A Comparative Simulation Analysis of Maximum Power Point Tracking Approaches

The occurrence of multiple local maxima due to partial shading conditions poses a serious challenge to MPPT techniques. This paper compares the popular real-time MPPT algorithm with the scanning approach using PSPICE simulation. The MPPT methods are compared at dynamic partial shading conditions. The compromises between real-time and scanning methods are investigated. It is shown that the scanning approach is able to search for global MPPs but incurs power loss during the scanning period. A new strategy that reduces the scanning period by skipping parts of the voltage range is presented in this paper.