Comparative study of maximum power point tracking algorithms under partial shading conditions

Abstract

In this study, an experimental study was carried out to compare the tracking performance of the maximum power point tracking algorithms under partial shading conditions. These algorithms are Stochastics Beam Search, Simulated Annealing, Fractional Open Circuit Voltage and Stochastics Hill Climbing. The test setup consisted of 4 series connected solar panels, Buck type DC/DC converter, microcontroller and PC. Current/Voltage (I/V) characteristic of the PV system was collected under different shading scenarios and these data were used to compare the success of the algorithms in the MATLAB environment. The comparison results show that the Stochastics Beam Search algorithm finds the highest power point in all shading conditions with high speed and accurcy.