Hindawi Publishing Corporation

International Journal of Photoenergy

Volume 2014, Article ID 945906, 10 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/945906

Research Article
A Differential Evolution Based MPPT Method for Photovoltaic
Modules under Partial Shading Conditions

Kok Soon Tey,1 Saad Mekhilef,1 Hong-Tzer Yang,2 and Ming-Kai Chuang2
1
Power Electronics and Renewable Energy Research Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2
Research Center of Energy Technology and Strategy, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng-Kung University,
No. 1, University Road, 701 Tainan, Taiwan

Correspondence should be addressed to Saad Mekhilef; [email protected]

Received 11 November 2013; Accepted 17 April 2014; Published 26 May 2014

Academic Editor: Vincenzo Augugliaro

Copyright © 2014 Kok Soon Tey et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Partially shaded photovoltaic (PV) modules have multiple peaks in the power-voltage (P-V) characteristic curve and conventional
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm, such as perturbation and observation (P&O), which is unable to track the global
maximum power point (GMPP) accurately due to its localized search space. Therefore, this paper proposes a differential evolution
(DE) based optimization algorithm to provide the globalized search space to track the GMPP. The direction of mutation in the DE
algorithm is modified to ensure that the mutation always converges to the best solution among all the particles in the generation.
This helps to provide the rapid convergence of the algorithm. Simulation of the proposed PV system is carried out in PSIM and the
results are compared to P&O algorithm. In the hardware implementation, a high step-up DC-DC converter is employed to verify the
proposed algorithm experimentally on partial shading conditions, load variation, and solar intensity variation. The experimental
results show that the proposed algorithm is able to converge to the GMPP within 1.2 seconds with higher efficiency than P&O.

1. Introduction one peak [15]. Under this circumstance, the conventional

algorithm aforementioned may fail to track the global MPP
The demand on photovoltaic (PV) system has increased due (GMPP) and the efficiency of the PV system decreases [16].
to the abundance of raw materials as well as its noiseless and In order to ensure that the MPPT algorithm is able to
environment friendly power-generating process [1–3]. The function accurately even under partial shading conditions,
power generated by PV module highly relies on solar inten- [17] has modified the conventional incremental conductance
sity. Therefore, a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) (Inc Cond) algorithm by introducing a simple linear equation
controller is required to ensure that the highest possible to track the GMPP, but there are additional measurement
power is harvested from the PV modules. In recent years, circuits at the output of the converter.
there are numbers of researches on the MPPT algorithm such Meanwhile, [18] proposed a modified P&O algorithm
as fractional open circuit voltage [4, 5], fractional short circuit where the duty cycle of DC-DC converter is tuned from
voltage [4], incremental conductance (Inc Cond) algorithm the highest to the lowest to identify all the possible MPPs.
[5–9], fuzzy logic [10], perturbation and observation (P&O) Even though all the peaks can be tracked successfully, the
[11–13], and neural network [14]. time consumption increases. Dividing rectangles (DIRECT)
However, these algorithms are only proven in tracking algorithm is introduced in [19], in which the dividing process
the maximum power point (MPP) under uniform insolation begins in a selected exploration range. Through successive
where there is only single MPP that exists in the power divisions, the exploration range becomes smaller and con-
against voltage (𝑃-𝑉) curve. Normally, a PV array consists verges to the section where there is a high potential of finding
of numbers of PV modules and if some of the PV modules the GMPP. This method may oversight the GMPP if the
are partially shaded, the 𝑃-𝑉 curve consists of more than section is chosen inaccurately.
2 International Journal of Photoenergy

Lr Nonshaded
N3 Do2 module
N1
Cr

Bypass diode
iin Co2
iLr N2

L in Cs Do1 R
Sm
Dc Dr

Load
Cin Cc Co1

Bypass diode
VPV
IPV MPPT PWM Shaded
module

Figure 1: The proposed PV system with MPPT controller.

