Toward a long-term evaluation of MPPT techniques in PV systems

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is required to extract the maximum available power in PV systems. Wide variety of methods exist in literature, with range of complexity and effectiveness. The features of these diverse methods are usually evaluated at specific environmental conditions for a tiny period, and then the evaluations are generalized for PV systems working under long-term environmental conditions. This makes it unclear which method is better in a location where a certain mixture of environmental conditions could occur. This paper shows that the MPPT evaluations may change under actual environmental conditions for a long period. The paper first provides a classification for the environmental conditions of PV systems. It then tests the most commonly used MPPT methods at long term environmental conditions for evaluating their performance.