Design and implementation of the improved MPPT method with rapidly tracking feature

This paper proposes an improved method to track the maximum power point (MPP) of photovoltaic arrays through the combination of the linear approximation (LA) method and the perturbation-and-observation (P&O) method. The LA method rapidly takes operation point to within a range close to the actual MPP, and then the P&O method continuously tracks the exact MPP with fine perturbation steps. Therefore, the fluctuations in steady-state can be minimized. The proposed maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method has the advantages of faster tracking, fewer fluctuations, and higher accuracy over the conventional MPPT methods. The experimental results of an illustrative example are obtained to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed MPPT algorithm.