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Design, Analysis, and Implementation of Solar Power Optimizer for DC Distribution System
Shih-Ming (Orion) Chen, Student Member, IEEE, Tsorng-Juu (Peter) Liang, Member, IEEE, and Ke-Ren Hu
AbstractThis paper proposes a high step-up solar power optimizer (SPO) that efciently harvests maximum energy from a photovoltaic (PV) panel then outputs energy to a dc-microgrid. Its structure integrates coupled inductor and switched capacitor technologies to realize high step-up voltage gain. The leakage inductance energy of the coupled inductor can be recycled to reduce voltage stress and power losses. A low voltage rating and low-conduction resistance switch improves system efciency by employing the incremental conductance method for the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm. Because of its high tracking accuracy, the method is widely used in the energy harvesting of PV systems. laboratory prototypes of the proposed SPO that have an input voltage range of 20 to 40 V and a maximum PV output power of 400 V/300 W are applied. The highest PV power conversion efciency is 96.7%. The maximum MPPT accuracy is 99.9%, and the full load average MPPT accuracy is 97.8%. Index TermsHigh step-up voltage gain, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), solar power optimizer (SPO).
Fig. 1. Conguration of multiple parallel SPO for a dc-microgrid system.

I. INTRODUCTION

OSSIL fuels continue to be depleted, and their use has been instrumental to climate change, a problem that grows more severe each year. A photovoltaic (PV) power generation system, which uses a renewable resource, has been extensively used in emergency facilities and in generating electricity for mass use. A conventional PV generation system is either a single- or a multistring PV array that is connected to one or several central PV inverters. Numerous series-connected PV modules are connected in the PV array to achieve the DC link voltage that is high enough to be connected to electricity through the DCAC inverter. However, the power reduction that is caused by the shadow effect is an inevitable problem in a centralized PV system. The use of a microinverter or ac module has recently been proposed for individual PV panels [1], [2]. Although this discrete PV power generation solution may partially eliminate the shadow problem, a microinverter structure constrains the

Manuscript received March 31, 2012; revised June 27, 2012; accepted August 6, 2012. Date of current version October 26, 2012. This work was supported in part by the nancial support from the Bureau of Energy, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan, under Project 101-D0204-2, and in part by the National Science Council of Taiwan under Project NSC 101-3313-E-006017 and Project NSC 101-2218-E-006-014. Recommended for publication by Associate Editor T. Shimizu. S.-M. (Orion) Chen and T.-J. (Peter) Liang are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Advanced Optoelectronic Technology Center (AOTC), Green Energy Electronics Research Center (GREERC), National ChengKung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (e-mail: orion.chen@msa.hinet.net; tjliang@mail.ncku.edu.tw). K.-R. Hu is with the Richtek Technology Company, Hsinchu 302, Taiwan (e-mail: mimix1986@yahoo.com.tw). Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TPEL.2012.2213270

system energys harvesting efciency and entails high costs. A solar power optimizer (SPO) was developed as an alternative to maximize energy harvest from each individual PV module. An SPO is used as a dcdc converter with maximum power point tracking (MPPT), which increases PV panel voltage to optimum voltage levels for a dc microgrid connection or through a dcac inverter for electricity [3][6]. Fig. 1 shows a single PV panels energy, which passes through an SPO to a dc microgrid system. A 400 V dc-microgrid system was proposed as an energy-efcient distribution option for data center systems and telecommunication facilities [7]. The SPO attempts to improve the use of distributed renewable resources and lower system cost. It may also potentially improve the efciency of PV systems, has an antishadow effect, and can monitor the status of PV modules [8]. Moreover, the dc-grid voltage is regulated by bidirectional inverter and battery tank. In case of low-loading condition, the redundant energy will store into battery or through bidirectional inverter to ac grid. The maximum power point (MPP) voltage range of a single PV panel ranges from 15 to 40 V and has a power capacity of about 100 to 300 W [9]. An SPO has a high step-up converter that increases low-input voltage to a sufcient voltage level. Various step-up dcdc converter topologies include a conventional boost and yback converters [10], [11], switchedinductor converter, and switched capacitor converter [12][16], as well as a transformerless switched capacitor types [17], [18], voltage-lift types [19][21], capacitordiode voltage multipliers [22][25], and boost types that are integrated with coupled inductors [26][29]. With increasing voltage gain, recycling the leakage inductance energy of a coupled inductor will reduce the voltage stress on the active switch, which enables the coupled

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Fig. 2.

