A Critical Review of MPPT Algorithms for PV Systems

With the growing population, one of the main issues is electricity. Electrical power can be generated from a variety of conventional or non-renewable and non-conventional or renewable energy resources. However, there are negative effects of using non-renewable energy resources on both the environment and the human population. Searching for an alternate energy source is necessary due to the limited availability of these fossil fuels. Among the alternatives that can be used to generate electricity are renewable energy resources that transform energy from the sun, wind, falling water, etc. Solar energy is one among these energy resources that is available in abundant. The fundamental components of photovoltaic (PV) systems are solar cells, which are connected in parallel and series to produce the necessary amount of power. There is only one peak in the PV panel characteristics when all the panels receive the same amount of insolation. However, PV systems commonly experience non-uniform insolation due to shadowing. Their power-voltage (P-V) curve show several peaks under these circumstances, with a single global maximum power point (GMPP) among all. Operating these panels at GMPP during partial shading conditions (PSC) is a challenging task as the insolation keeps changing frequently. This study gives a detailed review of various maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods that is used during uniform and PSC. This review will help the researchers to explore the possibility of choosing best alternative MPPT techniques to be incorporated for commercial purpose.