Experimental comparison of MPPT algorithms

The impact of photovoltaic (PV) energy has grown rapidly in the last years; both the scientific community and the industry have focused its attention on improving the efficiency of PV modules while decreasing their cost. In order to ensure best performance, PV panels have to work at the Maximum Power Point (MPP) of their V-I curve. As the MPP depends on the environmental conditions, an algorithm to continuously locate the MPP and to control the power electronics converter connected to the modules is required. In literature, many authors have proposed MPP tracking (MPPT) techniques based on very heterogeneous approaches. However, few works present an experimental comparison between the performances achieved by MPPT algorithms. In this paper, four different techniques have been considered and tested both in simulation and in real-world conditions. Two of them are well-known algorithms (Perturb & Observe, Incremental Conductance) while the other two are model-based methods which have been proposed by the authors in the last years. The efficiencies achieved by these techniques in steady-state conditions are evaluated and the results are deeply discussed.