A comprehensive study of the key parameters of the simulated annealing method for maximum power point tracking in photovoltaic systems

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is a key feature of photovoltaic systems as it enables these systems to be utilized with a higher efficiency. Many MPPT methods including conventional techniques for uniform conditions and advanced techniques for non-uniform conditions have been proposed in the literature. A Simulated Annealing (SA) based MPPT method is a good candidate for tracking the global peak under non-uniform environmental conditions. However, the SA based method contains many parameters which could affect the tracking performance. A method for exploring the impact of each parameter on the tracking speed and accuracy of the method, in addition to key results obtained using this methodology, is presented in this paper.