Abstract
This paper presents a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method for
photovoltaic system under partial shading conditions using bat algorithm
(BA). The bat algorithm is a swarm intelligence based method which was
inspired by the echolocation behaviour of bats. BA have a high accuracy in
the global optimisation and it can provide good dynamic performance and
very quick convergence rate by automatically switching between exploration
and exploitation stages during the MPPT process. To verify the perfor-
mance of the proposed method, several simulations have been carried out in
Matlab/Simulink environment for various shading patterns. The simulations
results highlight the accuracy of the proposed scheme for optimal manage-
ment of the energy available at the output of the photovoltaic panels. In
addition, the comparison with the P&O and the PSO methods shows that
the proposed method outperforms them in term of global search ability and dynamic performance. To verify the practical implementation of the pro-
posed method, a modular reconfigurable architecture is designed using very
high speed description language (VHDL) and implemented on Xilinx Virtex-
5 (XC5VLX50-1FFG676) Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The use
of FPGA for designing the MPPT controller provides high performance, in-
creases the robustness and makes the hardware implementation more felxible.
The algorithm is tested in real time application on a buck-boost converter
using a real photovoltaic panel. Experimental results confirm the effeciency
of the proposed method in the global peak tracking and its high accuracy to
handle the partial shading.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 490-503 |
Journal | Solar Energy |
Volume | 158 |
Early online date | 10 Oct 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2017 |
Keywords
- Partial shading conditions
- bat algorithm
- maximum power point tracking
- photovoltaic
- eld programmable gate array