An improved perturb-and-observe based MPPT method for PV systems under varying irradiation levels

Abstract The present paper studies thoroughly the performance of the classical perturb-and-observe (P&O) method under fast-changing solar irradiation, including increase or decrease of the irradiation level with small or large steps, when the initial operating point lies to the right or left of the MPP. In sixteen case studies of sudden variation of solar irradiation, the classical P&O method fails to track MPP properly in four cases. The classical P&O tracker does not work properly under a ramp change of irradiation level. A modified P&O-based-MPP tracking method is proposed and tested under step and ramp changes of irradiation irrespective of the value and direction of the perturbation in irradiation level and the location of the initial operating point. The proposed method succeeds in capturing the MPP under a ramp or slow change of irradiation level. The proposed method tracks correctly the MPP in the above-mentioned case studies and shows better performance in tracking speed, steady state efficiency, dynamic efficiency and tracking accuracy when compared with the classical P&O method and other modified methods reported in the literature.