Global Maximum Power Point Tracking of Flexible Photovoltaic Modules

The flexible photovoltaic (PV) modules have the advantage of easily fitting on curved surfaces, but in that case their power-voltage characteristic exhibits local maximum power points (MPPs) where the PV module power production is suboptimal. In this paper, the effect of geometrical installation parameters of flexible PV modules, such as the bending angle, tilt angle, and orientation, on the shape of the power-voltage characteristic is experimentally investigated. Then, a new method of tracking the global MPP of flexible PV modules is proposed. An experimental, comparative study is also presented, which demonstrates that compared to the past-proposed MPP tracking (MPPT) techniques, the system proposed in this paper is capable to detect the global MPP of a flexible PV module with less search steps. Thus, the power loss during the global MPPT process is minimized and the energy production of the flexible PV module is maximized.