Fast and Robust Maximum Power Point Tracking for Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) energy is becoming an increasingly important part of the world's renewable energy. In order to develop technology for efficient energy conversion from a solar PV system, this paper studies typical Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) control techniques used in solar PV industry and then proposes a close-loop and adaptive MPPT method for reliable and rapid extraction of solar PV power. The paper emphasizes especially on how the proposed and conventional adaptive MPPT methods perform under highly variable weather and solar irradiation conditions in a digital control environment. A computer simulation system is developed by using SimPowerSystems and Opal-RT real-time simulation technology which allows for fast and efficient investigations of the MPPT algorithms under high switching frequency conditions for power converters. A hardware experiment system is built to validate and compare the proposed and conventional MPPT techniques in a more practical condition. Advantages, disadvantages and properties of different MPPT methods are compared and studied, evaluated.