Efficient Design and simulation of solar power system with MPPT-based soft switching SEPIC converter at different load levels

This article proposes a novel method to improve the efficiency of Perturb and Observe (P&O) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm. As the PV module has low conversion efficiency, the output power of PV module depends on both operation environments and load change. The proposed method can improve the tracking velocity and reduce the steady-state oscillation of the conventional P&O method even under sudden load change. The adaptive duty cycle is proposed and executed in the microcontroller (PIC16F877A). The two MPPT techniques, conventional P&O method and variable step-size method, are simulated in the ISIS PROTUES environment. The simulation results show the high tracking accuracy and fast speed convergence of the proposed method. (c) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 1792-1799, 2018