(a)

12
The advance of microcontroller is applied in [20], the
hill climbing algorithm is used to periodically store the
10
MPPs values into the microcontroller and then a fuzzy

Current of PV module, IPV

logic is implemented to track the GMPP. This algorithm
has long processing time and difficulties in fuzzification and 8
defuzzification.
Lately, there are plenty of optimization algorithms imple- 6 Nonshaded module
Ia
mented in MPPT controller. Among those, particle swarm
optimization (PSO) is introduced in [21–23]. A velocity 4
equation is used to converge the particles in the algorithm to Shaded module
the best solution. In order to ensure that the MPPT controller 2
is able to converge rapidly to GMPP, three parameters in the Reversed biased
region Forward biased region
PSO algorithm which are the inertia weight and two accel-
0
eration coefficients are required to be selected appropriately. −10 −5 0 5 10 15 20 25
Other than that, there are two random values used in the Voltage of PV module, VPV
algorithm.
(b)
Among all the algorithms aforementioned, the optimiza-
tion algorithms are the most practical algorithm during Figure 2: (a) PV array under partial shading conditions (b) 𝑃-𝑉
partial shading due to its global search space and converging curve of PV modules.
speed. Hence, this paper introduces another optimization
algorithm, differential evolution (DE). Compared to PSO, DE
has only two parameters to be set. Besides, the global search
space of the DE algorithm also ensures that it has higher
efficiency than the P&O algorithm which only has localized module. In Figure 2(a), there are two series connected PV
search space. However, the conventional DE has no direction modules and one of the PV modules is partially shaded. The
during the converging process. Hence, in the proposed DE, shaded module will become power consumer and dissipates
the mutation direction of the particles is modified so that they heat. This phenomenon can be explained by the current
always converge towards the best particle. Other than that, a against voltage (𝐼-𝑉) curve of each PV module as shown in
high step up DC-DC converter is used in the experimental Figure 2(b).
setup. The proposed PV system is as shown in Figure 1. If the operating current of the PV array that consists of
This paper is organized as follow. Section 2 introduces the these two series connected PV modules is at 𝐼𝑎 , then the
PV system under partial shading condition. Then, Section 3 shaded PV module is forced to operate at the reverse biased
DE and the application of DE in MPPT controller are region. Therefore, it acts as a load instead of a power source
introduced. Sections 4 and 5 are the discussion on simulation [24]. In long term conditions, the shaded PV module will be
and experimental results. Finally, conclusion is made in damaged due to the localized power dissipation. Hence, the
Section 6. bypass diodes as shown in Figure 2(a) are added to protect the
PV modules from self-heating during partial shading [25, 26].
2. PV Array under Partial Shading Condition Under uniform insolation, the bypass diodes are reverse
biased and have no impact. When the PV module is shaded,
Normally, numbers of PV modules are connected in series the bypass diode across the PV module is forward biased
or parallel to form a PV array and the power of the PV and the current passes through the diode instead of the PV
array is the combination of the power derived from each PV module. However, there is a disadvantage of using the bypass
International Journal of Photoenergy 3

