Optimized PSO-Based Boost Converter Fed Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) for PV Applications

The growing demand for clean and renewable energy has significantly increased the adoption of photovoltaic systems as an alternative to conventional systems. Utilization of PV systems plays a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Multi-level inverters are adopted because they are more efficient in power conversion. This paper focuses on a 5-level Modular Multilevel Inverter (MMC) designed for PV applications. The system proposes a two-stage power conversion , begins with a boost converter employing a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based MPPT algorithm for power extraction from the solar panel. This guarantees that the PV functions at its maximum power point, regardless of fluctuations in environmental conditions such as temperature and solar irradiance. The optimized DC output is fed into MMC, which converts into high quality AC output. MMC incorporates Nearest Level PWM (NLPWM ) with a sorting and selection algorithm for capacitor balancing and for stable operation. MMC provides high quality AC output with reduced distortion.