On the design and the control of a coupled-inductors boost dc-ac converter for an individual PV panel

In this paper the design and the control of an individual PV (Photovoltaic) panel dc-ac converter based on a double coupled-inductors boost topology are discussed. The operation principle of the proposed circuit is analyzed. A proper calibration of the PV panel simulation model is performed. An optimization procedure is proposed for choosing the fundamental parameters of both converter and control law based upon sliding control technique. Furthermore, a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) approach based on a Perturb & Observe (P&O) algorithm is used to track the actual maximum power point through successive approximations. Finally, the proposed inverter is employed as a grid inverter in a single PV panel application. The numerical results reported in the paper permit to confirm the feasibility of the proposed design and control strategy.