4.1.2. Soft Computing MPPT Techniques

1. Artificial Neural Network (ANN)

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) provide a mechanism to use environmental conditions such as irradiation, temperature, and shading to predict the PV system operation point corresponding to the MPP [116–118]. The input parameters for the ANN are usually PV voltage (*VPV*), PV current (*IPV*), irradiation, and temperature. After processing the input variables, the ANN provides an output signal: the optimal voltage *VMPP*, optimal current *IMPP,* and duty cycle [119,120]. The ANN is trained based on the experimental measurements and simulation results and mostly uses a back-propagation (BP) training algorithm [121–123]. Figure 8 presents the ANN structure.

**Figure 8.** ANN structure [124].
