Evaluating Conventional MPPT Controllers for Scalable PV Systems in Uniform Solar Environments

Solar photovoltaic (PV) is crucial for the GCC’s sustainable energy transition, reducing reliance on fossils in sun-rich regions like Saudi Arabia. The efficiency of this technology relies on effective maximum power point (MPP) tracking. This study evaluates the Variable Step Size-Perturb and Observe (VSS-P&O) and Incremental Conductance (INC) algorithms under Saudi Arabia’s uniform solar environment and compares their performance with Mumbai’s non-uniform atmosphere. Using real climate data, a scalable off-grid PV system is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink, powering a DC motor, assessing tracking speed, accuracy, and power loss. Results show the INC method outperforms the VSS-P&O, with tracking speeds of 51 ms versus 60 ms in uniform environments and 107 ms versus 228 ms at non-uniform weather conditions. Buck-based MPP tracking controls are found to be more efficient than boost-based ones, especially with INC achieving 92.67% power-based efficiency versus VSS-P&O’s 90.37%. The PV array extracts lower power when using boost-based controllers, although the converter’s losses are limited to 2.3% of the power delivered to the load in a non-uniform solar environment.