Recent Advances in Photovoltaic Energy Harvesting, Power Optimization, and IoT Technologies for Photovoltaic Systems: A Review
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Photovoltaic (PV) systems have emerged as a key renewable energy technology due to their sustainability, scalability, and environmental benefits. Recent advances in PV energy harvesting, power electronic control, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have significantly enhanced system efficiency, reliability, and operational performance. However, the rapid expansion of research in these areas has created a need for a comprehensive and up-to-date review. This paper presents a systematic review of recent developments in PV energy harvesting, power optimization, and IoT technologies for PV systems based on studies published between 2023 and 2026. The literature reviewed is divided into three sections, namely: PV energy harvesting technologies, power electronic control and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques, and IoT based PV monitoring and management system. The review presents a major development regarding the ability of thermal management, hybrid PV/thermal systems, nano-coating technologies, indoor PV systems and integration with energy storage solutions. MPPT techniques have progressed from traditional to adaptive, predictive, optimization and hybrid techniques in power optimization with several studies showing efficiencies of more than 99% in tracking. In addition, the Internet of Things technologies have provided real-time monitoring, fault diagnosis, predictive maintenance and remote management with cloud connected and edge enabled platforms. While these developments have taken place, issues concerning scalability, interoperability, cyber security, standardization, and validation in field remain. Further investigations are desired to combine energy harvesting, advanced MPPT control, energy storage management and IoT enabled monitoring in a combined PV system. This review provides a structured overview of current developments, challenges, and future opportunities for next-generation photovoltaic systems.
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