Integrated maximum power point tracking system for photovoltaic energy harvesting applicationsIntegrated maximum power point tracking system for photovoltaic energy harvesting applications Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2023-11-142022enThis work was supported in part by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union and in part by the Greek National Funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH–CREATE–INNOVATE under Project T1EDK-01485.The integrated circuits employed for power management in photovoltaic (PV) energy harvesting applications are required to perform an efficient maximum power point tracking (MPPT) process for maximizing the power production of the PV source during the continuously changing atmospheric conditions. Among the alternative MPPT methods, the perturbation and observation (P&O) technique has the advantages of operational and implementation simplicity. In this article, a novel PV MPPT control system for on-chip implementation of the P&O MPPT method is presented, which, compared to the past-proposed on-chip MPPT systems, has the advantage that it is implemented based on purely digital CMOS circuits without requiring the use of complex circuits, such as multipliers, sample and hold units, or analog-to-digital converters. Therefore, it can be easily implemented on-chip with low design complexity while simultaneously retaining the high-performance features of the P&O MPPT technique. The proposed PV MPPT system has been fabricated using the XFAB XH018 0.18- μ m CMOS technology. The experimental results verify the successful operation of the on-chip PV MPPT control unit and its ability to achieve a high MPPT efficiency over a wide range of operating solar irradiation values.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics3789865-9875 Mandourarakis Ioannis Μανδουραρακης Ιωαννης Gogolou Vasiliki Koutroulis Eftychios Κουτρουλης Ευτυχιος Siskos Stylianos Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers DC/DC converter Energy harvesting Integrated circuit (IC) Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) Photovoltaic (PV)