PT Journal AU Andresen, M Buticchi, G Liserre, M TI Thermal Stress Analysis and MPPT Optimization of Photovoltaic Systems SO IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics PY 2016 BP 4889 EP 4898 VL 63 IS 8 PU IEEE DI 10.1109/TIE.2016.2549503 WP https://macau.uni-kiel.de/receive/publ_mods_00001317 LA en DE Thermal stresses; Stress; Maximum power point trackers; Power electronics; Algorithm design and analysis; Reliability SN 1557-9948 AB In the last years, the optimization of the energy harvesting of photovoltaic systems during fast variable irradiance conditions has been an active area of research and of competition among the companies. The proposed fast maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms can produce extremely variable loading of the power semiconductors resulting in a decrease of the system lifetime, which in consequence can nullify the economic advantage of higher energy harvesting. This work analyzes the problem with a deep theoretical and laboratory work. Then, a multiobjective MPPT, which limits the positive temperature gradient and the maximum junction temperature of the power semiconductors, is introduced and fully validated in the laboratory with a mission profile emulating variable irradiance conditions. PI New York, NY ER