A direct control based maximum power point tracking method for photovoltaic system under partial shading conditions using particle swarm optimization algorithm

► A direct control MPPT approach for PV system using particle swarm optimization algorithm. ► Proposed method does not require PI control loops which normally exist in the PV system. ► It successfully tracks the global maxima of PV array under partial shading conditions. ► Proposed method yields an average MPPT efficiency of 99.5% for a whole day profile.