Maximum power point tracking of photovoltaic system by Perturb & Observe and Incremental Conductance methods under normal and partial shading conditions

Photovoltaic cells or PV cells and solar power are prime topics of research and investigation now a day, especially in an era when conventional fuels are on the verge of extinction in near future. Hence, determination of the Maximum Power Point or MPP is indispensable for extracting the peak power out of the solar cells at any given point of time. The proposed method investigates the Perturb and Observe and Incremental Conductance Method to track the same MPP of Photovoltaic System under normal condition. This work has been extended further to study the situation of failure of these above methods to track MPP during partial shading of the solar cells. A simulation model of an array of PV cells is designed in MATLAB software and simulation is conducted for observing I-V characteristics of the same. The acquired signals are further analyzed using the above two methods to obtain the MPP under normal operating condition; as well as, the condition of failure of the same in case of partial shading occurring due to any natural, environmental or manmade causes as also studied. It is observed that the above techniques are effective for single peak P-V curve only and fails under multiple peaks which arise during partial shading conditions.