Conguration of the proposed SPO.

inductor and voltage multiplier or voltage-lift technique to realize high-voltage gain [9][29]. The proposed SPO is shown in Fig. 2; its conguration is based on a high step-up dcdc converter with an MPPT control circuit. The converter includes a oating active switch S and a coupled inductor T1 with primary winding N1 , which is similar to the input inductor of a conventional boost converter capacitor C1 , and diode D1 recycle leakage inductance energy from N1 . Secondary winding N2 is connected to another pair of capacitors, C2 and C3 , and to diodes D2 and D3 . Rectier diode D4 connects to output capacitor Co and load R. The duty ratio is modulated by the MPPT algorithm, which uses the incremental conductance method [30][35] that is employed in the proposed SPO. It detects PV module voltage Vpv and current Ipv to determine the increase and decrease in the duty cycle of the dc converter. Therefore, the MPP can be obtained by comparing instantaneous conductance I/V and incremental conductance dI/dV. The algorithm is programmed into TMS320LF2407A, a digital signal microprocessor. The proposed converter has the following features: 1) its voltage conversion ratio is efciently increased by using the switched capacitor and coupled inductor techniques; 2) the leakage inductance energy of the coupled inductor can be recycled to increase efciency, and the voltage spike on the active switch is restrained; 3) the oating active switch isolates the PV panels energy during nonoperating conditions, thereby preventing any potential electric hazard to humans or facilities. The MPPT control algorithm exhibits high-tracking efciency; hence, it is widely used in the energy harvesting of PV systems. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Sections II and III discuss the operating principle and steady-state analysis of the proposed converter, respectively. Section IV addresses the practical implementation and component selection of the proposed converter. Section V presents the experimental results, and VI concludes the paper. II. OPERATING PRINCIPLES The operating principles for continuous conduction mode (CCM) and discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) are presented in detail. Fig. 3 illustrates a typical waveform of several major components in CCM operation during one switching period. To simplify the circuit analysis of the proposed converter, the following assumptions are made: 1) all components are ideal, except for the leakage inductance of coupled inductor T1 , which is taken into account. On-state resistance RDS(ON) and all the parasitic capaci-

Fig. 3.

Typical waveforms of the proposed converter in CCM operation.

tances of main switch S are disregarded, as are the forward voltage drops of diodes D1 to D4 ; 2) capacitors C1 to C3 and Co are sufciently large that the voltages across them are considered constant; 3) the equivalent series resistance (ESR) of capacitors C1 to C3 and Co , as well as the parasitic resistance of coupled inductor T1 , is neglected; 4) turns ratio n of coupled inductor T1 windings is equal to N2 / N 1 . The CCM operating modes are described as follows.

A. CCM Operation Mode I [t0 , t1 ]: During this interval, switch S and diodes D2 and D3 are conducted; diodes D1 and D4 are turned OFF. The current ow path is shown in Fig. 4(a). Magnetizing inductor Lm continues to release energy to capacitors C2 and C3 through secondary winding N2 of coupled inductor T1 . Leakage inductance Lk 1 denotes the stored energy from source energy Vin . The energy that is stored in capacitor Co is constantly discharged to load R. This mode ends when increasing iL k 1 is

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n= iL m =

N2 N1

(4)