diodes where there will be multiple peaks that appear in the After the crossover, a selection is made between trial
𝑃-𝑉 curve during partial shading conditions [27]. vectors 𝑢𝑖 and target vectors 𝑥𝑖 . The best solutions from the
Conventional MPPT algorithms such as P&O algorithm selection are used as the target vectors in next generation,
search the peak of the 𝑃-𝑉 curve based on a localized 𝑥𝑖+1 . The process is shown as follows:
initial point. After the first peak is tracked, P&O stops the
searching as it is unable to differentiate between the global 𝑢 ; if 𝑓 (𝑢𝑖 ) ≥ 𝑓 (𝑥𝑖 )
MPP (GMPP) and local MPP (LMPP). Thus, the proposed 𝑥𝑖+1 = { 𝑖 (4)
𝑥𝑖 ; else.
DE algorithm which is able to track the GMPP is introduced
in the following section and the comparison is made between Then, the process is repeated from the mutation until a
the conventional P&O and the proposed algorithm. termination condition is met. The flow chart for DE is as
shown in Figure 3.
3. Differential Evolution and
Its Application in MPPT 3.2. Application of DE in MPPT. Under partial shading, the
𝑃-𝑉 curve consists of multiple peaks and the conventional
3.1. Differential Evolution (DE). Differential evolution is an algorithm like P&O is unable to always track the GMPP.
evolutionary algorithm proposed by Storn and Price in 1996 Therefore, DE can be used to track the GMPP during partial
for global optimization [28]. DE can be used to obtain the shading since it has global search space and it is easy to be
solution for practical problems which have nondifferentiable, implemented with only two parameters required. Generally,
noncontinuous, nonlinear, noisy, flat, multidimensional or a DC-DC converter is connected in between the PV array
have many local minima, constraints, or stochasticity. DE is and the load. Then, the duty cycle of DC-DC converter is
easy to be implemented as it only requires a few parameters in modulated to ensure that the PV system operates at the
the algorithm. Basically, a population of particles is required GMPP. Therefore, the duty cycle is used as the target vector,
in DE and a few iterations are needed in order to generate 𝐷𝑖 . Firstly, initialization on the duty cycle as shown in the flow
the final solution. The differences in the particles are used to chart in Figure 3 and only three particles are used in order to
mutate each other in every iteration. reduce the time consumption. Equation (1) becomes (5) in the
Initially, DE utilizes two-dimensional target vectors, with proposed MPPT algorithm as follows:
𝑥𝑖 as the population for each iteration or generation and 𝐺 as
described in (1). The total number of particles 𝑁𝑃 remains the 𝐷𝑖,𝐺; 𝑖 = 1, 2, 3. (5)
same in each iteration.
After the initialization, the powers 𝑃𝑖 of the PV array are
𝑥𝑖,𝐺; 𝑖 = 1, 2, . . . , 𝑁𝑃 . (1) obtained for the three duty cycles (0.3, 0.6, and 0.9). Then, the
highest power in 𝑃𝑖 is selected as 𝑃best and the corresponding
The first generation of target vectors has to be chosen
𝐷𝑖 is saved as 𝐷best . If the difference among the three power
appropriately and must cover the entire search space. After
values Δ𝑃𝑖 is greater than 1.5%, the algorithm continues to
the results of first generation are obtained, 3 target vectors
create the donor vector DV𝑖 through (6), where the mutation
are randomly selected. Then, a mutation factor 𝐹 is used to
factor 𝐹 is 0.6. In the proposed algorithm, the mutation
weight the difference between two of the selected target vector
direction is ensured to be always converging towards the
and then the weighted difference is added into the third target
best solution, 𝑃best by comparing 𝐷𝑟1,𝐺 to 𝐷best and with the
vector to generate a mutated particle or so called donor vector
condition as shown in (6) as follows:
V𝑖 and the formula is as (2). This process can be explained as
the competition advantage between the individuals in real- 󵄨 󵄨
𝐷 − 𝐹 ∗ 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝐷𝑟2,𝐺 − 𝐷𝑟3,𝐺󵄨󵄨󵄨 ; if 𝐷𝑟1,𝐺 ≥ 𝐷best
life. Each individual in a community is learning from the DV𝑖,𝐺 = { 𝑟1,𝐺 󵄨 󵄨
difference between each other and generates the better indi- 𝐷𝑟1,𝐺 + 𝐹 ∗ 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝐷𝑟2,𝐺 − 𝐷𝑟3,𝐺󵄨󵄨󵄨 ; else.
vidual in order to ensure the promotion of the community. (6)
Consider the following:
Then, donor vectors crossover with target vectors to
V𝑖,𝐺 = 𝑥𝑟1,𝐺 + 𝐹 ∗ (𝑥𝑟2,𝐺 − 𝑥𝑟3,𝐺) , (2) generate the trial vector DU𝑖 as shown in (7), where the CR
in the proposed algorithm is 0.67. Consider the following:
where 𝐹 is in the range of 0 to 1.
From the mutation, donor vectors which consist of NP DV ; if rand ≥ CR
particles are generated. Then, the donor vectors are mixed DU𝑖 = { 𝑖 (7)
𝐷𝑖 ; else
with the target vectors through a process called crossover
and generates the trial vectors, 𝑢𝑖 . The condition used in the
After obtained the trial vectors, the result for the trial
crossover is as shown in (3), where a random number rand in
vectors 𝑓(DU𝑖 ) or in this case are the powers of the PV array,
the range of [0, 1] is compared to the crossover rate CR in the
PU𝑖 have to be measured. However, the value of DU𝑖 may
range of [0, 1]. Consider the following:
remain as 𝐷𝑖 after the crossover and thus PU𝑖 is also equal
to 𝑃𝑖 . Therefore, only the power PU𝑖 which does not have the
V; if rand ≥ CR
𝑢𝑖 = { 𝑖 (3) same duty cycle as 𝑃𝑖 is measured again from the input of
𝑥𝑖 ; else. DC-DC converter. This process helps to reduce the searching
4 International Journal of Photoenergy

