Real-Time Implementation of Maximum Power Point Methods for Photovoltaic Systems

The eco-friendly solution to the ever expanding demands of the energy supplies has seen a substantial growth of installed renewable energy integration to the grid in the last decade. The major portion of the installed capacity is from the photovoltaic system due to several factors like reduction in capital investment, an increase in efficiency of modules and converters, favorable government policies. The maximum power point tracking enables the maximum utilization of the available power with a constant change in environmental conditions. These techniques are judged on accuracy, speed, efficiency and fewer oscillations. Several strategies have been proposed in the last decade to maximize the power output. The article provides an overview of the operational principle of such techniques. The simulation and real-time hardware implementation have been done using Atmega328 microcontroller to verify the several performance features.