Vo Vin Vc 1 Vc 2 Vc 3 (t2 t1 ). (5) n Lm Mode III [t2 , t3 ]: During this transition interval, switch S and diodes D2 and D3 are turned OFF, and diodes D1 and D4 are conducted. The current ow path is shown in Fig. 4(c). The energy stored in leakage inductance Lk 1 instantly ows through the diode D1 to charge capacitor C1 . The energy is released to magnetizing inductor Lm through coupled inductor T1 , which is serially connected to C1 , C2 , and C3 , and secondary winding N2 ; Lk 2 discharges the energy that is stored in charge output capacitor Co and loads R. This mode ends when decreasing iL k 1 is equal to increasing iL m at t = t3 vL m = Vc 1 iL m = (6) Vc 1 (t3 t2 ). (7) Lm Mode IV [t3 , t4 ]: During this interval, switch S and diode D4 are turned OFF, and diodes D1 , D2 , and D3 are conducted. The current ow path is shown in Fig. 4(d). Leakage inductance Lk 1 continues to release energy to charge capacitor C1 through diode D1 . Magnetizing inductor Lm through coupled inductor T1 transfers energy to capacitors C2 and C3 . The energy that is stored in capacitor CO is constantly discharged to load R. This mode ends when decreasing iL k 1 is zero at t = t4 vL m = Vc 1 (8) Vc 1 (t4 t3 ). (9) iL m = Lm Mode V [t4 , t5 ]: During this interval, diodes D2 and D3 are conducted. The current ow path is shown in Fig. 4(e). Magnetizing inductor Lm constantly transfers energy to secondary winding N2 , and charges capacitors C2 and C3 . The energy that is stored in capacitor CO is constantly discharged to load R. This mode ends when switch S is turned ON at the beginning of the next switching period vL m = equal to decreasing iL m at t = t1 vL m = Vin iL m = Vin (t1 t0 ). Lm (1) (2) iL m Vc 3 V c 2 = (10) n n Vc 2 Vc 3 = (t5 t4 ) = (t5 t4 ). (11) n Lm n Lm

Fig. 4. Current ow path in ve operating modes during one switching period in CCM operation: (a) Mode I, (b) Mode II, (c) Mode III, (d) Mode IV, and (e) Mode V.

B. DCM Operation Fig. 5 illustrates a typical waveform of several major components in DCM operation during one switching period. Mode I [t0 , t1 ]: During this interval, switch S and D4 are conducted, and diodes D1 , D2 , and D3 are turned OFF. The current ow path is shown in Fig. 6(a). Magnetizing inductor Lm with leakage inductance Lk 1 stores energy from source energy Vin . Meanwhile, source energy Vin is also serially connected to capacitors C1 , C2 , and C3 , and secondary winding N2 to charge capacitor Co and load R. This mode ends when switch S is turned OFF at t = t1 Vo Vin Vc 1 Vc 2 Vc 3 (12) vL m = Vin = n

Mode II [t1 , t2 ]: During this interval, switch S and diode D4 are conducted. Source energy Vin is serially connected to C1 , C2 , and C3 , and secondary winding N2 ; Lk 2 discharges the energy that is stored in charge output capacitor Co and loads R. Meanwhile, magnetizing inductor Lm also receives energy from Vin . The current ow path is shown in Fig. 4(b). This mode ends when switch S is turned OFF at t = t2 vL m = Vo Vin Vc 1 Vc 2 Vc 3 n (3)

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Fig. 5.

Typical waveforms of the proposed converter during DCM operation.

iL m =

Vin Vo Vin Vc 1 Vc 2 Vc 3 (t1 t0 ) = Lm n Lm (t1 t0 ). (13)

Fig. 6. Current ow path in ve operating modes during one switching period in DCM operation: (a) Mode I, (b) Mode II, (c) Mode III, (d) Mode IV, and (e) Mode V.

Mode II [t1 , t2 ]: During this transition interval, switch S and diodes D2 and D3 are turned OFF, and diodes D1 and D4 are conducted. The current ow path is shown in Fig. 6(b). The energy stored in leakage inductance Lk 1 instantly ows through the diode D1 to charge capacitor C1 ; this energy is also released to magnetizing inductor Lm through the coupled inductor T1 series that is connected to C1 , C2 , and C3 , secondary winding N2 , and Lk 2 to charge output capacitor Co and load R. This mode ends when decreasing iD 4 is zero at t = t2 vL m = Vc 1 iL m = Vc 1 (t2 t1 ). n Lm (14) (15)

