TY - GEN
T1 - Differential power processing architecture for increased energy production and reliability of photovoltaic systems
AU - Shenoy, Pradeep S.
AU - Johnson, Brian
AU - Krein, Philip T.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Conventional energy conversion architectures in photovoltaic (PV) systems are often forced to trade off conversion efficiency and power production. This paper introduces a power processing architecture that enables each PV element to operate at its maximum power point (MPP) while only processing a small fraction of the total power produced. This is accomplished by providing only the mismatch in the MPP current of a set of series-connected PV elements. The differential power processing architecture increases overall conversion efficiency and overcomes the challenges of unmatched MPPs (due to partial shading, damage, manufacturing tolerances, etc.). Local control of the differential converters enables distributed protection and monitoring. The reliability analysis included in this paper shows significantly increased overall system reliability. Simulation and experimental results are included to demonstrate the benefits of this approach.
AB - Conventional energy conversion architectures in photovoltaic (PV) systems are often forced to trade off conversion efficiency and power production. This paper introduces a power processing architecture that enables each PV element to operate at its maximum power point (MPP) while only processing a small fraction of the total power produced. This is accomplished by providing only the mismatch in the MPP current of a set of series-connected PV elements. The differential power processing architecture increases overall conversion efficiency and overcomes the challenges of unmatched MPPs (due to partial shading, damage, manufacturing tolerances, etc.). Local control of the differential converters enables distributed protection and monitoring. The reliability analysis included in this paper shows significantly increased overall system reliability. Simulation and experimental results are included to demonstrate the benefits of this approach.
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U2 - 10.1109/APEC.2012.6166095
DO - 10.1109/APEC.2012.6166095
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84860120728
SN - 9781457712159
T3 - Conference Proceedings - IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC
SP - 1987
EP - 1994
BT - APEC 2012 - 27th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition
T2 - 27th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2012
Y2 - 5 February 2012 through 9 February 2012
ER -