Comparison of Maximum Power Point Tracking Techniques on Photovoltaic Panels

Abstract

In this study, a simulation is performed in Matlab/Simulink to evaluate the energy production performance of the perturb & observe, incremental conductance, short circuit current and open circuit voltage techniques. In order to evaluate the performance of the techniques, they are tested under constant temperature and irradiation conditions, as well as variable temperature and irradiation conditions. In the study, 1Soltech 1STH-215-P model photovoltaic panel is used. The maximum power point tracking is applied with a DC-DC boost converter, and the energy is stored in the battery. Maximum power point tracking algorithms are applied with m-file code using Matlab Function block in Simulink. The m-file codes, the extracted power waveforms and the amount of produced energy are presented in the study. It is observed that the energy performance of the short circuit current and open circuit voltage techniques varies depending on the measurement period, especially in variable weather conditions, while the perturb & observe and the incremental conductance algorithms are the ones that produce the most energy. While the open circuit voltage technique produces more energy than the short circuit current at constant temperature and variable irradiation, the short circuit current algorithm at constant irradiation and variable temperature produces more energy. While two sensors are used for current and voltage measurement in perturb & observe and incremental conductance techniques, the use of a single sensor in short circuit current and open circuit voltage techniques and the simplicity of the algorithms are seen as the advantageous aspects of these techniques.