A brief review and comparative analysis of two classical MPPT techniques

To enhance the output efficiency of the photovoltaic (PV) arrays, it is indispensable to track the maximum power point (MPP) to extract maximum power in the energy conversion process. However, this has become a challenging issue in the past many years due to the nonlinear characteristics of the PV cell and the adverse impact of temperature variation, irradiance change, partial shading, dust, and aging effect on the output generation. In maximum power point tracking (MPPT), the duty cycle of the DC-DC converter is adjusted in a way that the maximum possible power is extracted from the PV system. This paper has two major objectives to present as a brief review of the methods suggested in recent times and comparing the two classical techniques Perturb & Observe (P&O) and Incremental Conductance (IC) technique used most in real-time applications. A discussion on possible challenges and issues has been entailed at the end to serve as a vital reference to guide the system engineers to develop better techniques for MPPT control in the future.