Maximum Power Point Tracking in Photovoltaics: Overview and Application

The production of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy has a very powerful potential. In fact, this market knows a remarkable growth because it provides electricity from an inexhaustible and clean energy source. The generated power by PV panels depends on the environmental conditions. In order to extract and exploit the maximum of this power, Maximum Power Point Trackers (MPPT) are employed using different algorithms. MPPT techniques differ in terms of response time, stability and reliability. A combination of MPPT methods can be proposed to find a compromise between the three criteria mentioned above. In this paper, an overview of diverse MPPT types is presented and the comparison between them is provided. An implementation of two MPPT techniques is carried out and the simulation results are discussed.