A new intelligent MPPT method for stand-alone photovoltaic systems operating under fast transient variations of shading patterns

This paper introduces a novel method to track the global maximum power point (GMPP) under partially shaded conditions (PSCs), for stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) systems. The method combines a new tracking loop based on fuzzy logic controller (FLC) with a scanning and storing algorithm. A Simscape-based PV model working under PSCs is designed and validated experimentally. The developed Simscape-based PV model is mainly used to assess the performance of the proposed method. The simulation results indicate that the developed MPPT method performs better and guarantees an accurate convergence to the GMPP under complicated shading patterns. Furthermore, it provides a fast convergence to the GMPP in rapid transient variation of shading. A comparison study with three recently published MPPT methods have been carried out. It has been shown that the developed method has greatly enhanced the tracking efficiency under PSCs and decrease significantly the response time. Negligible oscillations around the GMPP, system-independent and fast convergence are the main advantages of the proposed method.