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This paper discusses maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods of PV system for normal and partial shading conditions (PSC). The selected MPPT methods were classified as artificial intelligent, hybrid, and other MPPT methods. The comparison of researches on MPPT methods under normal condition and PSC reveals that researchers have concentrated more on shading conditions since the last few years mainly due to the need of power output and efficiency improvements. It is believed that the information contained in this piece of work will be of great use for the researchers in the field under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Off-grid hybrid energy systems (HESs) have become more cost-effective and reliable than single-source systems for the electrification of rural areas. This paper presents a techno-economic and environmental analysis of different hybrid systems to supply electricity to a typical Iraqi rural village. The HOMER software is utilized for the optimization of the systems using the multi-year module, which has been overlooked in the literature thus far. The analysis shows that the PV/hydro/diesel/battery HES is the most economical option with a net present cost (NPC) of $113201, in addition to having acceptable technical and environmental performance levels. Throughout the project's 20 year lifetime, PV electricity production is reduced by 9.1% while diesel electricity production, CO 2 emissions and served load are increased by 90.8%, 91.7% and 8.8%, respectively. The NPC for the multi-year module shows an increment of 22.5% in comparison with that of the single year module. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis of some rarely reported parameters, such as water pipe losses, generator minimum load, battery roundtrip efficiency, battery setpoint state of charge, capacity shortage, PV capital cost multiplier and multi-year, demonstrated that variations in these parameters have significant effects on the system power flow and its economic analysis. Highlights • PV/hydro/diesel/battery hybrid energy systems are analyzed for different scenarios. • HOMER software is employed for the analysis using multi-year module. • Techno-economic and environmental performance of different systems are discussed. • Sensitivity analysis considering variations in several parameters is conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HOMER software is a powerful tool for modeling and optimization of hybrid energy system (HES). The main two default control strategies in HOMER are load following (LF) and cycle charging (CC) strategies. In these strategies, the decision to use the generator or battery at each time step is made based on the lowest-cost choice. Therefore, these strategies are difficult to be implemented in practice especially in countries with continuous fuel price fluctuations. In this study, a new dispatch strategy based on HOMER-MATLAB Link Controller for an isolated wind/diesel/battery HES is proposed to overcome the limitations of the default HOMER strategies. A detailed technical, economic, and greenhouse gas emission analysis is presented for the system under LF, CC, and the proposed dispatch strategies. Besides offering more realistic optimization, the results show that the proposed strategy offers the best economic and environmental performance with a net present cost of $56473 and annual CO 2 emissions of 6838 kg. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis reveals that the proposed strategy is not affected by the fuel price variation, in opposite to LF, and CC strategies which is affected dramatically by this variation. The findings are of paramount importance towards more realistic and efficient energy management strategies. • A new dispatch strategy for wind/diesel/battery hybrid energy systems using HOMER-MATLAB Link Controller is proposed. • Overcome HOMER default strategies limitation in dealing with continuous fuel price fluctuations. • The proposed strategy is compared with HOMER default strategies in terms of techno-economic and environmental performance. • Sensitivity analysis is conducted by considering variations in critical parameters. • The proposed strategy is more realistic and has better economic and environmental performance than HOMER default strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]