Maximum power point tracking technique based on particle swarm optimization method applied to a single-phase grid-tied photovoltaic system

Abstract

This paper deals with a study of a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique based on the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method, which is applied to a single-phase grid-tied photovoltaic system. Since photovoltaic panels have nonlinear voltage-current characteristic curves, when they are submitted to partial shading conditions, it is possible appear distinct local and global maximum power points. On the other hand, most traditional MPPT methods are not able to find the maximum global point for extraction the maximum power provided by the PV array. Therefore, in order to overcome this problem, MPPT-PSO based method is used for obtaining the maximum global point, maximizing the power extraction in the photovoltaic arrangements. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MPPT technique, when it is compared with the well-known Perturb and Observe (P&O) MPPT technique.