An Approximate Short Circuit Strategy for Transient MPPT Performance of Uniformly Irradiated Photovoltaic Modules

Abstract

This paper presents an improved strategy to provide better maximum power point tracking (MPPT) performance and increase energy yield during transient state of MPPT process. This strategy is based on the estimation of short circuit current (SCC) of the photovoltaic (PV) system without short circuit. Besides that, this strategy aims to decrease convergence time to maximum power point (MPP) by preventing real short circuit of PV source and eliminating the additional switch requirement. To determine performance of the proposed strategy, simulation studies have been performed in MATLAB/Simulink and this strategy has been compared with fractional SCC (FSCC) technique and perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm. In addition, to make validation experimentally, a low powered single ended primary inductance converter (SEPIC) is realized. Both simulation and experimental results show that proposed strategy performs better transient MPPT performance than FSCC technique and P&O algorithm.