MPPT Boost Charger with Perturb and Observe Algorithm

Solar photovoltaic (PV) has emerged as one of the most favourable renewable energy source in power generation. This is due to the abundance of solar irradiance, easy implementation and environmental friendly which it does not produce pollutants during the operation. In term of economical aspect, it is always the challenge to ensure the installed photovoltaic system to perform at its maximum available capacity in order to maximize the return of investment. One of the most economical and efficient way is by employing maximum power point tracking (MPPT) to the PV system to adjust the optimal operating point for the PV system to generate maximum power. The maximum power point is where the matching of operating point between PV array and power converter to maximize the power transfer from the PV array to the power converter. This often causes the conventional MPPT algorithm to trap at the local peaks, which results in power loss. Recent years, with the availability of vast and low cost micro controllers, the soft computing (SC) based MPPT methods are attracting considerable interest among researchers.