A Novel DC Chopper Fed by PV Source with Energy Management Technique

Matching electrical power supply to customer demand is an on-going problem for electricity distribution network operators and it is increasing with the growth of distributed renewable energy generation at the low voltage level. Increasingly, Photovoltaic (PV) self-consumption is becoming an important aspect of storing and deferring energy generated from distributed solar energy systems. In addition, a novel high-gain DC-DC converter is proposed for the extraction of maximum power from the solar panels. The proposed converter utilizes a voltage doubler to achieve high step-up voltage gain. The voltage on the active switch is clamped. Therefore, the voltage stress on the active switch is reduced, and the conversion efficiency is improved. High voltage gain, reduced reverse recovery of diodes, and less duty cycle operation are the key features obtained from the proposed high-gain converter. The validity of the proposed energy management schemes with the high-gain converter is verified by the detailed simulation and experimental studies. The proposed high step-up converter can feasibly be used for low input- voltage PV cell power conversion applications.