DC-DC Micro-Converter Photovoltaic Topology With Sensors Suppression

Abstract

This paper presents a novel system architecture intended to improve the cost-eciency of DC micro-converter topologies by reducing the number of local sensors and centralizing the MPPT and control strategies to a single microprocessor. The rst idea is to locally measure only the sensors required by the control, as it runs intermittently and needs a fast response for stability, and to use control techniques that naturally require less sensors. Second, we propose an MPPT strategy that relies on measuring the global power generated, by only acquiring the current reaching the DC link or battery and updating the operating point of each module one at a time. A problem that occurs when sequentially updating the modules is the possibility of power drop in a panel that is far from being re-updated, which may also lead to wrong conclusions about the module being currently updated. For that we also propose a method for detecting power drops and momentarily establishing a priority queue. The advantages of the proposed method are illustrated through numerical simulations.