A novel global maximum power point tracking method for photovoltaic generation system operating under partially shaded condition

Solar cells have nonlinear P-V curves that vary with insolation and temperature. Therefore, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique is used to operate and keep a solar cell at its maximum power output. In practical application, solar cells are usually influenced by partially shaded conditions (PSC). There is a bypass diode that prevents damage to the solar cell, which causes the P-V characteristic curve to have multiple peak values. As the traditional MPPT technology only tracks local maximum value, techniques which can find the global maximum value should be developed to maintain MPPT. This study proposed a new type of global maximum power point tracking (GMPPT) algorithm and experimentally proved that the global maximum power point (GMPP) could be tracked rapidly and successfully in different shaded conditions.