Differential evolution Application of DE in MPPT controller

1
Target vector, xi,G ; Initialization
i = 1, 2, . . . NP target vector, Di
Di = 0.3, 0.6, 0.9
i = 1, 2, 3
2
Randomly selected 3 Obtain Pi
target vectors Yes
xr1,G , xr2,G , xr3,G 3 11
Select Pbest and Dbest No
ΔPi > 1.5%
from Pi and Di

Mutation to obtain 4 10
donor vector i,G No Duty cycle = Dbest
ΔPi > 1.5%
using equation (2)
Yes
5
Creates donor vector DVi
Crossover to obtain through mutation on Di
trial vector ui,G using equation (6)
using equation (3)
6
Obtain trial vector DUi
Selection to obtain through crossover using
next generation of equation (7)
target vector xi+1,G
7
Obtain the power,
No PUi for DUi
Termination?

Yes 8
Selection: choose the best
Stop value among DUi and Di

9
Updates Di

Figure 3: Flow chart of differential evolution algorithm and proposed algorithm.

time. When all values of the PU𝑖 are obtained, it is compared Table 1: Parameters of KD100-36 PV module at STC temperature is
to 𝑃𝑖 . 25∘ C, Insolation is 1000 W/m2 .
From the comparison, the duty cycle which corresponds Maximum power (𝑃max ) 140 W
to the higher value of power is used as the next target vector
Voltage at MPP (𝑉mpp ) 17.7 V
according to the following:
Current at MPP (𝐼mpp ) 7.91 A
Open circuit voltage (𝑉oc ) 22.1 V
DU ; if PU𝑖 ≥ 𝑃𝑖
𝐷𝑖+1 = { 𝑖 (8) Short circuit current (𝐼sc ) 8.68 A
𝐷𝑖 ; else. Number of series cells 36
Number of bypass diodes per module 2
Then, the algorithm repeats from block 2 in the flow chart
until Δ𝑃𝑖 is less than 1.5%. Subsequently, 𝐷best is used as the
duty cycle of the converter and Δ𝑃𝑖 is observed. If Δ𝑃𝑖 is
greater than 1.5%, the algorithm begins again from block 1; switching time for the MOSFET in the DC-DC converter is
else, it keeps on observing Δ𝑃𝑖 . 50 kHz.
In the simulation, two PV modules are connected in
4. Simulation Results series to generate the partial shading condition. As described
in Table 1, each PV module consists of two bypass diodes.
Figure 4 shows the PSIM model blocks for the PV system Therefore, two series connected PV modules have maximum
consisting of PV array, high step-up DC-DC converter, 4 peaks (4 bypass diodes) when the PV array is under 4
MPPT controller, and load. The PV module used in the different levels of solar intensity. Therefore, there are four
simulation is Kyocera KD100-36 and the specification of the PV modules as shown in Figure 4, where one PV module
PV module is as shown in Table 1. In the simulation, the represents 18 series PV cells and there are only two PV
sampling time of the MPPT controller is set to 0.05 s and the modules with the parameters as stated in Table 1.
International Journal of Photoenergy 5

21 22 31 32
1000 Iin

Iin
246 𝜇 Cs 100 m 470 𝜇

Vin
+
35 m
S A

V
25 V 1.5 𝜇 Vout
30 n Vin Dc Dr 100 m
400 T −
S + Cr Iout

A
500 p 15 𝜇 470 𝜇
33 𝜇 Cc
25 30 n 2.5 𝜇
12 350
−
100 T
11
S +
25 Duty
30 n
11 21
− 50 k
+
50 T − 31 22
S + 12 32
Vin MPPT controller
25 ZOH Duty
30 n Iin ZOH
− ZOH
T

Figure 4: PSIM model blocks of the proposed PV system.

