Switching Scheme Analysis of a Split-Inductor Converter for Differential Power Processing Systems in a Photovoltaic Module

Photovoltaic (PV) power systems are crucial to meeting the growing need for renewable energy generation. However, partial shading of series-connected PV cells within panels can cause significant power losses. Differential power processing (DPP) structures can be implemented to improve overall system efficiency under partial shading but require multiple converters to operate properly. The topology used in this work is a single split-inductor boost converter used to control three series-connected PV submodules, which has fewer components than convetional DPP converters. This work investigates a discontinuous conduction mode switching scheme for this split-inductor boost converter that allows the current through each inductor to be different. The simulation results demonstrate that the system achieves an MPPT efficiency of 99.67% with the proposed switching scheme using a split-inductor converter. However, the proposed switching scheme has certain limitations and requires significant computational resources to calculate the appropriate duty ratios.