Design and Performance Analysis of A Novel Fuzzy Logic Based Fast Converging MPPT Algorithm for Solar Panel

Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques improve PV system efficiency by keeping the operating point at or close to the point of maximum power along the non-linear characteristics curve of a solar cell. Incremental Conductance (IC) based MPPT techniques can largely improve the efficiency and output power of a PV system but it suffers from slow convergence speed and poor power quality. A Fuzzy Logic based algorithm can reduce these limitations through adaptive duty cycle and voltage steps that respond to the changing environmental conditions. This paper proposes a novel Fuzzy Logic based fast converging MPPT algorithm that divides the characteristics I-V curve into five regions of operation and assigns variable step-size duty cycles based on the distance of the operating point from the point of the maximum power. The further the distance, the larger the duty cycle and vice versa. Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed algorithm is better both in static and changing environmental conditions than the IC algorithm.