Photovoltaic Micro Converter Operated in Boundary Conduction Mode Interfaced with DC Distribution System

Research on photovoltaic (PV) generation is taking a lot of attention due to its infinity and environment-friendliness with decrease of price per PV cell. While central inverters connect group of PV modules to utility grid in which maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for each module is difficult, micro inverter is attached on each module so that MPPT for individual modules can be easily achieved. Moreover, energy generation and consumption efficiency can be much improved by employing direct current (DC) distribution system. In this paper, a digitally controlled PV micro converter interfacing PV to DC distribution system is proposed. Boundary conduction mode (BCM) is utilized to achieve zero voltage switching (ZVS) of active switch and eliminate reverse recovery problem of passive switch. A 120W prototype boost PV micro converter is implemented to verify the feasibility and experimental results show higher than 98% efficiency at peak power and 97.29% of European efficiency.