Maximum power point tracking control of photovoltaic generation system under non-uniform insolation by means of monitoring cells

A photovoltaic power generation system (PV system) is operated under various insolation conditions. Sometimes the PV system is operated under nonuniform insolation, which may generate several maximum output power points on the V-I curve of the PV array and raises serious problem on maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control of the system. In order to solve this problem, the authors propose a novel practical MPPT method, which uses monitoring cells to get a proper starting point of operation as well as the incremental resistance method (dV/dI method).