An Adaptive Voltage Perturbation-Based MPPT Technique for PV System Under Fast Changes in Irradiance

Maximizing the efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) systems under rapidly changing irradiance is crucial for their effectiveness. Traditional Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques often need to improve under these conditions, lest these lead to a sub-optimal performance. This work compares conventional and adaptive versions of perturb & observe (P&O), incremental conductance (INC) and incremental resistance (INR) techniques and a drift-free MPPT algorithm. Among all these, the drift-free P&O method shows better tracking efficiency of 94.75% but response time is comparatively high (0·048s). This paper also introduces an advanced adaptive voltage perturbation-based MPPT technique by integrating voltage perturbation steps into the conventional P&O algorithm. The method dynamically adjusts the step-size to the rate of irradiance change, yielding a fast and true MPPT. Simulations under varying solar irradiance profiles, such as rapid changes, show significant improvements in tracking speed, accuracy with reduced oscillations around the true MPP. The proposed algorithm shows a tracking efficiency of 98.55% and a response time of 12 ms compared to other MPPT algorithms. The proposed method improves solar energy system efficiency and dependability by producing steadier and predictable power production for real-time applications in regions with frequent irradiance fluctuations.