AN INNOVATIVE ADAPTIVE PERTURB AND OBSERVE MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING METHOD FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS USING ILLUMINANCE LEVEL AS PERTURBATION SIGNAL

Abstract

In solar photovoltaic (PV) system applications, one of the most important tasks is to extract maximum power from PV arrays with minimum losses. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is a commonly used method to maximize power extraction from PV systems under all environmental conditions. In this paper, a modified perturb and observe (P&O) tracking method using an interleaved DC-DC buck converter is proposed and compared with the traditional method. The proposed method uses illuminance level as the perturb signal to control the converter's duty cycle under varying solar radiation conditions. The results validate the speed and effectiveness of the method, which is centring illuminance level comparing its performance to the traditional P&O method.