Advantage of boost vs. buck topology for maximum power point tracker in photovoltaic systems

Electrical systems employing solar cells as the energy source are designed to be operated at the point of maximum power of the solar cells. To track this point as the solar radiation and temperature vary, a maximum-power-point-tracker (MPPT) is used. Most MPPT are based on a DC to DC converter of the buck or boost types. In this article we compare the energy efficiency of these converters and show that an MPPT based on the boost converter configuration results in higher output power, thus better utilizing the solar cells