Comparative Study of MPPT Techniques for Solar Photovoltaic System

Solar photovoltaics (PV) has proven itself to be the most dependable source for harvesting solar energy. The output of solar PV system relies upon solar radiation and temperature which vary throughout the day. This causes variations in the maximum power point (MPP) on the solar PV output characteristics curve. Therefore, various Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques are used to track the MPP and extract maximum power out of the PV systems. This paper acquaints a simulation based comprehensive study for comparison of three widely adopted MPPT algorithms: Perturb and Observe (P&O), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Cuckoo Search (CS) using MATLAB Simulink. These MPPT algorithms are implemented to regulate the duty cycle of a DC-DC Boost converter. The performance of the three algorithms is compared on the basis of their tracking speed, accuracy and tracking efficiency. The CS MPPT algorithm showed the best tracking efficiency among the three under partial shading and fast changing conditions of irradiance.