at the MPP, even under rapidly changing operating conditions. The algorithm is simple to implement and easy to execute with high tracking efficiency. The proposed method is successfully implemented, analyzed and verified in Mat-lab/Simulink software. The results obtained for rapid change in irradiation conditions verify that the proposed MPPT control provides an efficient tracking within 15ms. The results also verify that the proposed control algorithm guarantees convergence to the global MPP even under partial shading.