Application of a combined particle swarm optimization and perturb and observe method for MPPT in PV systems under partial shading conditions

This paper explains the development of a new algorithm for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in large PV systems under partial shading conditions (PSC). The new algorithm combines the use of particle swarm optimization (PSO) for MPPT during the initial stages of tracking and then employs the traditional perturb and observe (PO) method at the final stages. The methodology has been first simulated in two different PV configurations under varying shading patterns and experimentally verified using a microcontroller based experimental system. The integration of swarm intelligence with PO algorithm is shown to yield faster convergence to the global maximum power point (GMPP) than when the two methods are individually used. The oscillations in the output power, voltage and current of the PV system with the proposed method are the least when compared to the ones obtained during PSO based MPPT.