Tunicate swarm algorithm based maximum power point tracking for photovoltaic system under non-uniform irradiation

Abstract

A new maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique based on the bio-inspired metaheuristic algorithm for photovoltaic system (PV system) is proposed, namely tunicate swarm algorithm-based MPPT (TSA-MPPT). The proposed algorithm is implemented on the PV system with five PV modules arranged in series and integrated with DC-DC buck converter. Then, the PV system is tested in a simulation using PowerSim (PSIM) software. TSA-MPPT is tested under varying irradiation conditions both uniform irradiation and non-uniform irradiation. Furthermore, to evaluate the performance, TSA-MPPT is compared with perturb & observe-based MPPT (P&O-MPPT) and particle swarm optimization-based MPPT (PSO-MPPT). The TSA-MPPT has an accuracy of 99% and has a reasonably practical capability compared to the MPPT technique, which already existed before.