2013 IEEE Conference on Clean Energy and Technology (CEAT)

Global MPPT of Solar PV Modules using a Dynamic

PSO Algorithm under Partial Shading Conditions
Duy C. Huynh, Tuong M.Nguyen
University of Technology
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
huynhchauduy@hcmut.edu.vn

Matthew W. Dunnigan
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
M.W.Dunnigan@hw.ac.uk

The University of Edinburgh

Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Markus.Mueller@ed.ac.uk

However, there will be just a unique global MPP on the V-P

curve which a maximum output power is produced from the
solar PV modules. The global MPP is not known on the V-P
curve, but it can be determined using one of the well-known
MPPT algorithms such as the Perturbation and Observation
(P&O) algorithm [2], the Incremental Conductance (IC)
algorithm [3], the Constant Voltage (CV) algorithm [4].
Nevertheless, these algorithms do not perform well; they
fail to determine the global MPP under partial shading
conditions. Therefore, the paper proposes a dynamic PSO
algorithm to solve this issue.
The simulation results using the dynamic PSO algorithm
are compared to that of using the standard PSO and P&O
algorithms. This comparison is to confirm the effectiveness of
the proposed algorithm.

AbstractThis paper proposes a novel global maximum power

point tracking (MPPT) strategy for solar photovoltaic (PV)
modules under partial shading conditions using a dynamic
particle swarm optimisation (PSO) algorithm. Solar PV modules
have non-linear V-P characteristics with local maximum power
points (MPPs) under partial shading conditions. In order to
continuously harvest maximum power from solar PV modules, it
always has to be operated at its global MPP which is determined
using the proposed dynamic PSO algorithm. The obtained
simulation results are compared with MPPs achieved using the
standard PSO, and Perturbation and Observation (P&O)
algorithms to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm
under partial shading conditions.
Index TermsSolar photovoltaic modules, maximum power
point tracking, partial shading conditions, particle swarm
optimisation algorithm.

II. SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES UNDER PARTIAL

SHADING CONDITIONS

I. INTRODUCTION
Energy demand has greatly increased all over the world in
recent years which has resulted in an energy crisis. The
research efforts in moving towards renewable energy can solve
this problem. Compared to conventional fossil fuel energy
sources, renewable energy sources have the following major
advantages: they are sustainable, never going to run out, free
and non-polluting.
Amongst renewable energy sources, solar energy is
popularly used to provide heat, light and electricity. One of the
important technologies of solar energy is photovoltaic (PV)
which converts irradiation directly to electricity by the
photovoltaic effect [1].
However, the solar PV generation modules have several
main problems as follows.
Firstly, the conversion efficiency of solar PV cells is very
low (9% to 17%).
Secondly, the electricity generated by solar PV modules
always changes under various weather conditions.
Furthermore, the V-P curve of the solar PV modules is nonlinear and especially, there are always several local maximum
power points (MPPs) on the V-P characteristic under partial
shading conditions of the passing clouds; high neighboring
buildings, towers and trees; or the shadow of the solar PV
modules on others; etc.

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Markus A. Mueller

A solar PV module, Fig. 1 is used for generating electricity.

Each solar PV cell of the module has an equivalent circuit
model which consists of a real diode in parallel with an ideal
current source as in Fig. 2 [1].
The mathematical description of a cell is:

q (V + IRs ) V + IR
s
I = I sc I 0 e kT 1

Rp

Voc =

kT I sc
ln
+ 1
q I0

where
I: the cells current (A),
V: the cells voltage (V),
P: the cells power (W),
Isc: the cells short-circuit current (A),
Voc: the cells open-circuit voltage (V),
I0: the reverse saturation current (A),
q: the electron charge (C),
k: Boltzmanns constant,

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(1)

(2)

2013 IEEE Conference on Clean Energy and Technology (CEAT)

T: the module temperature (K),

Rs and Rp: the resistances used to consider the impact of
shading and losses.

