Dynamic maximum power point tracking of photovoltaic arrays using ripple correlation control

A dynamically rapid method used for tracking the maximum power point of photovoltaic arrays, known as ripple correlation control, is presented and verified against experiment. The technique takes advantage of the signal ripple, which is automatically present in power converters. The ripple is interpreted as a perturbation from which a gradient ascent optimization can be realized. The technique converges asymptotically at maximum speed to the maximum power point without the benefit of any array parameters or measurements. The technique has simple circuit implementations.