A Fast-Tracking Hybrid MPPT Based on Surface-Based Polynomial Fitting and P&O Methods for Solar PV under Partial Shaded Conditions

Abstract

The efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) systems depends directly on solar irradiation, so drastic variations in solar exposure will undoubtedly move its maximum power point (MPP). Furthermore, the presence of partial shading conditions (PSCs) generates local maximum power points (LMPPs) and one global maximum power point (GMPP) in the P-V characteristic curve. Therefore, a proper maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique is crucial to increase PV system efficiency. There are classical, intelligent, optimal, and hybrid MPPT techniques; this paper presents a novel hybrid MPPT technique that combines Surface-Based Polynomial Fitting (SPF) and Perturbation and Observation (P&O) for solar PV generation under PSCs. The development of the experimental PV system has two stages: (i) Modeling the PV array with the DC-DC boost converter using a real-time and high-speed simulator (PLECS RT Box), (ii) and implementing the proposed GMPPT algorithm with the double-loop controller of the DC-DC boost converter in a commercial low-priced digital signal controller (DSC). According to the simulation and the experimental results, the suggested hybrid algorithm is effective at tracking the GMPP under both uniform and nonuniform irradiance conditions in six scenarios: (i) system start-up, (ii) uniform irradiance variations, (iii) sharp change of the (PSCs), (iv) multiple peaks in the P-V characteristic, (v) dark cloud passing, and (vi) light cloud passing. Finally, the experimental results—through the standard errors and the mean power tracked and tracking factor scores—proved that the proposed hybrid SPF-P&O MPPT technique reaches the convergence to GMPP faster than benchmark approaches when dealing with PSCs.