A Novel High-Gain Soft-Switching DC-DC Converter With Improved P&O MPPT for Photovoltaic Applications

This paper proposes a novel high voltage gain structure of DC-DC converter with soft-switching ability for photovoltaic (PV) applications. A small size coupled inductor with one magnet core is utilized to improve the voltage conversion ratio in the proposed converter. The converter has one active MOSFET with low conducting resistance (RDS-ON), which in turn reduces the conduction losses and complexity of the control section. Due to the low input current ripple, the lifetime of the input PV panel is increased, and the maximum power point (MPP) of the PV panel can be easily tracked. The MOSFET's zero-voltage and zero-current switching and diodes are the other countenance of the proposed converter, which improve its efficiency. Additionally, an improved Perturb and Observe MPP tracking (IP&O MPPT) algorithm is introduced to boost the extracted power of the input PV sources. To validate the performance of this converter, the operation modes principle, steady-state and efficiency survey, and comparison results with other same family converters are carried out. Finally, an experiential prototype is built with 20 V input, 200 V output, power rate of 200 W, and 50 kHz operating frequency to validate the mathematical analysis and effectiveness of the proposed structure. The efficiency of the proposed converter was estimated by over 95% at various power levels.

Automated summary

This paper introduces a novel high voltage gain structure of DC-DC converter with soft-switching ability for photovoltaic applications, which utilizes a small size coupled inductor to improve voltage conversion ratio and reduce conduction losses. The converter features an active MOSFET with low conducting resistance and an improved MPPT algorithm for boosting power extraction. Efficiency of over 95% was achieved in experimental validation, showcasing the effectiveness of the proposed structure.