Comparison between Perturb & Observe Method and Incremental Conductance Method for Maximum Power Point Tracking of PV Module

Abstract

Due to the mounting demand of electricity, inadequate reserve of fossil fuel and rising prices of conventional sources, photovoltaic (PV) energy becomes a promising substitute. It is a prevalent means of producing clean and renewable power and due to this reason, the demand of PV generation systems increases and there is a need to extract maximum power from them. So there is need of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in a PV system. It is a technique that can operate solar PV systems in such a way that they produce maximum power that can be generated. MPPT tracking system works based on a tracking algorithm which is provided through a control system. In this dissertation, a comparison is made between perturb and observe MPPT method and incremental conductance MPPT method to make clear understanding about their behavior for tracking maximum power point (MPP) of PV module under constant and variable irradiation. For this purpose, a simple and accurate model of photovoltaic module is proposed and simulated. The output of the proposed module is connected with boost converter whose switching is controlled by the above mention MPPT techniques to ensure the satisfactory operation of PV module at MPP.