A Novel Maximum Power Point Tracking Technique for Photovoltaic Module Based on Power Plane Analysis of $I$ –

A new method of tracking the maximum power point (MPP) of a photovoltaic (PV) module is presented in this paper, which exploits the effects of the inherent characteristic resistances of the PV cells. An analysis of the iv characteristics of the PV module in the iv plane revealed a possibility of predicting the MPP by finding the maximum possible power rectangle within the iv characteristic. The maximum possible power rectangle has been determined by a background online sweeping technique in the power region of the iv characteristic without disturbing the PV module. The power region in the iv characteristic can be determined by the effects of the characteristic resistances of the PV module. The results obtained through simulations and experiments have validated the proposed technique. The effectiveness of the proposed method has closely matched with the true MPP, and the successful experimental results obtained with a 100-Wp PV module indicate that the technique can be favorably implemented for stand-alone PV power systems.