Experimental Study of a Low-Voltage PV Cell-Level DC/AC Converter

Abstract

This paper focuses on the design of a low-voltage power converter for an on-chip PV cell-level inverter. Various topologies are discussed for the DC/DC stage, whereas the ZVS quasi-resonant boost and the synchronous boost are considered the most appropriate for this application. Both the aforementioned topologies are modeled and evaluated in terms of efficiency, by the aid of PSpice simulations. Due to requirements and limitations of the available 0.18 μm CMOS process technology, the synchronous boost is finally chosen as the most appropriate solution. As for the DC/AC stage, the H-bridge inverter configuration is selected, as a simple, compact and cost-effective solution. A prototype converter is designed and constructed with discrete components, so as to validate the functionality and performance of the proposed system. Finally, experimental results are presented, indicating the high efficiency that can be achieved.