Optimization of Photovoltaic Panels Efficiency Using a Backstepping Control Technique Under Partial Shading Conditions

This paper presents a new technique of Global Maximum Power Tracking (GMPT). It consists in solving the problems of partial shading by using a nonlinear control technique (Backstepping) characterized by its robustness and better tracking performance. This technique requires prior knowledge of photovoltaic panel and DC/DC converter characteristics; it also requires a significantly higher number of sensors compared to the traditional technique. The performances of the proposed control technique, which consists in tracking the global maximum point of a photovoltaic panel under varied and non-uniform weather conditions, are shown in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. The output command is compared with the Module Integrated Converters (MIC) topology and with the traditional Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithm. The results show the system efficiency in tracking the global maximum power.