Application of particle swarm optimization for maximum power point tracking of PV system with direct control method

This paper presents the application of particle swarm optimization (PSO) for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of Photovoltaic (PV) system using the direct control method. The main contribution of the proposed scheme is the elimination of PI control loop which normally exists to manipulate the duty cycle. It is shown that the proposed MPPT controller has a similar structure to the conventional hill climbing method. However, the former exhibits superior dynamic and steady state response. It is also discovered that the controller performs satisfactorily during partial shading conditions of the PV array. It is able to track the global peak (GP) within ten sampling intervals. Simulation results indicate that proposed controller outperforms the hill climbing method for all type of environmental conditions.