A hybrid maximum power point tracking method for photovoltaic systems

Solar panels exhibit non-linear current voltage characteristics producing maximum power at only one particular operating point. The maximum power point changes with temperature and light intensity variations. Different methods have been introduced for tracking the maximum power point based on offline and online methods. In this paper a new method is presented to improve the performance of maximum power point tracking in solar panels. The proposed algorithm is a combination of two loops, set point calculation and fine tuning loops. First the set point loop approximates the maximum power using offline calculation of the open circuit voltage. The exact amount of the maximum power will, then, be tracked by the fine tuning loop which is based on perturbation and observation (P&O) method. The proposed method is simulated in Matlab/Simulink environment and experimentally verified using a laboratory prototype. In maximum power point tracking, the effects of frequency variation and disturbance amplitude on dynamic response and steady state performance are examined. Simulation and experimental results are compared with other methods and the effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.