Operation of solar energy conversion systems influences the total efficiency during variable temperature and variable solar irradiations. In addition to these atmospherical conditions, shading also affects the solar array efficiency. Due to nonlinear current and voltage characteristics and variable efficiency of solar cells, operation point of solar cells should be fixed at maximum power and efficiency. In order to generate maximum energy, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems should be run with maximum power point trackers (MPPTs). Therefore it is reached to maximum power point changing with above external factors. MPPT units are implemented to control converters which are connected to terminals of PV arrays. MPPTs operate according to some algorithms to reach maximum power level in various conditions. This study presents a new modification on incremental conductance (IncCond) algorithm, one of the well-known algorithms, to improve total efficiency of solar energy conversion systems. Proposed modified algorithm is able to catch the new maximum power point quickly compared to conventional type and oscillations are also decreased reaching to new operating point.

Keywords: Dc converters, Incremental conductance (IndCond) algorithm, Maximum power point tracking, Photovoltaic energy conversion