Comparison between PSO and FLC: MPPT for Energy Harvesting of PV System under Partial Shading Condition

Conventional Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) controllers are widely used due to simple implementation and show a good performance in tracking Maximum Power Point (MPP) when solar irradiance is uniform. However, when partial shading occurs on the PV array, tracking to MPP becomes complicated as multiple peaks exist on the Power-Voltage (P-V) characteristic curve. Several methods based on stochastic algorithm and artificial intelligence has been developed to track true MPP under partial shading conditions. This paper focuses on the performance of MPPT controller to extract maximum power from PV system under partial shading condition. The selected MPPT algorithms that have been implemented in the PV system include Fuzzy Logic Controller and Particle Swarm Optimization. Results show that both the simulated MPPT controllers are capable of tracking the maximum power.