200 150
GMPP GMPP
186 W 138 W

150 LMPPs
PV array power, PPV
PV array power, PPV

100

100

50
50
LMPPs

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50
PV array voltage, VPV PV array voltage, VPV

(a) (b)

Figure 5: 𝑃-𝑉 curves for PV array under partial shading, solar intensity are (a) 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.7 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 and (b)
1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.2 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 .

For the first case, the solar intensities are 1.0 kW/m2 , duty cycle is converging to 0.3. This fulfilled the criteria of
0.8 kW/m2 , 0.7 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 and the 𝑃-𝑉 curve the proposed algorithm where all the particles converged to
is as shown in Figure 5(a). The proposed algorithm is used the best solution.
to track the GMPP and the result is as shown in Figure 6(a). As a comparison, P&O is used to track the GMPP under
As shown in the simulation result, the proposed algorithm the same partial shading condition and the result is as shown
begins the initialization by setting the duty cycle of the DC- in Figure 6(b). The P&O starts the perturbation by setting the
DC converter to 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 in order to ensure that the duty cycle of the converter to 0.5. At 𝑡 = 0.25 s; the algorithm
search space covers the whole 𝑃-𝑉 curve. started to oscillate around the LMPP instead of GMPP due to
After that, the values of duty cycle are mutated and its disability to differentiate between the two. Therefore, P&O
crossed over; this process keeps on going until the difference tracked the LMPP which has the lower power (117 W).
in the power is less than 1.5%. At 𝑡 = 1.2 s, the algorithm stops Another partial shading condition is simulated to ensure
the searching and remains at the GMPP where the power of that the proposed algorithm is able to function well. The
that point is 186 W. Throughout the searching process, the solar intensities are 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.2 kW/m2 , and
6 International Journal of Photoenergy

200
100

PPV
PPV

100
GMPP: 186 W LMPP: 117-118 W
0 50
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time (s) Time (s)
50 20

VPV
VPV

15

0 10
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time (s) Time (s)
10 8
IPV

IPV
5 7

0 6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time (s) Time (s)
1 0.55
Duty cycle converging to 0.3
Duty

Duty
0.5 0.5
Duty cycle oscillate at 0.52-0.525
0 0.45
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time (s) Time (s)
(a) (b)

Figure 6: Simulation results for PV array under partial shading of 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.7 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 ; (a) proposed DE
algorithm and (b) P&O algorithm.

150
100 100
PPV

PPV

50
LMPP: 117-118 W
0 50
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time (s) Time (s)
30 20
20
VPV

VPV

15
10 GMPP: 138 W
0 10
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time (s) Time (s)
10 8
8
IPV

IPV

7
6
4 6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time (s) Time (s)
1 0.55
Duty cycle converging to 0.36
Duty
Duty

0.5 0.5
Duty cycle oscillate at 0.52-0.525
0 0.45
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time (s) Time (s)
(a) (b)

Figure 7: Simulation results for PV array under partial shading of 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.2 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 ; (a) proposed DE
algorithm and (b) P&O algorithm.
International Journal of Photoenergy 7

Table 2: Comparison of the proposed algorithm to conventional

Power P&O [18, 20].
supply Oscilloscope
Evaluated Proposed Conventional
[18] [20]
Digital parameters algorithm P&O
load Power efficiency High Low High High
Search space Global Local Global Global
Tracking speed Fast Very fast Slow Medium
Ability to track
Yes No Yes Yes
GMPP
Computational
Agilent Medium Low Medium High
load
solar array simulator
High step up DC-DC Practical
converter Yes Yes Yes Yes
implementation

Figure 8: Experimental setup for the proposed PV system.