Load

Rs

Isc

I V
+

Ip
D

Rp

(5)

VocM = N sVoc

(6)

q (VM + I M RsM )

kTN s
1
I M = I scM N p I 0 e

Fig. 1. Solar PV module

Id

VM = N sV

where
Ns and Np: the numbers of cells connected in series and parallel
in a module respectively.
Subscript with M describes for the module and subscript
without M describes for the individual cell.
It is assumed that the Rp is much larger than the Rs in a cell.
Then, the V-I characteristic of the module is given by:

Sun
PV

(4)

V
+

I scM = N p I sc

From Eq. 7, the saturation current, I0 is as follows under the

open circuit condition:

Load
I0 =

Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit model of a solar PV cell

Current (A)

Power (W)

I scM

qVM

N p e kTN s 1

(8)

Substituting Eq. 8 to Eq. 7, the V-I characteristic of the

module is re-written by:

MPP

Isc

(7)

IM

q (VM + RsM I M VocM )

kTN s

= I scM 1 e

(9)

Additionally, an array is the connection of modules in series

and parallel whose characteristics are described as follows:
Voltage (V)

Voc

I A = N pM I M

(10)

I scA = N pM I scM

(11)

V A = N sM VM

(12)

VocA = N sM VocM

(13)

Fig. 3. Important points in the V-I and V-P curves of a solar PV cell

Two important points of the V-I curve that must be pointed

out are the Voc and Isc, Fig. 3.
The power generated is zero at both points. The Voc is
achieved when the I is zero (I = 0) whereas the Isc is obtained
when the V is zero (V = 0).
The maximum power is generated at a point of the V-I
characteristic where the product (VI) is maximum. This point
is known as the MPP and is unique.
It is assumed that cells are connected to form a module
whose characteristics are [5]:

IM = N pI

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where A describes for the array and M describes for the

module.
Then, the V-I characteristic of the array is written as
follows:

(3)

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2013 IEEE Conference on Clean Energy and Technology (CEAT)

I A = N pM I scM

q (VA + RsA I A )

N pM I scM kTN
s N sM

e
1
qVocM

e kTN s

N pM

IA =

(14)

I Ax

(15)

x =1

N pM

I scA =

I scAx

(16)

x =1

Sun
Cloud

V A = V Ax = (N sM N Dx )VM

(17)

VocA = (N sM N Dx )RsM

(18)

where
NDx: the number of shaded solar PV modules
Then, the V-I characteristic for the array under partial
shading conditions is:
N pM

IA =

Fig. 4. PV array under partial shading conditions caused by passing cloud

I Ax
x =1

MPP of a PV array
with bypass diodes

q (VA + RsAx I Ax VocAx )

kTN ( N N )

s
sM
Dx

I scAx 1 e
=

x =1

N pM

(19)

The output characteristic of the array is complicated under

partial shading conditions. Most of the conventional MPPT
algorithms such as P&O, IC and CV algorithms fail to
distinguish between local and global maxima.
This paper proposes the dynamic PSO algorithm for
searching global MPPs.

Power (W)

MPP of a PV array
without bypass
diodes

III. GLOBAL MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING USING A

DYNAMIC PATICLE SWARM OPTIMISATION ALGORITHM
The standard PSO algorithm is a stochastic optimisation
approach [6]. It is run through equations as follows.

Voltage (V)

v i (k + 1) = wv i (k ) + c1r1 ( pbest i (k ) x i (k )) +
Fig. 5. V-P curves of a solar PV array under partial shading conditions

In outdoor environments, the whole or several parts of the

array might be shaded by the clouds; neighboring buildings,
towers and trees; or the shadow of the modules on others; etc.,
Fig. 4, which result in non-uniform irradiation. The
consequences are that there is the power consumption and the
maximum power of the partially shaded PV modules is
reduced.
In order to overcome these issues, a bypass diode is often
included into solar PV modules. Then, the V-P characteristic
develops multiple maxima and shows the difference of the
MPPs in the array with and without bypass diodes, Fig. 5.
A group of solar PV modules is in series. It is realised that
the voltages, which drop across the bypass diode of shaded
modules equal to zero.
Then, the output characteristics of the array are as follows
under partial shading conditions:

978-1-4799-3238-2/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE

+ c 2 r2 ( gbest (k ) x i (k ))

(20)

x i (k + 1) = x i (k ) + v i (k + 1)

(21)

where
vi (k ) : the ith particles velocity.

xi (k ) : the ith particles position.

k: the kth iteration.
pbesti (k ) : the personal best.

gbest(k ) : the global best.

c1 and c2: the cognitive and social parameters respectively; c1
and c2 [0, 2].
r1 and r2: the independent random sequences, r1 and r2
U(0,1).
w: the inertia weight [7].

