Modified Particle Swarm Optimization technique based Maximum Power Point Tracking for uniform and under partial shading condition

Generation of electricity from solar energy has gained worldwide acceptance due to its abundant availability and eco-friendly nature. Even though the power generated from solar looks to be attractive; its availability is subjected to variation owing to many factors such as change in irradiation, temperature, shadow etc. Hence, extraction of maximum power from solar PV using Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) method was the subject of study in the recent past. Among many methods proposed, Hill Climbing and Incremental Conductance MPPT methods were popular in reaching Maximum Power under constant irradiation. However, these methods show large steady state oscillations around MPP and poor dynamic performance when subjected to change in environmental conditions. On the other hand, bioinspired algorithms showed excellent characteristics when dealing with non-linear, non-differentiable and stochastic optimization problems without involving excessive mathematical computations. Hence, in this paper an attempt is made by applying modifications to Particle Swarm Optimization technique, with emphasis on initial value selection, for Maximum Power Point Tracking. The key features of this method include ability to track the global peak power accurately under change in environmental condition with almost zero steady state oscillations, faster dynamic response and easy implementation. Systematic evaluation has been carried out for different partial shading conditions and finally the results obtained are compared with existing methods. In addition, simulations results are validated via built-in hardware prototype. © 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 . Introduction Ever growing energy demand by mankind and the limited availbility of resources remain as a major challenge to the power sector ndustry. The need for renewable energy resources has been augented in large scale and aroused due to its huge availability nd pollution free operation. Among the various renewable energy esources, solar energy has gained worldwide recognition because f its minimal maintenance, zero noise and reliability. Because of he aforementioned advantages; solar energy have been widely sed for various applications, but not limited to, such as megawatt cale power plants, water pumping, solar home systems, commuPlease cite this article in press as: R. Venugopalan, et al., Modified Parti Tracking for uniform and under partial shading condition, Appl. Soft C ication satellites, space vehicles and reverse osmosis plants [1]. owever, power generation using solar energy still remain uncerain, despite of all the efforts, due to various factors such as poor ∗ Corresponding author at: SELECT, VIT University, Vellore, Tamilnadu 632014, ndia. Tel.: +91 9600117935; fax: +91 9490113830. E-mail address: sudhakar.babu2013@vit.ac.in (T. Sudhakarbabu). ttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2015.05.029 568-4946/© 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. 49 50 51 52 conversion efficiency, high installation cost and reduced power output under varying environmental conditions. Further, the characteristics of solar PV are non-linear in nature imposing constraints on solar power generation. Therefore, to maximize the power output from solar PV and to enhance the operating efficiency of the solar photovoltaic system, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithms are essential [2]. Various MPPT algorithms [3–5] have been investigated and reported in the literature and the most popular ones are Fractional Open Circuit Voltage [6–8], Fractional Short Circuit Current [9–11], Perturb and Observe (P&O) [12–17], Incremental Conductance (Inc. Cond.) [18–22], and Hill Climbing (HC) algorithm [23–26]. In fractional open circuit voltage, and fractional short circuit current method; its performance depends on an approximate linear correlation between Vmpp, Voc and Impp, Isc values. However, the above relation is not practically valid; hence, exact value of Maximum cle Swarm Optimization technique based Maximum Power Point omput. J. