Hotspots in maximum power point tracking algorithms for photovoltaic systems – A comprehensive and comparative review

Increasing global energy consumption also raised concerns about environmental issues. Solar energy is one of the most promising sustainable solutions for this problem. However, due to the dynamic behavior of environmental conditions, energy conversion efficiencies of Solar photovoltaic systems decrease considerably. Therefore, to extract the highest energy from photovoltaic systems, the use of maximum power point tracking methods is a necessity. Under partial shading conditions where local maximum power points also occur, global maximum power point tracking is required. In this study, fundamental concepts for photovoltaic systems, conventional maximum power point tracking methods, modern maximum power point tracking methods – which can perform global optimization under partial shading conditions – based on automatic control and artificial intelligence approaches, and advantages and disadvantages of all these methods are provided briefly. Also, a comprehensive review, including more than a hundred prestigious studies carried out on these methods in the last decade is presented categorically and chronologically. Further, discussion and evaluation of reviewed methods in various aspects are given in a nutshell. This study aims to be a guide that may be useful for interested consumers, producers, and researchers and shed light on the last decade of maximum power point tracking methods for photovoltaic systems.