An Efficient Partial Power Processing DC/DC Converter for Distributed PV Architectures

• Published in: IEEE transactions on power electronics Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 674 - 686
• Main Authors: Agamy, Mohammed S., Harfman-Todorovic, Maja, Elasser, Ahmed, Song Chi, Steigerwald, Robert L., Sabate, Juan A., McCann, Adam J., Li Zhang, Mueller, Frank J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.02.2014; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Architecture; Buck-boost converter; Capacitors; Circuit properties; Converters; Direct current; Direct energy conversion and energy accumulation; distributed photovoltaic (PV) architectures; Efficiency; Electric currents; Electric power plants; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical power engineering; Electronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Inverters; Maximum power; Maximum power point trackers; maximum power point tracking (MPPT); Measurement; Non classical power plants; partial power processing; Photoelectric conversion; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic power plants; Power electronics, power supplies; Power supply; Power system reliability; Reliability; Signal convertors; Solar cells; Topology; Tracking; Voltage control; Performance evaluation; Power converter; Up converter; Input signal; Direct current convertor; Photovoltaic system; distributed photovoltaic (PV) architectures; Power electronics; partial power processing; Stability criterion; Distributed system; Experimental study; DC-DC power convertors; Composite material; Step down convertor; Buck-boost converter; High power; Photovoltaic power plant; Maximum power point tracking; Electric power; High efficiency; Optimal operation; maximum power point tracking (MPPT); Cost lowering
• ISSN: 0885-8993; 1941-0107
• DOI: 10.1109/TPEL.2013.2255315

In this paper, a dc/dc power converter for distributed photovoltaic (PV) plant architectures is presented. The proposed converter has the advantages of simplicity, high efficiency, and low cost. High efficiency is achieved by having a portion of the input PV power directly fed forward to the output without being processed by the converter. The operation of this converter allows for a simplified maximum power point tracker design using fewer measurements. The stability analysis of the distributed PV system comprised of the proposed dc/dc converters confirms the stable operation even with a large number of deployed converters. The experimental results show a composite weighted efficiency of 98.22% with very high maximum power point tracking efficiency.