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2015.05.029 Power Point (MPP) cannot be assured. Perturb and Observe (P&O) method works with the voltage perturbation based on present and previous operating power values. Regardless of its simple structure, its efficiency principally depends on the tradeoff between the 53 54 55 56 ARTICLE IN G Model ASOC 2982 1–12 2 R. Venugopalan et al. / Applied Soft C Nomenclature IPV Current source Rs Series resistance Rp Parallel resistance VD diode voltage ID diode current I0 leakage current Vmpp voltage at maximum power point Voc open circuit voltage Impp current at maximum power point Isc short circuit current Vmpn nominal maximum power point voltage at 1000 W/m2 Npp number of parallel PV modules Nss number of series PV modules w weight factor c1 acceleration factor c2 acceleration factor pbest personal best position gbest global best position Vt thermal voltage K Boltzmann constant T temperature q electron charge Ns number of cells in series Vocn nominal open circuit voltage at 1000W/m2 G irradiation Gn nominal Irradiation Kv voltage temperature coefficient dT difference in temperature RLmin minimum value of load at output RLmax maximum value of load at output Rin internal resistance of the PV module RPVmin minimum reflective impedance of PV array RPVmax maximum reflective impedance of PV array R equivalent output load resistance t M o w t b A c M h n ( e a i p p w a u t H o i 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 o b converter efficiency racking speed and the steady state oscillations in the region of PP [15]. Incremental Conductance (Inc. Cond.) algorithm works n the principle of comparing ratios of Incremental Conductance ith instantaneous conductance and it has the similar disadvanage as that of P&O method [20,21]. HC method works alike P&O ut it is based on the perturbation of duty cycle of power converter. ll these traditional methods have the following disadvantages in ommon; reduced efficiency and steady state oscillations around PP. Realizing the above stated drawbacks; various researchers ave worked on applying certain Artificial Intelligence (AI) techiques like Neural Network (NN) [27,28] and Fuzzy Logic Control FLC) [29,30]. However, these techniques require periodic training, normous volume of data for training, computational complexity nd large memory capacity. Application of aforementioned MPPT methods for centralzed/string PV system is limited as they fail to track the global eak power under partial shading conditions. In addition, multile peaks occur in P-V curve under partial shading condition in hich the unique peak point i.e., global power peak should be ttained. However, when conventional MPPT techniques are used nder such conditions, they usually get trapped in any one of Please cite this article in press as: R. Venugopalan, et al., Modified Part Tracking for uniform and under partial shading condition, Appl. Soft C he local power peaks; drastically lowering the search efficiency. ence, to improve MPP tracking efficiency of conventional methds under PS conditions certain modifications have been proposed n Ref. [31]. Some used two stage approach to track the MPP [32]. PRESS omputing xxx (2015) xxx–xxx In the first stage, a wide search is performed which ensures that the operating point is moved closer to the global peak which is further fine-tuned in the second stage to reach the global peak value. Even though tracking efficiency has improved the method still fails to find the global maximum under all conditions. Another interesting approach is improving the Fibonacci search method for global MPP tracking [33]. Alike two stage method, this one also suffers from the same drawback that it does not guarantee accurate MPP tracking under all shaded conditions [34]. Yet another unique formulation combining DIRECT search method with P&O was put forward for global MPP tracking in Ref. [35]. Even though it is rendered effective, it is very complex and increases the computational burden. In the recent past, bio-inspired algorithms like GA, PSO and ACO have drawn considerable researcher’s attention for MPPT application; since they ensure sufficient class of accuracy while dealing with non-linear, non-differentiable and stochastic optimization problems without involving excessive mathematical computations [32,36–38]. Further, these methods offer various advantages such as computational simplicity, easy implementation and faster response. Among those methods, PSO method is largely discussed and widely used for solar MPPT due to the fact that it has simple structure, system independency, high adaptability and lesser number of tuning parameters. Further in PSO method, particles are allowed to move in random directions and the best values are evolved based on pbest and gbest values. This exploration process is very suitable for MPPT application. To improve the search efficiency of the conventional PSO method authors have proposed modifications to the existing algorithm. In Ref. [39], the authors have put forward an additional perception capability for the particles in search space so that best solutions are evolved with higher accuracy than PSO. However, details on implementation under partial shading condition are not discussed. Further, this method is only applicable when the entire module receive uniform insolation cannot be considered. Traditional PSO method is modified in Ref. [40] by introducing equations for velocity update and inertia. Even though the method showed better performance, use of extra coefficients in the conventional PSO search limits its advantage and increases the computational burden of the algorithm. Another approach