Maximum Power Point Tracking for Photovoltaic Systems under Partial Shading Conditions Using Bat Algorithm

Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian, Tey Kok Soon, Elmira Jamei, Gokul Sidarth Thirunavukkarasu, Ben Horan, Saad Mekhilef and Alex Stojcevski
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Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian: School of Software and Electrical Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, VIC 3122, Australia
Tey Kok Soon: Department of Computer System and Technology, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Elmira Jamei: College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Victoria, VIC 3011, Australia
Gokul Sidarth Thirunavukkarasu: School of Engineering, Deakin University, Victoria, VIC 3216, Australia
Ben Horan: School of Engineering, Deakin University, Victoria, VIC 3216, Australia
Saad Mekhilef: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Alex Stojcevski: School of Software and Electrical Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, VIC 3122, Australia

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The vibrant, noiseless, and low-maintenance characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) systems make them one of the fast-growing technologies in the modern era. This on-demand source of energy suffers from low-output efficiency compared with other alternatives. Given that PV systems must be installed in outdoor spaces, their efficiency is significantly affected by the inevitable complication called partial shading (PS). Partial shading occurs when different sections of the solar array are subjected to different levels of solar irradiance, which then leads to a multiple-peak function in the output characteristics of the system. Conventional tracking techniques, along with some nascent/novel approaches used for the tracking maximum power point (MPP), are unsatisfactory when subjected to PS, eventually leading to the reduced efficiency of the PV system. This study aims at investigating the use of the bat algorithm (BA), a nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithm for MPP tracking (MPPT) subjected to PS conditions. A brief explanation of the behavior of the PV system under the PS condition and the advantages of using BA for estimating the MPPT of the PV system under PS condition is discussed. The deployment of the BA for the MPPT in PV systems is then explained in detail highlighting the simulation results which verifies whether the proposed method is faster, more efficient, sustainable and more reliable than conventional and other soft computing-based methods. Three testing conditions are considered in the simulation, and the results indicate that the proposed technique has high efficiency and reliability even when subjected to an acute shading condition.

Keywords: bat algorithm (BA); maximum power point tracking (MPPT); partial shading (PS); photovoltaic (PV) system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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