Performance analysis of a maximum power point tracking technique using silver mean method

Abstract

The proposed paper presents a simple and particularly efficacious Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm based on Silver Mean Method (SMM). This method operates by choosing a search interval from the P-V characteristics of the given solar array and converges to MPP of the Solar Photo-Voltaic (SPV) system by shrinking its interval. After achieving the maximum power, the algorithm stops shrinking and maintains constant voltage until the next interval is decided. The tracking capability efficiency and performance analysis of the proposed algorithm are validated by the simulation and experimental results with a 100 W solar panel for variable temperature and irradiance conditions. The results obtained confirm that even without any perturbation and observation process, the proposed method still outperforms the traditional perturb and observe (P&O) method by demonstrating far better steady state output, more accuracy and higher efficiency.