Improving Photovoltaic MPPT Performance through PSO Dynamic Swarm Size Reduction

Abstract

Efficient energy extraction in photovoltaic (PV) systems relies on the effective implementation of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques. Conventional MPPT techniques often suffer from slow convergence speeds and suboptimal tracking performance, particularly under dynamic variations of environmental conditions. Smart optimization algorithms (SOA) using metaheuristic optimization algorithms can avoid these limitations inherent in conventional MPPT methods. The problem of slow convergence of the SOA is avoided in this paper using a novel strategy called Swarm Size Reduction (SSR) utilized with a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, specifically designed to achieve short convergence time (CT) while maintaining exceptional tracking accuracy. The novelty of the proposed MPPT method introduced in this paper is the dynamic reduction of the swarm size of the PSO for improved performance of the MPPT of the PV systems. This adaptive reduction approach allows the algorithm to efficiently explore the solution space of PV systems and rapidly exploit it to identify the global maximum power point (GMPP) even under fast fluctuations of uneven solar irradiance and temperature. This pioneering ultra-fast MPPT method represents a significant advancement in PV system efficiency and promotes the wider adoption of solar energy as a reliable and sustainable power source. The results obtained from this proposed strategy are compared with several optimization algorithms to validate its superiority. This study aimed to use SSR with different swarm sizes and then find the optimum swarm size for the MPPT system to find the lowest CT. The output accentuates the exceptional performance of this innovative method, achieving a time reduction of as much as 75% when compared with the conventional PSO technique, with the optimal swarm size determined to be six.