Maximum solar power point tracking using Artificial hummingbird algorithm

In order to excerpt optimal green energy from intermittent solar irradiance, this work proposes a soft-computing-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique for solar powered panels. At the beginning, a MATLAB model is designed for the proposed technique considering the solar photovoltaic array, battery, and DC-DC converter. The design parameters were estimated for the available hardware specifications and simulated with conventional Perturb & Observe MPPT technique. The Simulink model was also tested with some contemporary MPPT techniques, like Fuzzy logic control, Particle swarm optimization and Artificial hummingbird algorithm (AHA). The performance of the proposed AHA is found superior by comparative analysis. Further the hardware prototype of the test system is developed with the help of necessary components and accessories. The hardware model is tested under different scenarios of irradiance using proposed AHA based MPPT technique for its validation and the responses are reported.