A Global MPPT of Photovoltaic Systems Under Partial Shading Conditions Using a Rank Charged System Search Algorithm

Abstract

Partial shading conditions (PSC) represent a very strong competitive PV system with many local peaks on the Power-Voltage (P-V) characteristic curves, and traditional Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT)) algorithms may not be able to track maximum power point under standby mode. To address this challenge, we propose a new ultra-efficient maximum power point tracking (MPPT) framework using the newly developed Rank Charged System Search algorithm called CSSRank-MPPT in this paper. The new method combines principles for electrostatic interaction with a rank-based dynamic particle reduction strategy, roulette wheel selection and adaptive mutation based on some rank. Notably, a new convergence lock-in mechanism is integrated in to the controller framework and so it can terminate steady-state power fluctuations when reaching the Global Maximum Power Point (GMPP). By simulating the CSSRank-MPPT algorithm in MATLAB/Simulink under dynamically changing partial shading scenarios, it is shown that not only true GMPP can be tracked, but also convergence speed of less than 1.0 s, tracking efficiency above 99.8 percent and zero steady-state power-loss have been accomplished. Comparisons show that the CSSRank-MPPT method outperforms standard PSO and GWO algorithms in terms of convergence reliability and dynamic robustness.