An Intelligent Maximum Power Point Tracker Using Peak Current Control

The perturbation and observation (P&O) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms are commonly used in photovoltaic (PV) systems due to their easy implementation and ability to track the maximum power point (MPP) of the solar array under widely varying atmospheric conditions viz. solar irradiation, panel temperature etc. P&O algorithm based on peak current control and the use of instantaneous sampled values to calculate the next perturbation direction have the potential for faster transients and smaller oscillations around the MPP. The use of fixed variation of the reference current results in a compromise sub-optimum solution. This paper discusses a fuzzy logic based P&O MPPT with peak current control with variable variation of the reference current for improved transient as well as steady-state performance. Simulation results show a 15 % gain in the transient response and decrease of the power loss in the steady state. Besides, both the P&O scheme with fixed variation for the reference current and the intelligent MPPT algorithm were able to identify the global MPP in a partially shaded PV module, however the performance of the intelligent MPPT algorithm was better