Maximum-power-point tracking using multiphase interleaved converters based on multi-unit synchronization

This paper presents an application of a multiphase interleaved converter in tracking maximum power points (MPPs) of a photovoltaic (PV) panel regardless of environmental variations. Maximum power from the panel was extracted by means of the well-known the perturb-and-observe (P&O) method. The switching control technique used an interleaving scheme based on multi-unit synchronization. The converter performed harmonic attenuation without affecting the tracking speed. This approach is straightforward, reliable and inexpensive, and could be applied to any higher number of switching cells without difficulty.