Differential Power Processing DC-DC Converters for Solar Photovoltaic Applications-Video

Abstract:In photovoltaic (PV) systems connected to the ac power grid, PV panels are typically connected in series strings with one central converter to control and process the PV’s power. However, it is well known that imbalances or mismatch in the PV cell characteristics can result in extremely low system efficiency, which can occur due to different light incidence angles, partial shading, cell aging, etc. The concept of differential power processing (DPP) converters are utilized to enable PV power for mismatched conditions. DPP converters allow for independent MPPT of each PV panel while only processing a portion of the total PV power. DPP converter approaches in series and parallel configurations will be overviewed along with their advantages and trade-offs.