Mode III [t2 , t3 ]: During this transition interval, switch S and diode D4 are turned OFF, and diodes D1 , D2 , and D3 are conducted. The current ow path is shown in Fig. 6(c). Leakage inductance Lk 1 continues to release energy to charge capacitor C1 through diode D1 . Magnetizing inductor Lm transfers energy to capacitors C2 and C3 through coupled inductor T1 . The energy stored in capacitor Co is constantly discharged to load R. This mode ends when decreasing iL k 1 is zero at t = t3 vL m = Vc 1 = iL m = = Vc 1 n Lm Vc 3 Vc 2 = n n Vc 2 (t3 t2 ) = (t3 t2 ) n Lm (16)

Vc 3 (t3 t2 ). n Lm

(17)

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Mode IV [t3 , t4 ]: During this interval, switch S , diodes D1 and D4 are turned OFF, and diodes D2 and D3 are conducted. The current ow path is shown in Fig. 6(d). Magnetizing inductor Lm constantly transfers energy to secondary winding N2 and charges capacitors C2 and C3 . The energy that is stored in capacitor Co is constantly discharged to load R. This mode ends when decreasing iL m is zero at t = t4 vL m = iL m Vc 3 Vc 2 = (18) n n Vc 2 Vc 3 = (t5 t4 ) = (t4 t3 ). (19) n Lm n Lm

applying volt-second balance on magnetizing inductance Lm , deriving

D TS DL TS

Vin dt +
0 D TS

(VC 1 )dt = 0

(29)

where DL TS is the time during which current iL m declines from peak current to zero DL (1 D). (30)

From (16), (29), and (30), the voltage across capacitors C2 and C3 are obtained VC 1 = D Vin DL nD Vin . DL (31) (32)

Mode V [t4 , t5 ]: During this interval, the switch and all the diodes are turned OFF. The current ow path is shown in Fig. 6(e). The energy that is stored in capacitor CO is constantly discharged to load R. This mode ends when switch S is turned ON at the beginning of the next switching period vL m = 0 iL m = 0. III. STEADY-STATE ANALYSIS A. CCM Operation Only steady-state analysis is considered during CCM operation, and the leakage inductances at primary and secondary sides are disregarded. Applying a volt-second balance on the magnetizing inductance Lm yields
D TS TS

VC 2 = VC 3 = n Vc 1 =

(20) (21)

On the basis of (12) and (18), the voltage across Lm can be determined using the volt-second balance principle
D TS 0

(Vo Vin VC 1 2 VC 2)dt +

(D L + D )T S D TS

(VC 2)dt = 0 (33)

Vo = Vin + Vc 1 +

2 D + DL Vc 2 . D

(34)

Substituting (31) and (32) into (34) yields the voltage gain in DCM operation; DL is dened as follows: Vo (2 n + 1) D + (n + 1) DL = Vin DL DL = (2 n + 1) D . Vo V i n (n + 1) (35) (36)

Vin dt +
0 D TS

(VC 1 )dt = 0

(22)

and
D TS TS

(nVin )dt +
0 D TS

(VC 2 )dt = 0

(23)

from which the voltage across capacitors C1 and C2 are obtained as follows: D Vin (24) VC 1 = 1D and nD VC 2 = VC 3 = n VC 1 = Vin . (25) 1D At Mode I, the output voltage is Vo = Vin + VC 1 + VN 2 + VC 2 + VC 3 . Voltage gain VO /Vin can be obtained as follows:
D TS 0

In terms of IN 1 = nIo , input current peak iin , p eak and magnetizing current peak iL m , p eak are determined by iin , p eak = iL m , p eak + (n + 1) io, p eak iL m , p eak = Vin DTS . Lm (37) (38)

On the basis of (35), (37), and (38), the input current is determined as follows: Iin = Vin D2 TS (n + 1) Iin + . 2 Lm Vo /Vin (39)

(Vo Vin VC 1 2 VC 2 )dt +

TS D TS

(VC 2 )dt = 0 (26)

Substituting (35) into (39) yields the DCM operation voltage gain and normalized magnetizing inductance time constant L m Vo Vin L m = Vo (n + 1) Vin = V o D 2 TS 2 Lm Io (40) (41)

Vo = Vin + VC 1 +

1+D VC 2 D Vo nD+n+1 = Vin 1D

(27) (28)

Lm D2 = Vo 2 Vo R TS 2 (V ) V (n + 1) in in (n + 1)2 + 2
2 D 2 L m

B. BCM Operating Conditions The leakage inductances at primary and secondary sides are disregarded in this approach. We refer to (12) and (16) in (n + 1) Vo = Vin

(42)

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Fig. 7. Voltage gain V o /V in as the function of duty ratio D by various turns ratios for the proposed converter under CCM operation.

