In this work, a novel hybrid global maximum power point tracking algorithm for tracking global maximum power of solar photovoltaic (PV) system under partial shading and dynamic irradiation condition is proposed. The developed hybrid algorithm [whale optimization (WO) and perturb and observe (PO)] is a combination of the recently introduced WO algorithm and the classical PO algorithm. During partially shaded conditions, the single-peak nonlinear power voltage (P-V ) characteristic curve of a PV panel is scattered into multiple peaks consisting of many local peaks and a unique global peak with maximum power. In the proposed algorithm the WO is utilized for finding the global peak and the PO algorithm is used for finding the exact maximum power available in the global peak. The advantages of the proposed algorithm are high tracking accuracy, faster convergence, easy to implement, and it can work efficiently under uniform and partially shaded condition. The performance of the algorithm has been compared with PO, particle swarm optimization (PSO) and hybrid PSOPO using MATLAB simulations. The steady state and dynamic performance of the proposed algorithm are verified by simulating it with a complex set of shading patterns, and the results show the efficiency greater than 99% and fast convergence towards maximum power. © 2019 Acta Press. All rights reserved.