LabVIEW Based Study for PV Module Characteristics and Their Maximum Power Point Tracking

In this paper, we examined the solar module characteristics at standard test condition and different temperature and irradiance using LabVIEW software. For full utilization of photovoltaic(PV) system, it can be controlled by maximum power point tracking(MPPT) algorithm. The LabVIEW programming can easily implement perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm with various step sizes and their output characteristics. The results proved that the step size influence on the performance of the MPPT system. The bigger the step size, the less the tracking time but the more oscillation occurs in the steady state. Therefore, improved control system is required to solve that problem. The scheme that we devised can adjust the step size automatically to improve the MPPT speed and reduce the oscillation under steady state as well.