Comparative Analysis of P&O and INC MPPT Algorithms for PV System under Variable Irradiance

Abstract

Applications of Photovoltaic (PV) panels are increasing day by day in worldwide. Electricity generation through PV panels is one of the best example for utilization of renewable energy sources i.e., solar energy. Hence, operating PV panels at their best utilization is must to make system cost effective. Due to nonlinear characteristics of a PV system, identifying a locations corresponding to operating condition at maximum power delivery is required to make system more efficient. In order to achieve the best utilization of PV panels, a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique should be implemented. Hence, a MPPT method plays an important role in PV based power generation systems. However, an efficient algorithm is must to operate PV system at its MPPT level. In this paper a comparative performance analysis of two famous MPPT algorithms is presented in this paper. The Perturb and observed (P&O) and Incremental Conductance (IC) methods are developed in this paper for comparing their responses under variable irradiances. MATLAB/Simulink based results are presented in this paper under various operating conditions.