Perturb and observe maximum power point tracking method for photovoltaic systems using duty-cycle modulation

This paper presents the implementation of perturb and observe maximum power point tracking algorithm with Duty Cycle Modulation instead of pulse width modulator for photovoltaic power generators. Like all the different methods used for tracking the maximum power point of photovoltaic system, perturb and observe method use a Pulse Width Modulation to control the DC-DC converter. Here, the Duty Cycle Modulation is used in the place of Pulse Width Modulation. A detailed analysis of the approach is proposed and simulations are performed using MATLAB/Simulink software. The results show the performance and speed at which this control reaches the maximum power point. The response times is very low and is between 0.0125s and 0.05s depending on the climatic variations. So, Duty Cycle Modulation can be used as an alternative to Pulse Width Modulation for the search of the maximum power point.