Optimizing photovoltaic systems performance under partial shading using an advanced cuckoo search algorithm

Abstract

Partial shading negatively impacts power output in photovoltaic systems (PVs), causing multiple local maximum power points (LMPP) instead of a single global maximum power point (GMPP). The cuckoo search (CS) technique utilizes the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique to extract the global maximum power (GMP) from shaded PVs. CS is a metaheuristic technique that has gained widespread recognition. Moreover, the CS algorithm is associated with several challenges, including a failure rate, long response time, and noticeable oscillations during steady-state operation. To address these limitations, our proposed advanced cuckoo search (ACS) algorithm is designed to overcome the shortcomings of the standard CS algorithm. The algorithm iteratively evaluates individual solar panels and collectively explores the solution space using levy flight operations. Persistent variables are used to store and track the current state and previous iterations. Where the duty cycles of the solar panels are optimally set to enhance the overall power generation efficiency. We also evaluate and analyze the results obtained from the performance of our proposed technique and compare them to the performance of the four most recent CS optimization techniques. for all test cases, the tracking efficiency was improved to 99.98% with a fast-settling time of <44 ms.