Converter topologies in photovoltaic applications - A review

Renewable energy generation has experienced rapid growth in the last few years, with close to $ 330 billion investment in 2017. To promote renewable energy generation, the European Union established an objective of achieving 20% renewables in the consumption by 2020. Compared to other renewabl e sources, solar power has reduced environmental impact. An MPPT (maximum power point tracking) controller is used to increase the energy gathered from a solar panel. Selection of appropriate converter is one of the challenge since that has an impact on behaviour of the PV (photovoltaic) system. In recent years, many converters have been reported in the literature. This paper presents a detailed review of various converter topologies such as SEPIC (single-ended primary-inductance converter), boost, buck-boost and flyback which are used to achieve the desired voltage level on grid output. The pros and cons of these converters are discussed. Review shows that interleaving and coupled inductor based topologies can offer advantages such as high efficiency and reduced switching loss. This study is not limited to reviewing topologies, rather discusses PV array configurations, advanced MPPT methods, advanced converters and comparisons in terms of hardware complexity, cost and efficiency. Finally, a summative analysis of topologies suitable for PV applications along with MPPT techniques are listed. This review can be employed for evaluating appropriate topology of converter in PV applications.