Variable PWM step size for modified hill-climbing MPPT PV converter

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) converters are often used to continuously track the optimum operating point of a solar panel. Due to their low-cost and ease of implementation, hill-climbing (HC) MPPT methods based on the perturbation principles are most commonly used to extract the maximum power (MP). However, the efficiency of these methods are highly influenced by the continued oscillation around the maximum power point. In order to circumvent the problem of continued oscillations and increase efficiency in steady-state and dynamic conditions, a modified MPPT algorithm is proposed. The algorithm is simulated in Simulink/Matlab and validated with an experiment. Results from the experiment indicate higher efficiency and better performance in both steady-state and dynamic conditions.