A GSA based improved MPPT system for PV generation

The exponential growth of human population worldwide has emphasized the rapidly increased need of electricity. To meet this socio economic demand the research interest has been reinforced in renewable or non-conventional energy resources. One of the popular renewable sources is photovoltaic cell or solar cell. Corresponding to maximum power output there is an optimum operating point in Power-Voltage characteristic curve of photovoltaic cell. This nonlinear characteristic changes with respect to solar insolation, temperature and solar cell property. To cut down the cost of solar electricity online tracking of MPP (Maximum Power Point) is an essential part of successful solar system. A variety of techniques have been developed by the global researchers. In this paper an Evolutionary algorithm, Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) is examined in MATLAB environment to get the Maximum Power Point of photovoltaic array. The result is compared with another EA algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO).