Integrated inverter topologies for low power photovoltaic systems

This work presents a brief description of stage integration for photovoltaic system converters. In low power PV applications the output voltage available is low and a boost stage is necessary for regulated stand-alone or grid-connected. In the most usual topologies, the boost stage and the inverter stage are separated and cascaded. It simplifies the control schemes and it improves the power decoupling. However, the complexity, size, weight, cost and lifetime might be improved considering the integration of both stages. A few integrated converters have been demonstrated and compared, in order to support future evaluations and trends in PV systems.