Fig. 9.

Boundary condition of L B of the proposed converter under n = 26.

Fig. 10. Magnetizing inductance and turns ratios n as a function of duty ratio D when V o /V in = 20. Fig. 8. Voltage gain M C C M as a function of duty ratio D for the proposed converter compared with [22] and [23] under CCM operation and n = 4. TABLE I SPECIFICATIONS OF THE PROTOTYPE

When the proposed converter is operating in BCM, the CCM, and DCM operations have equal voltage gains. Boundary normalized magnetizing inductance time constant L m B can be obtained by C. Instantaneous MPPT Accuracy L m B = D(D 1) . 2(2n + 1)(nD + n + 1)
2

(43)

To estimate the accuracy of MPPT, the instantaneous MPPT accuracy is dened as M PPT = PPV (t) 100% PM PPT (t) (44)

The plot of voltage gain Vo /Vin as a function of duty ratio D by various turns ratios are shown in Fig. 7. The plot of voltage gain Vo /Vin as a function of duty ratio D of the proposed converter is compared with three different converters [22] and [23]; all converters operate at CCM and n = 4, as shown in Fig. 8. The high step-up voltage capability of proposed converter is higher than [22] and [23] along with duty ratio. Fig. 9 depicts the boundary condition of L m B of the proposed converter under n = 26. With Vo /Vin = 20, Fig. 10 illustrates the magnetizing inductance and turns ratios as a function of duty ratio D. This chart is convenient to magnetizing inductance design.

where Ppv (t) is the result of voltage Vpv (n) multiplied by current Ipv (n); PM PPT (t) denotes the real maximum PV output power that is obtained from a PV module or PV simulator. IV. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS OF THE PROPOSED CONVERTER A 300 W SPO prototype is presented to verify the feasibility of the proposed converter. The basic specications are shown in Table I. The considerations for component parameter design and selection are described as follows.

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Fig. 11.

Measurement waveforms of active components at (a) 60 W and V in = 20 V, (b) 150 W and V in = 30 V, and (c) 300 W and V in = 40 V.

A. Duty Ratio and Turns Ratio The largest voltage gain is 20 (see Table I). The turns ratio can be set to 26 [see (28) and Fig. 7]. When n = 2, the duty ratio is equal to 77.2%. When the duty ratio is larger than 70%, conduction losses signicantly increase. If turn ratio n 5 results in a small duty ratio and low magnetizing inductance, but a high peak current over the active switch occurs. Therefore, n = 4 is the appropriate choice. As determined with (28), duty ratio D is 62.5%. B. Magnetizing Inductor Substituting the values of duty ratio, turns ratio, and operating frequency into (43) yields a boundary magnetizing inductance of 20.86 H. This value can also be obtained by using Fig. 10. However, the actual magnetizing inductance is 21.87 H and the leakage inductance is about 0.22 H. C. Active Switch and Diodes The highest input voltage is 40 V and its corresponding duty ratio is 35.7%. The voltage stress of diodes D1 to D4 can be obtained by VD 1 VD 2 1 1 Vin = 40 = 62.2 V = 1D 1 0.357 n Vin = 62.2 4 = 248.8 V = VD 3 = 1D (45) (46)

VD 4 =

n+1 Vin = 62.2 5 = 310 V. 1D 1 Vin = 62.2 V. 1D

(47)

The voltage stresses of switch S is shown as follows: VD S = (48)

