A NOVEL ARCHITECTURE FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS

摘要

Today’s PV power plants are typically based on a series connection of panels in order to get a highrnvoltage bus, suitable for operation with a grid-tied inverter. In addition, depending on the total installedrnpower, many strings are connected in parallel. This approach is called “concentrated” because thernentire array of panels is connected to a single power converter that is responsible for the power management.rnOn the other hand, the “distributed” approach consists of a system in which the powerrnmanagement is operated at the panel level by means of a “Smart Junction Box” (SJB), equipped withrna DC/DC converter characterized by an embedded MPPT algorithm. Such a technique has severalrnadvantages in terms of increased energy production (6%-15%) as well as in reduced maintenance.rnMany different conversion topologies suitable for the distributed approach have been proposed to thernmarket, but they show some limitations from a cost or application point of view. However, millions ofrnpanels are already equipped with smart junction boxes, confirming a new technology and marketrntrend. In this paper, an innovative architecture for the distributed approach overcoming the aforementionedrnlimits is presented. The new solution should finally open the PV market to the distributed systemrnwith big advantages in terms of energy production and return on investment.