Flexible power point tracking for photovoltaic systems based on the linear jump method

Abstract

With the rise of renewable energy, flexible photovoltaic (PV) power tracking control strategies are increasingly becoming a hot research topic. Existing constant power generation (CPG) methods often struggle to simultaneously meet the demands for rapid convergence, stable tracking, and algorithmic simplicity, particularly when environmental conditions change and reference power fluctuates. To address this issue, a linear jump method-based (LJM-B) flexible power point tracking (FPPT) algorithm is proposed in this work. This strategy determines the reference voltage corresponding to the reference power by calculating or estimating the linear slope of the P-V characteristic curve on the left of the maximum power point (MPP) of a single P-V peak. If the reference power is less than the available PV power, the system can directly jump to the reference power based on the calculated reference voltage. When the system’s maximum output power cannot meet the reference power, the algorithm significantly enhances the dynamic response speed by incorporating an initial jump step into the maximum power point tracking strategy. The proposed algorithm enables rapid adjustment of the system’s operating point through simple logic, facilitating accurate tracking of the reference power, whether in response to environmental changes or variations in the reference power. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm significantly improves dynamic response and tracking performance compared to existing algorithms.