The solar intensities are remaining constant at 1.0 kW/m2 ,

0.8 kW/m2 , 0.7 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 (𝑃-𝑉 curve as in
0.6 kW/m2 (see Figure 7). The 𝑃-𝑉 curve is as shown in Figure 5(a)). Initially, the load of the PV system is at 350 Ω,
Figure 5(b) and the GMPP is at 138 W. The proposed algo- the proposed algorithm operates at the GMPP (185 W) as
rithm tracked the GMPP in 1.0 s and remains to operate at shown in Figure 11(a). Meanwhile, the P&O tracked the
the GMPP, but the P&O still failed to track the GMPP in LMPP (point A) as shown in Figure 11(b) and operates at
this partial shading condition when it also tracked the LMPP 117 W.
(118 W). After that, the load is increased to 700 Ω. The proposed
algorithm began the initialization again and tracked the
5. Experimental Results GMPP, but P&O still failed to track the GMPP and it tracked
another LMPP which is point B (158 W). Then, the load is
The experimental setup is as shown in Figure 8. The dsPIC varied back to 350 Ω. The proposed algorithm is still able
from Microchip (dsPIC30F6010A) is used as the MPPT to track the GMPP and operates at the GMPP (185 W). The
controller to implement the proposed algorithm. Meanwhile, P&O algorithm returns back to point A and oscillates around
the solar array simulator (SAS) from Agilent (E4360A) is that point. When there is variation of load, the proposed
used to generate the output characteristics of a PV array. The algorithm is able to respond accurately and remain to operate
Agilent Solar Array Simulator (SAS) is a DC power source at the GMPP, but P&O failed to do so due to its localized
with 1000 Watt output and it is primarily a current source with starting point and disability to differentiate the LMPP and
very low output capacitance and is capable of simulating the GMPP.
𝐼-𝑉 curve of different arrays under various conditions such Finally, the partial shading condition is varied from
as partial shading conditions. 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.2 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 to
The desired 𝐼-𝑉 curve is programmable over the IEEE- 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.7 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 . As
488.2 bus and is conveniently generated within the SAS. shown in Figure 12, the GMPP is tracked by the proposed
Through the user friendly interface, the 𝑃-𝑉 curve and the algorithm where the power of the GMPP is at 137 W. After
operating point of the PV array can be observed as shown in that, the system operates at the GMPP until there is a solar
Figure 9(a). intensity variation where the 0.2 kW/m2 is increased to
The experiments were conducted under the same con- 0.7 kW/m2 . As a result, the proposed algorithm began the
ditions as described in the simulation. The result for par- initialization again and tracks the new GMPP which has the
tial shading of 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.2 kW/m2 , and power of 185 W.
0.6 kW/m2 is shown in Figure 9. The proposed algorithm Table 2 shows the advantages of the proposed algorithm
is able to track the GMPP and ensure that the PV system and its comparison to conventional P&O algorithm [18, 20].
operates at 98.7% of the maximum power as shown in First of all, the power efficiency of the proposed algorithm [18,
Figure 9(a). The waveform shows that the algorithm tracked 20] is higher due to its ability to track the GMPP accurately.
the GMPP and stops the searching within 0.8 s. Then, the Then, the globalized search space of the proposed algorithm,
result for P&O algorithm is as shown in Figure 10. P&O [18, 20] also ensures that the GMPP will not be overlooked.
tracked the LMPP in 0.2 second and it started to oscillate Even though, the search space covers the whole 𝑃-𝑉 curve,
around the LMPP. The PV system operates at only 84.54% of the mutation factor 𝐹 and the mutation direction help to
the maximum power. Hence, the proposed algorithm has an ensure that the proposed algorithm converged faster towards
efficiency of 14% higher than the P&O. the GMPP where only 1.0 second is needed for the algorithm
Other than that, the load of the PV system is also to track the GMPP. The tracking speed of [18] is slow because
varied in order to indicate the response of both algorithms. the algorithm sweeps the 𝑃-𝑉 curve by varying the duty
8 International Journal of Photoenergy

MPP%: 98.7 136.93 W

PPV

VPV

IPV
50 W/div 2.5 A/div
25 V/div 200 ms/div

(a) (b)

Figure 9: Experimental results for proposed algorithm under partial shading of 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.2 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 ; (a) 𝐼-𝑉
and 𝑃-𝑉 curves and (b) waveforms of PV power, voltage, and current.

