Global Maximum Power Point TrackingUnder Partial Shading Condition UsingSEPIC Converter

Abstract

The performance of a photovoltaic (PV) array is affected by temperature, solar insolation, shading and array configuration. The PV system exhibits a non-linear I-V characteristic and its unique maximum power point on the P-V curve varies with insolation and temperature. Often the PV array gets shadowed, completely or partially, by passing clouds, neighbouring buildings and trees. This situation is of particular interest in case of large PV installations such as those used in a distributed power generation scheme and residential PV systems. Under partially shaded conditions, the P-V characteristic becomes more complex with multiple peaks. Conventional Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques fail to reach global peak power point and tend to stay in local peak power point which significantly reduces the efficiency of the PV system. This paper mainly focuses on extracting the maximum power from PV array under partially shaded conditions by executing improved hill climbing algorithm to identify the global maximum power point (GMPP) and SEPIC is used as a dc-dc interface. Simulation results have been presented to verify the performance of the proposed GMPPT technique.