Reconfigurable Distributed Power Electronics Technique for Solar PV Systems

• Main Authors: Kamran Ali Khan Niazi, Yongheng Yang, Tamas Kerekes, Dezso Sera
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Electronics
• Subjects: reconfiguration; switched-capacitor (SC); voltage equalizer; differential power processing (DPP); photovoltaic (PV); active diffusion charge redistribution (ADCR)
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/9/1121

A reconfiguration technique using a switched-capacitor (SC)-based voltage equalizer differential power processing (DPP) concept is proposed in this paper for photovoltaic (PV) systems at a cell/subpanel/panel-level. The proposed active diffusion charge redistribution (ADCR) architecture increases the energy yield during mismatch and adds a voltage boosting capability to the PV system under no mismatch by connected the available PV cells/panels in series. The technique performs a reconfiguration by measuring the PV cell/panel voltages and their irradiances. The power balancing is achieved by charge redistribution through SC under mismatch conditions, e.g., partial shading. Moreover, PV cells/panels remain in series under no mismatch. Overall, this paper analyzes, simulates, and evaluates the effectiveness of the proposed DPP architecture through a simulation-based model prepared in PSIM. Additionally, the effectiveness is also demonstrated by comparing it with existing conventional DPP and traditional bypass diode architecture.