Optimization of Power Extracting from Photovoltaic Systems Based on a Novel Adaptable Step INC MPPT Approach

Abstract

The Maximum Power Point (MPP) Tracking (MPPT) mechanism is a crucial component in photovoltaic (PV) systems to harvest the utmost power from the PV panel/array. Otherwise, conventional methods, such as the INC algorithm based on fixed iteration step size, complain of serious problems. The famous of these latter lies in its failure to find a compromise between dynamic responses and steady-state fluctuation around the MPP, which results in power loss and thus in poor tracking efficiency. To cope with these problems, this paper presents a novel adaptable step INC (NAS-INC) approach, in which the size of the suggested iteration step is automatically adjusted in relation to the change in PV power, current, and voltage. The performance of the NSA-INC approach is examined under critical scenarios of irradiance and temperature using the MATLAB/Simulink tool. In light of the simulation results, the proposed NAS-INC approach proves its accuracy and robustness in extracting the optimal power with the best tracking efficiency over the conventional INC method and a modified variable step size INC algorithm (MVS-INC) recently published. In this respect, the ranges of the average tracking efficiency in all scenarios of the INC, MVS-INC, and NAS-INC approaches are, respectively, 96.83-98.65%, 97.02-99.12%, and 98.77-99.98 %.