Abstract-A switched-capacitor based equalization scheme is proposed for overcoming the adverse effect of shaded panels in a serially connected PV array. The proposed solution is based on a modular approach, in which each two panels are connected to a resonant switched-capacitor converter. The distribution of currents and power extraction improvement have been derived and verified experimentally and design guidelines to meet desired power loss level requirements have been developed. The experimental equalizing module was designed for 185W PV panels and was found to boost the maximum available power by about 50% when interfaced with two serially connected PV panels under insolation ratios between 20% and 100%. The analytical, simulation and experimental results suggest that the proposed approach is effective in extracting all available power with relatively high efficiency.
A new series-parallel switched capacitor converter topology capable of operating off two independent input sources and generating target output voltage in buck or boost mode is presented. Operation principle, conversion ratios, modelling considerations in different operation modes and extensive loss analysis are derived. The converter is robust and may be operated off one or two input sources, having the ability to change conversion ratio over a wide range. The proposed model assumes that the conduction losses are proportional to the average current flowing through each of the charge pump capacitor in a switching phase. Capacitor current instantaneous waveform in the complete charge, partial charge and no charge modes are captured in simulation and experiment. Model predicted equivalent resistance, output voltage and instantaneous capacitor current waveform concur excellent with simulated and experimental values, rendering the new converter as an excellent candidate for two and single input source applications.
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