Partial power processing DC/DC MPPT Converters in Solar PV applications : Overview of Architectures

This paper presents an overview of partial power processing (PPP) DC/DC converter architectures in PV applications which has maximum power point tracking (MPPT) capability. The main objectives of PPP in PV applications target to increase the power density and efficiency while reducing overall cost. The converters applied to the PPP is called partial power converter (PPC) and there are three most actively explored topologies in the solar industrial fields: differential power converter (DPC), fractional power converter (FRPC), and partial power converter (PPC). Some previous studies analyze and compare several PPCs in a highly qualitative manner. In this work, PPP topologies are classified in a comprehensive manner, and their power processing capabilities are analyzed with the volt-ampere (VA) area modeling. Moreover, quantitative comparison of PPP topologies by means of utilization factor (UF) is presented and compared for a utility scale solar park scenario. Finally, overview of PPP architectures are compared and organized with the table.