Low-Voltage Photovoltaic System Based on a Continuous Input/Output Current Converter

Low-voltage photovoltaic systems are being widely used around the world, including their introduction into the power grid. The development of these systems requires the adaptation of several power converters, their static and dynamic modeling, the design of passive elements, and the design of the controller parameters, among other actions. Today, power converters are key elements in the development of photovoltaic systems, and classical power converters such as buck converters produce discontinuous input and output currents, requiring a high input capacitance and impacting the output power quality of these systems. This paper presents a proposal for a low-voltage photovoltaic system that uses a continuous input/output current buck converter, which enhances the operation of the classical buck converter in photovoltaic systems. The methodology describes the proposed photovoltaic system, including the power converter, its detailed operation, and the analysis of its waveforms. Moreover, the methodology includes a mathematical model of the photovoltaic system’s dynamic behavior and the design of a sliding-mode controller for maximum power extraction and perturbation rejection. The photovoltaic system is validated in two ways: first, a comparison with the classical buck converter highlighting the advantages of continuous input/output currents is presented; then, an application example using commercial devices is described in detail. The application example uses a flowchart to design the power converter and the sliding-mode controller, and a circuit simulation confirms the advantages of the continuous input/output current buck converter with its controller. In the circuit simulation, the control strategy is formed by a perturb and observe algorithm that generates the voltage reference for the sliding-mode controller, which guarantees the system stability, tracks the maximum power point, and rejects the double-frequency oscillations generated by an intended microinverter.