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2013 IEEE Conference on Clean Energy and Technology (CEAT)

curves. The solution is to determine and track a global MPP.

The P&O, standard and dynamic PSO algorithms are applied
for determining global MPPs under various partial shading
conditions. Table II shows that the tracking efficiency of MPPs
is better by using the proposed algorithm if it is compared with
that of using the standard PSO and P&O algorithms due to their
drawbacks. The standard PSO algorithm became trapped into
local MPPs which led to the premature convergence.
Furthermore, the P&O algorithm also shows unreliable
behavior to rapid atmospheric variations and partial shading
conditions that causes slow response speed, oscillation around
the MPP and sometimes moving the operating point away from
the MPP. The efficiency obtained by the proposed algorithm is
always higher than 95% and higher than the efficiencies
achieved by using the standard PSO and P&O algorithms, Fig.
18. This shows that the proposed algorithm is better than the
standard PSO and P&O algorithms in searching the global
MPPs of solar PV arrays through using the time-varying
acceleration coefficients.
It is obvious that the proposed algorithm has overcome the
premature convergence of the standard PSO algorithm as well
as the unreliable behavior of the P&O algorithm under rapid
atmospheric variations and partial shading conditions.

Obviously, the standard PSO algorithm is simple to run.

Nevertheless, the particles sometimes are lost the exploration
abilities during the evolution process, especially for local
optima issues. This is one of the major drawbacks of the
standard PSO algorithm.
Therefore, the dynamic PSO algorithm was proposed [8][9].
The mathematical description of the proposed algorithm is
given by [9]:
v i (k + 1) = wv i (k ) + c1 (k )r1 ( pbest i (k ) x i (k )) +
+ c 2 (k )r2 ( gbest (k ) x i (k ))

(22)

where

) kn + c1initial

(23)

) kn + c2initial

(24)

c1 (k ) = c1 final c1initial
c 2 (k ) = c 2 final c 2initial

c1(k) and c2(k): the time-varying cognitive and social

parameters respectively.
c1initial and c1final: the initial and final cognitive parameters
respectively.
c2initial and c2final: the initial and final social parameters
respectively.
The dynamic PSO algorithm is applied for determining
global MPPs under partial shading conditions.
In the Eq. 22, c1(k) is set to decrease linearly with c1initial =
2.5 and c1final = 0.5 whereas c2(k) is set to increase linearly with
c2initial = 0.5 and c2final = 2.5.
The initial positions and velocities are initialized randomly
for { V Amppi , I Amppi }. These values are updated using Eq. 21

10

Current, Ipv (A)

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

25

150

Power, Ppv (W)

100

50

0
0

(25)

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

25

Fig. 7. V-P curve of the array in case 1

10

IV. SIMULATION RESULTS

8
Current, Ipv (A)

The simulations are implemented with a solar PV array

which is configured by 12 modules in 6 series and 2 parallel
arrangements. Each module is made up of 6 cells in 6 series
arrangement. The parameters of the solar PV module are shown
in Table I. Under partial shading conditions, it is assumed that
the solar PV array receives various irradiation values described
as in Table II. Figures 6-7 are V-I and V-P curves of the solar
PV array under identical conditions which always has a unique
MPP. Figures 8-17 are V-I and V-P characteristics of the array
under partial shading conditions. There are local MPPs on these

978-1-4799-3238-2/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE

Fig. 6. V-I curve of the array in case 1

respectively. The other parameters of the standard and dynamic

PSO algorithms are set as follows: w is 0.9; r1 and r2 are in
U(0,1).
The fitness function, f (V A , I A ) achieves its maximum at
MPPs (V A , I A ) , where
q (V A + RsAx I Ax VocAx )

N pM

kTN ( N N )

s
sM
Dx

f (V A , I A ) =
V A I scAx 1 e

x =1

0
0

and Eq. 22 with the velocity vectors { vV Ampp , v I Ampp }

i

6
4
2
0
0

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

Fig. 8. V-I curve of the array in case 2

137

25

2013 IEEE Conference on Clean Energy and Technology (CEAT)

8

Current, Ipv (A)

