Simulation and implementation of incremental conductance MPPT algorithm with indirect control method using buck converter

The track of the maximum power point (MPPT) is an important part of photovoltaic systems. Incremental conductance method is considered to be the most commonly used method because it is less complicated and has good tracking accuracy. The purpose of this work is to study the incremental conductance MPPT algorithm with indirect control (IC_i) and compare it at a same method with direct control (IC_d). The main difference of these two methods is that the IC_i method includes a proportional-integral (PI) control loop. In this paper a simulation model of the both IC MPPT methods are developed by Matlab/Simulink software. Compared to IC MPPT method without PI controller, the same method with PI controller reduces power oscillations around the MPP and presents a high tracking accuracy when there is a sudden change in atmospheric conditions.