Field measurements of transient effects in photovoltaic panels and its importance in the design of maximum power point trackers

This paper describes the implementation of an experimental setup to capture the dynamic behavior of photovoltaic (PV) modules at significantly higher sample rates than what has previously been done. The data helps guide the design of maximum power point tracker (MPPT) algorithms, particularly as it pertains to tracking speed and accuracy. We present data that illustrates the dynamic behavior of PV modules for various cloud coverage and weather situations. In addition, we perform analysis on the collected data to illustrate the frequency of rapid transient changes in PV output power due to fast moving clouds and other sources of shading, all of which are essential for evaluating the speed/accuracy trade-off in any MPPT converter.