PV Panel to PV Panel Transfer Method for Modular Differential Power Processing

Abstract

This article proposes a realization of the photovoltaic (PV) panel to PV panel (P2P) method for the modular differential power processing (mDPP). The approach is modular and permits panels to be added to or removed from either series strings or paralleled connections. A voltage inner loop and power outer loop control strategy tracks the individual maximum power point of the PV panel, as well as converts only the differential power. The proposed method decouples the control loop performance of each PV module, making design simple. Simulation results validate the plug and play function for scalable PV system and MPPT accuracy. Hardware prototype is also built, and both indoor and outdoor experiments are provided to exhibit the advantage of this P2P method. Drawbacks and limitations are also discussed.