A Review of Particle Swarm Optimization Control Parameters for Maximum Power Point Tracking Under Different Conditions

The increasing importance of photovoltaic (PV) systems in the context of the energy transition, together with the need to improve their efficiency, has driven the adoption and development of intelligent and advanced maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques. Among these approaches, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm stands out due to its simplicity, ease of implementation, low number of control parameters, robustness, and fast convergence capability, making it widely applied in modern MPPT systems. However, the performance of PSO in MPPT applications depends on the appropriate selection of both algorithm control parameters and implementation/configurations parameters. The control parameters include the cognitive (C₁) and social (C₂) learning factors, as well as the inertia factor (w), which directly influence swarm dynamics and the balance between exploration and exploitation mechanisms, that is, between global and local search. On the other hand, configuration parameters such as the number of particles and the initialization strategy affect the initial population diversity, the convergence speed toward the maximum power point, and the computational cost of the algorithm, defining the trade-off between speed and accuracy. Despite the extensive research in this field, there is still no clear consensus regarding the most suitable PSO parameter configuration for MPPT applications. This paper presents a statistical analysis of PSO parameter selection in MPPT applications, identifying the most frequently adopted parameter configurations and trends reported in the literature. The findings provide useful guidelines for researchers to select the PSO parameters according to different operating conditions, particularly under partial shading and irradiance variations. From a sustainability perspective, improving MPPT performance contributes to maximizing PV energy harvesting, reducing energy losses, and enhancing the reliability of PV systems, thereby supporting the transition toward more sustainable energy generation.