Experimental assessment of PV arrays connected to Buck-Boost converter using MPPT and Non-MPPT technique by implementing in real time hardware

Solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays are a great source of generation of renewable energy. Harvesting clean energy from photovoltaic cell is reliable, pollution and noise free, low maintenance and long lasting energy source. However, typical Voltage-Current (V-I) and Power-Voltage (P-V) characteristics curves of PV cells depend on the weather conditions such as temperature and irradiation. It is always difficult to fix Maximum Power Point (MPP) on V-I and P-V curve. In order to achieve maximum efficiency from PV cells, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is used. This paper presents a non-inverting Buck-Boost converter based on MPPT and Non-MPPT technique by implementing modified P&O algorithm through MPPT control circuit. The modified P&O algorithm is a simple algorithm that does not require previous knowledge of the PV characteristics. A PV system incorporating a solar panel, Buck-Boost converter and load as battery is modeled and implemented through hardware. Entire range of the duty cycle needs to be used for using this modified algorithm. Without adding much additional cost a desired efficiency is obtained. A microcontroller based PV system is used in this work.