A high voltage gain DC/DC converter for energy harvesting in single module photovoltaic applications

Author

Cacciato, Mario ; Consoli, Alfio ; Crisafulli, Vittorio

Author_Institution

DIEES, Univ. of Catania, Catania, Italy

fYear

2010

fDate

4-7 July 2010

Firstpage

550

Lastpage

555

Abstract

As PV modules show low voltage outputs, in grid connected applications a converter with high voltage gain is needed. Standard PV conversion systems, addressing PV field composed by a large number of panels, show efficiency values up to 95-96%. Such a high efficiency is hard to reach in small power DC/DC converters with high input to output voltage ratio as those used in AC Modules. In this paper, an experimental investigation of high voltage gain DC/DC converters for renewable resource applications is presented mainly addressing the efficiency performance. A modified interleaved boost converter is proposed and compared with state-of-the-art solutions by simulation. Finally, a laboratory prototype of the proposed solution is developed and tested showing 95% CEC efficiency.

Keywords

DC-DC power convertors; energy harvesting; photovoltaic power systems; power grids; energy harvesting; grid connected applications; high voltage gain; high voltage gain DC-DC converter; interleaved boost converter; single module photovoltaic applications; Capacitors; DC-DC power converters; Inductors; Schottky diodes; Switches; Topology; AC Modules; Boost; DC/DC Converter; High-Gain;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Industrial Electronics (ISIE), 2010 IEEE International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Bari

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-6390-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISIE.2010.5637663

Filename

5637663