By considering the parasitic capacitor and inductor effects on the actual components and the PCB, the voltage rating of MOSFETs is higher than the calculated value. The nominal voltage of IXFX150N15 drain-source is 150 V, which is denoted as S . Diode D1 uses MBR30100CT, which has a voltage rating of 100 V. Diodes D2 and D3 are UF3003. The voltage rating is 300 V and BYR29-600 is a 600 V diode denoted as D4 . D. Switched Capacitors The voltage ripple is set to 2% of the capacitor voltage. The voltage across capacitors C1 to Co can be obtained by C1 = Io TS 0.75 20 106 = = 22.5 F 0 . 625 VC 1 0.02 1 0 . 625 20 Io TS 4.5 106 = = 5.6 F VC 2 4 (49) (50)

C2 = C3 = Co =

Io DTS 0.75 0.625 20 106 = = 1.2 F (51) Vo 0.02 400

Because a high capacitance is linked to low ESR, the actual capacitance that is considerably larger than that calculated is

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efciency curve, which illustrates the maximum efciency, is allocated at half-output power and Vm p = 33 V of the PV module. The MPPT accuracy is dened in (44). Fig. 13 shows that the MPPT distribution of the SPO is measured ten times to verify the feasibility and capability of the MPPT control algorithm in the SPO. At an MPP of 60 W, the average accuracy is about 96.8%. At an MPP of 150 and 300 W, the average accuracy levels are 97.9% and 97.8%, respectively. The maximum MPPT accuracy is 99.9% at each irradiation condition. However, the MPPT at low MPP is less accurate than that at half and full PV output power. VI. CONCLUSION
Fig. 12. Measured efciency of the proposed SPO at various load conditions.

The high step-up SPO uses the coupled inductor with an appropriate turns ratio design and switched-capacitor technology to achieve a high-voltage gain that is 20 times higher than the input voltage. Because the leakage inductance energy of a coupled inductor is recycled and the voltage stress across the active switch S is constrained, the low RDS(ON) of active switch can be selected to improve maximum efciency up to 96.7%. As a result, full load efciency reaches 92.8%. The highest MPPT accuracy is 99.9% and the highest average accuracy is 97.9% at PPV = 150 W. A 300 W SPO with a high step-up voltage gain and MPPT functions are implemented and veried. REFERENCES
[1] Y. Fang and X. Ma, A novel PV microinverter with coupled inductors and double-boost topology, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 25, no. 12, pp. 31393147, Dec. 2010. [2] A. Ch. Kyritsis, E. C. Tatakis, and N. P. Papanikolaou, Optimum design of the current-source yback inverter for decentralized grid-connected photovoltaic systems, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 281293, Mar. 2008. [3] P. Tsao, Simulation of PV systems with power optimizers and distributed power electronics, in Proc. IEEE Photovolt. Spec. Conf., Jun. 2010, pp. 389393. [4] D. D.-C. Lu and V. G. Agelidis, Photovoltaic-battery-powered DC bus system for common portable electronic devices, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 849855, Feb. 2009. [5] L. Zhang, K. Sun, Y. Xing, L. Feng, and H. Ge, A modular grid-connected photovoltaic generation system based on DC bus, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 523531, Feb. 2011. [6] S. M. Chen, K. R. Hu, T. J. Liang, L. S. Yang, and Y. H. Hsieh, Implementation of high step-up solar power optimizer for DC micro grid application, in Proc. IEEE Appl. Power Electron Conf., Feb. 2012, pp. 2832. [7] A. Pratt, P. Kumar, and T. V. Aldridge, Evaluation of 400 V DC distribution in telco and data centers to improve energy efciency, in Proc. IEEE Int. Telecommun. Energy Conf., Sep./Oct. 2007, pp. 3239. [8] L. Zhang, K. Sun, Y. Xing, L. Feng, and H. Ge, A modular grid-connected photovoltaic generation system based on DC bus, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 523531, Feb. 2011. [9] S. M. Chen, T. J. Liang, L. S. Yang, and J. F. Chen, A boost converter with capacitor multiplier and coupled inductor for AC module applications, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., Early Access Articles, vol. PP, no. 99, p. 1. [10] A. C. Nanakos, E. C. Tatakis, and N. P. Papanikolaou, A weightedefciency-oriented design methodology of yback inverter for AC photovoltaic modules, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 3221 3233, Jul. 2012. [11] S. Zengin, F. Deveci, and M. Boztepe, Decoupling capacitor selection in DCM yback PV micro-inverters considering harmonic distortion, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., Early Access Articles, vol. pp., no. 99, p. 1. [12] B. Axelrod, Y. Berkovich, and A. Ioinovici, Switched-capacitor/ switched-inductor structures for getting transformerless hybrid DC-DC PWM converters, IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. I, Reg. Papers, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 687696, Mar. 2008.

