Harmony Search-Assisted Perturb-and-Observe MPPT Algorithm for PV Systems

Nonuniform irradiation in photovoltaic (PV) systems can cause multiple power peaks, where traditional maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods like perturb-and-observe (P&O) are only effective under uniform conditions. Accurate global MPPT is crucial under partial shading conditions (PSCs). This paper proposes a hybrid MPPT algorithm integrating harmony search (HS) with P&O. This approach reduces power loss during searches and avoids getting stuck at local maxima under PSCs, a common issue with standard P&O methods. A parameter-setting-free HS (PSF-HS) is introduced to enhance search efficiency, followed by variable-step-size P&O to fine-tune the GMPP location. Experiments on a 250 W PV system under various PSCs using a PV emulator demonstrate the algorithm's effectiveness.