Improved Efficiency of an Advanced Incremental Conductance Method for an Off-Grid Photovoltaic System under Partial Shading Conditions

The partial shading phenomenon is one of the most critical issues in off-grid photovoltaic systems that may decrease their performance. Therefore, the utilization of efficient and robust maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods is crucial in these systems, especially under highly abrupt variations. In the domain, several researchers developed classic control techniques such as Incremental Conductance (IC) algorithms that often exhibit high fluctuations and slow convergence during challenging scenarios. This work presents an advanced Incremental Conductance (AIC) MPPT control technique specifically suggested to enhance the tracking efficiency and performance under Partial Shading Conditions (PSCs). The suggested method presents a modified step size that adaptively adjusts the control action according to operating conditions, allowing fast convergence with negligible oscillations. This technique is applied in off-grid mode, which consists of a PV array and a DC-DC step-up converter linked to a resistive DC load, using MATLAB/Simulink software, version 2020b. Simulation results are performed under complex PSC test, confirming the robustness and resilience of the proposed control strategy that rapidly attains the maximum power point (MPP) in less than 0.2 seconds and significantly enhances tracking efficiency and reduces steady-state fluctuations compared to the benchmarked traditional IC method, thereby contributing to optimized reliability in off-grid PV systems.