Fig. 13. times.

MPPT accuracy distributions of the proposed SPO measured ten

selected; C1 is 68 F, C2 and C3 are both 220 F, and Co is 100 F. V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS Using general power supply for three test conditions, namely, low, medium, and high insolation conditions, are used to verify the various irradiation circumstances for the SPO. The low insolation condition, input voltage is 20 V and PV output power is 60 W. The measurement waveforms of the voltage and current of active switch S and diodes D1 , D2 , and D4 , as well as the voltage waveforms of capacitors C1 , C2 , and Co , are shown in Fig. 11(a). For the medium insolation condition, the input voltage is 30 V and PV output load is 150 W; the measurement results are shown in Fig. 11(b). For the high insolation condition, the input voltage is 40 V and PV output power is 300 W, which is the full load condition; the measurement results are shown in Fig. 11(c). These current and voltage waveforms are consistent with the operating principle and the steady-state analysis. The PV simulator Agilent E4360 A is used to simulate various insolation conditions for the rest of SPO tests. The maximum SPO efciency is 96.7%; and the full-load efciency is about 92.8% at MPP voltage Vm p is 35.8 V; they are shown in Fig. 12. The

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Shih-Ming (Orion) Chen was born in Tainan, Taiwan. He received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, in 2003 and 2011, respectively. From 1991 to 1995, he was with Lumin Electronics, Tainan, as a Research and Design Engineer. From 1995 to 1999, he was a Section Manager in the Department of Engineering, Delta Electronics, Inc., Taipei City, Taiwan. From 1999 to 2002, he was was a Manager in-Charge of the Tainan Research and Design Center, Sino-American Electronic Company, Ltd., Tainan. In 2002, he was a Section Manager at Product Development of LCD-TV Head Division, CHIMEI Optoelectronics Corp. In 2009, he has rejoined Delta Electronics as a Senior Manager in the Division of LCD Display Power. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Green Energy Electronics Research Center (GEERC) in the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng-Kung University. His research interest are dc to dc converters, photovoltaic inverter, switching power supply, uninterrupted power system, CCFL/EEFL inverter design, and LED driver and chromatics control.

Tsorng-Juu (Peter) Liang (M93SM10) was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He received the B.S. degree in electrophysics from the National Chiao-Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, in 1985. He received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 1990 and 1993, respectively. He is currently a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of Green Energy Electronics Research Center (GEERC), National Cheng-Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan. He has authored or coauthored 50 journal and more than 100 conference papers. He was the Director of Electrical Laboratories, NCKU, from 20012004. His research interests include high-efciency power converters, high-efciency lighting systems, renewable energy conversion, and power ICs design. Dr. Liang is an Associate Editor of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS and the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMSPart I: REGOULAR PAPERS, and the Technical Committee Chair of the IEEE CAS Systems Power and Energy Circuits and Systems Technical Committee. He is also on the Board of Directors for Compucase Enterprise Company, Ltd. and Catcher Technology Company, Ltd. In 2008, he received the Outstanding Engineer, the Chinese Institute of Electrical Engineering, the Kaohsiung Chapter, and the Outstanding Professor Award at Taiwan Power Electronics Conference. In 2010, he received Teaching Excellence Award from NCKU and the Outstanding Engineers Professor Award from the Chinese Institute of Electrical Engineering, Kaohsiung Branch. He is a member of the IEEE Societies of Power Electronics, Industrial Electronics, Circuits And System, and Industrial Applications.

Ke-Ren Hu was born in Taipei, Taiwan. She received the B.S. degree from Nation Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, in 2009, and the M.S. degree from National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, in 2011. She is currently an Application Engineer at Richtek Technology Company, Hsinchu, Taiwan, with responsibility in system analysis and testing. Her main research interests include dc/dc power converters and resonant power converters.