An Enhanced Cuckoo Search Algorithm Fitting for Photovoltaic Systems’ Global Maximum Power Point Tracking under Partial Shading Conditions

Ehab Mohamed Ali, Ahmed K. Abdelsalam, Karim H. Youssef and Ahmed A. Hossam-Eldin
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Ehab Mohamed Ali: Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21511, Egypt
Ahmed K. Abdelsalam: Electrical Engineering Department, Arab Academy for Science and Technology & Maritime Transport, Alexandria 21511, Egypt
Karim H. Youssef: Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21511, Egypt
Ahmed A. Hossam-Eldin: Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21511, Egypt

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-21

Abstract: The output power against voltage curve of the photovoltaic system changes its characteristics under partial shading conditions because of using bypass diodes. These bypass diodes are connected across the PV modules inside the string to avoid hotspot formation in the shaded PV modules. Therefore, the output curve has multiple power peaks with only one Global Max Power Point. The classical Maximum Power Point Tracking algorithms may fail to track that Global Max Power. Several soft computing algorithms have been proposed to improve tracking efficiency with different optimization principles. In this paper, an Improved Cuckoo Search Algorithm has been proposed to increase the tracking speed with minimum output power oscillation. The proposed algorithm avoids spreading the initial particles among the whole curve to predict shading pattern, but it reduces the exploration area after each iteration to compensate for the algorithm’s randomness. The proposed algorithm was compared with other methods by simulation using MATLAB/Simulink program and with practical experiments under the same operating conditions. The comparison showed that the proposed algorithm overcomes the other methods’ drawbacks and concurrently minimizes the convergence time, power oscillation, and system power losses.

Keywords: Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA); Global Maximum Power Point Tracking (GMPPT); partial shading (PS); photovoltaic (PV) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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