Off-Grid Surveillance Powered by Solar Energy: A Comparative Study of MPPT Algorithms

The growing global population has increased the demand for reliable security systems, especially in areas with limited or unstable energy infrastructure. Renewable energy sources, particularly solar panels, offer an effective solution to ensure continuous operation of cameras and sensors on security poles in such regions. This study analyzes data from a solar-powered security pole and develops Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithms to improve system efficiency. The original design, which relied solely on a buck converter, lacked flexibility. To address this, a buck–boost converter capable of operating in both buck and boost modes was designed, and the proposed algorithms were implemented and tested on this converter. Classical MPPT techniques, including Perturb and Observe (P&O) and Incremental Conductance (IC), were evaluated for their performance. Additionally, under partial shading conditions, metaheuristic approaches such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) were examined and compared. The performance of all algorithms was assessed in terms of energy efficiency and system adaptability. This study aims to contribute to renewable energy-based solutions by developing flexible and high-performance energy management systems for applications with limited energy access, such as security poles in rural areas.