An improved incremental conductance based MPPT approach for PV modules

This paper presents a new maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method based on an incremental conductance (IC) algorithm, constant voltage, and look-up table approach. Convergence time, one of the indicators of MPPT quality, is considered for improving MPPT performance of photovoltaic (PV) modules. In this context, a novel hybrid MPPT approach has been proposed. This proposed method consists of three stages. In the first stage, the value of load resistance is calculated. Then the initial operation point of the PV module is determined by using the constant voltage method or look-up table approach. An IC algorithm is used in order to increase MPPT accuracy in the last stage. One of the novelties of this proposed approach is the determination criterion related to sample numbers of PV module current or solar irradiance. With the help of this approach, the initial operation point of the PV module is optimized before MPPT starts. Thus, convergence time is reduced. In this paper, a DC DC boost converter has been designed to show the performance of the proposed approach. Then the proposed approach is compared with an IC algorithm. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed approach is better than that of the IC algorithm in terms of convergence time. On the other hand, since the proposed approach is convenient for reducing convergence time, it can be used instead of variable step size algorithms. Furthermore, there are no topological constraints in the proposed approach. Therefore, this method can be easily applied to other converter topologies for low power or microconverter (module-based converter)-based applications.