Power, Ppv (W)

150

100

50

0
0

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

6
4
2
0
0

25

Fig. 9. V-P curve of the array in case 2

40
Power, Ppv (W)

Current, Ipv (A)

25

50

8
6
4
2

30
20
10

0
0

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

0
0

25

Fig. 10. V-I curve of the array in case 3

5
Current, Ipv (A)

100
80
60
40
20

20

25

4
3
2
1

0
0

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

0
0

25

Fig. 11. V-P curve of the array in case 3

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

25

Fig. 16. V-I curve of the array in case 6

40

Power, Ppv (W)

6
4
2
0
0

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

Fig. 15. V-P curve of the array in case 5

120

Power, Ppv (W)

20

Fig. 14. V-I curve of the array in case 5

10

Current, Ipv (A)

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

30
20
10
0
0

25

Fig. 12. V-I curve of the array in case 4

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

25

Fig. 17. V-P curve of the array in case 6

50

Tracking efficiency (%)

Power, Ppv (W)

40
30
20
10
0
0

10
15
Voltage, Vpv (V)

20

25

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

P&O
Standard PSO
Dynamic PSO

Fig. 13. V-P curve of the array in case 4

4
Case

Fig. 18. Tracking efficiency (%) of MPPs under partial shading conditions

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2013 IEEE Conference on Clean Energy and Technology (CEAT)

TABLE I. PARAMETERS OF THE SOLAR PV MODULE

Pmax
VMPP
IMPP
Isc
Voc
Rs
Rp

[6] J. Kennedy and R. Eberhart, Particle swarm optimization,

IEEE Int. Conf. Neural Networks, pp. 1942-1948, 1995.
[7] Y. Shi and R. Eberhart, A modified particle swarm optimizer,
IEEE Int. Conf. Evol. Comput., pp. 69-73, 1998.
[8] A. Ratnaweera, S. K. Halgamuge and H. C. Watson, Selforganizing hierarchical particle swarm optimizer with timevarying acceleration coefficients, IEEE Trans. Evol. Comput.,
vol. 8, pp. 240-255, 2004.
[9] D. C. Huynh and M. W. Dunnigan, Parameter estimation of an
induction machine using advanced particle swarm optimization
algorithms, IET J. Elect. Power Applicat., vol. 4, no. 9, pp.
748-760, 2010.

150 W
16.87 V
8.89 A
9.5 A
21.6 V
0.47
1365

TABLE II. TRACKING EFFICIENCY

Case
No.

Irradiation, Gi (W/m2)

G1,..., G12 = 1000

G1,..., G7 = 1000; G8 = 700;
G9,..., G12 = 1000
G1,..., G5 = G7 = 1000; G6 =
500; G8 = 700; G9,..., G12 =
1000
G1, . . ., G3 = G5 = G7 =
1000; G4 = 300; G6 = 500;
G8 = 700; G9 = 100; G10, . .
., G12 = 1000
G1 = G3 = G5 = G7 = 1000;
G2 = 850; G4 = 300; G6 =
500; G8 = 700; G9 = 100;
G10, . . ., G12 = 1000
G1 = G3 = G5 = G7 = G10 =
G11 = 1000; G2 = 850; G4 =
300; G6 = 500; G8 = 700;
G9 = 100; G12 = 1000

2
3

Tracking efficiency (%)

Standard Dynamic
P&O
PSO
PSO
94.63
89.36
98.45
85.25

80.10

97.50

84.72

82.11

98.62

86.93

82.68

97.53

85.19

84.31

98.59

85.05

83.67

97.32

V. CONCLUSION
The paper proposed the dynamic PSO algorithm for
determining global MPPs of solar PV modules under partial
shading conditions. The simulation results of the tracking
efficiencies obtained using the proposed algorithm are
compared with the results achieved using the other algorithms.
The results validate the effectiveness of the proposal. The
tracking efficiencies achieved by the proposed algorithm are
always higher than 95% and higher than the efficiencies
obtained using other algorithms.
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