Enhanced MPPT approach for grid-integrated solar PV system: Simulation and experimental study

The global solar energy utilization has significantly risen, mostly due to the technological, economic, and environmental advantages it offers, particularly through the implementation of photovoltaic (PV) systems. The energy output of PV systems is contingent upon climate conditions. A new hybrid two-stage maximum power point tracking (MPPT) system developed to optimize power extraction and increase efficiency in PV systems. The system consists of two stages: a perturb and observe (P&O) MPPT for regulating the reference voltage in the first stage, and an enhanced model reference adaptive controller (EMRAC) for adjusting the DC-DC converter duty cycle in second stage. This system is designed primarily for 100.7 kW three-phase grid-integrated PV systems operating in environments with rapidly changing solar irradiation and temperature levels. In order to demonstrate efficacy of the suggested approach, a probabilistic evaluation is conducted across three levels of uncertain scenarios, namely ropp, step irradiance profile, and rapid changing irradiation and temperature profile. The proposed approach attained maximum power point (MPP) in 0.11 s and had an average tracking efficiency of 98.28 %. Quantitative, statistical, comparative and experimental analyses utilizing the dSPACE 1202 reveal the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy and demonstrate the superior performance over P&O, INC and ANN based on the power output, response time, power loss, efficiency, and error rates.