Boost converter sizing and its impact on photovoltaic system yield

As solar and other renewable energy sources set to dominate, MPPT (maximum point power tracking) will be critical to optimise electricity generation. The impact of current ondulation on MPPT performance algorithms is a neglected research topic. Many new topologies focus on reducing PV source ripple to increase efficacy and power output. Nevertheless, little work has been done to illustrate the yield degradation of MPPT algorithms by current ripple. This work adopts a DC-DC converter to evaluate the effectiveness of P&O, IC, and CV algorithms over a range of inductor current ripple factors. The inductor is only controlled by changing the value. The work illustrate that algorithms were good and had very small effect over a range of current factors of 20-40%. A new finding was the increase in duty cycle oscillation when we update the MPPT and the boost converter response was later than sampling rate.