DC/DC Z-Source converter applied to PV system

Abstract

Paper proposes application of a DC/DC Z- Source Converter (ZSC) based on the one-port impedance network, operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM) for solar power generation in DC microgrid. A photovolaic array is connected to the input of ZSC, which provides voltage gain from 167V. The nominal input power of arrangement was 1440 Watts. Attending the low efficiency of photovoltaic modules (PV) and influence suffering by atmospheric conditions two maximum power point tracking techniques (MPPT) were tested to track the maximum power point at any time: Perturb and Observe (P&O) and Incremental Conductance (IC). By PSIM software, the operation of ZSC and MPPT behavior were simulated and prototype experimental results are provided to verify the validity of the converter and each MPPT implemented.