MPP%: 84.54
117.28 W

PPV

VPV

IPV

50 W/div 2.5 A/div

25 V/div 200 ms/div

(a) (b)

Figure 10: Experimental results for P&O algorithm under partial shading of 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.2 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 ; (a) 𝐼-𝑉 and
𝑃-𝑉 curves and (b) waveforms of PV power, voltage, and current.

cycle from one end to the other and this is time consuming. shading conditions. The mutation direction of the DE algo-
Meanwhile, [20] used the Fuzzy Logic to track the GMPP rithm is always towards the best particle in the generation
which requires fuzzification and defuzzification. This not and the search space of the algorithm is globalized across the
only increases the processing time, but also increases the whole 𝑃-𝑉 curve. The simulation and experimental results
computational load. show that the proposed algorithm is able to track the GMPP
under partial shading condition. Besides, it also operates well
under load and solar intensity variations. The proposed algo-
6. Conclusions rithm has higher efficiency than the conventional P&O. With
its ease of implementation, the feasibility and effectiveness of
This paper has presented a DE based algorithm and applied the proposed algorithm in practical applications have been
it in the MPPT controller for the PV modules under partial verified in this paper.
International Journal of Photoenergy 9

158 W
117 W
185 W B
A A B
PPV PPV A

VPV VPV

IPV IPV
50 W/div 2.5 A/div 50 W/div 2.5 A/div
50 V/div 1.0 s/div 50 V/div 1.0 s/div

(a) (b)

Figure 11: Experimental results for load variation under partial shading of 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.7 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 ; (a) proposed
algorithm and (b) P&O.

[2] S. Mekhilef, R. Saidur, and A. Safari, “A review on solar energy

185 W use in industries,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,
vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 1777–1790, 2011.
137 W
[3] S. Mekhilef, A. Safari, W. E. S. Mustaffa, R. Saidur, R. Omar, and
PPV M. A. A. Younis, “Solar energy in Malaysia: current state and
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on Energy Conversion, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 439–449, 2007.
[5] K. I. Hwu, W. C. Tu, and C. R. Wang, “Photovoltaic energy
conversion system constructed by high step-up converter with
IPV hybrid maximum power point tracking,” International Journal
50 W/div 2.5 A/div of Photoenergy, vol. 2013, Article ID 275210, 9 pages, 2013.
50 V/div 1.0 s/div [6] H.-I. Hsieh, S.-F. Shih, J.-H. Hsieh, and C.-H. Wang, “Pho-
tovoltaic high-frequency pulse charger for lead-acid battery
Figure 12: Experimental results for proposed algorithm under vari- under maximum power point tracking,” International Journal
ation of solar intensity from 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.2 kW/m2 , and of Photoenergy, vol. 2013, Article ID 687693, 8 pages, 2013.
0.6 kW/m2 to 1.0 kW/m2 , 0.8 kW/m2 , 0.7 kW/m2 , and 0.6 kW/m2 . [7] A. Safari and S. Mekhilef, “Simulation and hardware implemen-
tation of incremental conductance MPPT with direct control
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Conflict of Interests [8] G. Cipriani, V. Di Dio, L. P. Di Noia et al., “A PV plant simulator
for testing MPPT techniques,” in Proceedings of the International
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests Conference on Clean Electrical Power (ICCEP ’13), pp. 482–489,
regarding the publication of this paper. 2013.
[9] K. S. Tey and S. Mekhilef, “Modified incremental conductance
MPPT algorithm to mitigate inaccurate responses under fast-
Acknowledgment changing solar irradiation level,” Solar Energy, vol. 101, pp. 333–
342, 2014.
This work was supported by the High Impact Resea-
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and M. B. Menhaj, “Maximizing output power of a solar
MOHE/ENG/24.
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