Parameter extraction of solar photovoltaic models with an either-or teaching learning based algorithm

Abstract This paper presents an advanced variant of teaching learning based algorithm (TLBO) called either-or teaching learning based algorithm (EOTLBO) to extract accurate and reliable parameters of solar photovoltaic (PV) models. EOTLBO synergizes three enhanced strategies to accelerate the convergence rate and boost the search efficiency of TLBO. (i) A median learner based teacher phase excluding the mean position used in the original TLBO is designed to avoid infeasible and inefficient learners and to form a rational and advisable moving mechanism around the teacher. (ii) A higher-achieving learner based learner phase using three sorted learners is devised to directionally guide the target learner to jump out of local optima and to move towards a more promising region. (iii) A chaotic map based either-or teaching-learning strategy is developed to give each dimension of each learner a chance to go through either the median learner based teacher phase or the higher-achieving learner based learner phase. EOTLBO is applied to three PV cells/modules including seven cases. Compared with the original TLBO, four non-TLBO variants, and five TLBO variants, experimental results verify the superior performance of EOTLBO in terms of both the quality of final solutions and the convergence speed on all cases. In addition, the current-voltage characteristics yielded by EOTLBO agree well with the measured data independently of different PV models at different operating conditions.