Development of DC Buck Converter Based MPPT Algorithm for Standalone Photovoltaic PV System

This paper discusses the design, development, and testing of a DC Buck Converter for a solar photovoltaic (PV) module to optimize power extraction using a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) Algorithm. The Solar PV systems have power extraction challenge due to environmental variations such as changing irradiance, temperature, and shading, resulting in insufficient power extraction. Such photovoltaic systems without MPPT operate inefficiently, resulting in minimal energy harvest. This project develops a DC buck converter-based MPPT system and analyzes it by comparing the performance of two MPPT algorithms: Perturb and Observe (P&O) and Incremental Conductance (INC) under shading and non-shading condition. The results obtained showed that the INC algorithm is better compared to the P&O algorithm in converging faster with minimal oscillations and was able to track the global maximum power point (MPP) accurately under shading conditions. The DC-DC buck converter steps down input voltage from the solar panel and produces a stable output voltage (Vo) in the range of 12V to 14V to charge the battery load. The results show that the optimality in the power extraction has been assured while the supremacy of the algorithm INC is presented. The findings from this study indicate that integrating the INC algorithm with a DC buck converter is feasible for efficiency enhancement in solar PV stand-alone systems.