Modelling and Performance Evaluation of MPPT Based Solar PV System in MATLAB/Simulink Environment

Photovoltaic systems operated at maximum obtainable power under variable weather condition enhances system reliability of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system to a great extent. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) plays a vital role in this regard as it helps in extracting the maximum yield of power. Operating point of such a system is desired to set at global maxima on the P-V curve under different weather conditions. In this study, a comparative analysis between Perturb and observe (P&O) and Incremental Conductance (INC) method are employed to assess the MPPT of a PV system under variable weather conditions. The algorithms were applied on the cascaded power electronic interface embedded in the proposed system to obtain an efficient way of energy conversion. The results showed that existence of a MPPT controller increases system reliability. It was also observed that MPPT controller embedded with Incremental Conductance logic gives a better result than its P&O counterpart.