Resonant switched-capacitor gyrator-type converter with local MPPT capability for PV cells

1. A method for increasing the power extraction capability of a chain of serially connected photovoltaic (PV) elements, comprising:

a) for each pair of adjacent PV elements in the chain of serially connected PV elements, connecting a gyrator-type converter comprising a current sourcing resonant Switched Capacitor Converter (SCC), such that each gyrator-type converter is connected in parallel with the pair of adjacent PV elements;

b) continuously performing, by each gyrator-type converter, local Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) to one of its two connected PV elements by sinking or sourcing current to/from the neighbouring PV element; and

c) whenever a mismatch in the Maximum Power Points (MPPs) is detected, using the gyrator-type converters to provide a difference in current that is required for each of the PV elements to operate at its MPP, such that the an amount of power processed by each gyrator-type converter in said chain is proportional to its location in said chain with respect to a PV element in which the mismatch is detected.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein each gyrator-type converter is bi-directional and capable of performing step-up and step-down operation.

3. A Differential Power Processors (DPP) system for increasing the power extraction capability out of a chain of photovoltaic (PV) elements, comprising:

a) a chain of N serially connected PV elements;

b) an array of N−1 gyrator-type converters comprising a current sourcing resonant Switched Capacitor Converter (SCC), each of which being connected in parallel with two adjacent PV elements of the chain of N serially connected PV elements;

c) continuously performing, by each gyrator-type converter, local Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) to one of its two connected PV elements by sinking or sourcing current to/from the neighbouring PV element; and

d) whenever a mismatch in the Maximum Power Points (MPPs) is detected, using the gyrator-type converters to provide a difference in current that is required for each of the PV elements to operate at its MPP, such that an amount of power processed by each gyrator-type converter in said chain is linearly proportional to its location in said chain, with respect to a PV element in which the mismatch is detected.

4. A DPP system according to claim 3 , in which each gyrator-type converter, connected in parallel with two adjacent serially connected PV elements, comprises:

a) a resonant tank circuit consisting of a flying capacitor C which is serially connected to an inductor L;

b) a first switch connecting between a first contact of said resonant tank circuit and a contact of a first PV element of the two adjacent serially connected PV elements;

c) a second switch connecting between said first contact of said resonant tank circuit and the common contact between said two adjacent serially connected PV elements;

d) a third switch connecting between the second contact of said resonant tank circuit and said common contact;

e) a fourth switch connecting between the second contact of said resonant tank circuit and a contact of the second PV element;

f) a control circuit for controlling operation of said switches, which in a first operation mode, upon detecting a negative mismatch in the MPP of said second PV element, is adapted to:

f.1) turn said first and third switches on to commence a charge state, during which said flying capacitor C is resonantly charged from said first PV element;

f.2) at zero current, turn said first and third switches off to introduce time-delay, according to defined requirements;

f.3) turn said second and fourth switches on, to discharge said flying capacitor resonantly into said second PV element; and

f.4) at zero current, short-circuit said resonant tank circuit by turning said second and said third switches on, to reverse the polarity of the voltage across said flying capacitor;

g) and, which in a second operation mode, upon detecting a positive mismatch in the MPP of said second PV element, is adapted to:

g.1) turn said second and fourth switches on to commence a charge state, during which said flying capacitor C is resonantly charged from said second PV element;

g.2) at zero current, turn said second and fourth switches off to introduce time-delay, according to the defined requirements;

g.3) turn said first and third switches on, to discharge said flying capacitor resonantly into said first PV element; and

g.4) at zero current, short-circuit said resonant tank circuit by turning said second and said third switches on, to reverse the polarity of the voltage across said flying capacitor.

5. A DPP system according to claim 3 , in which transfer of energy between PV elements is facilitated in a controlled manner, in portions, where excess charge that is not transferred from said first PV element to said second PV element is recycled in the circuit.

6. A DPP system according to claim 4 , in which each gyrator-type converter is bi-directional and capable of performing step-up and step-down operation.

7. A DPP system according to claim 4 , in which the control circuit is adapted to control the power flow direction by changing a sequence of switching the switches.

8. A DPP system according to claim 4 , in which the control circuit is adapted to regulate an amount of charge transferred to the second element using pulse density modulation (PDM), by introducing time-delay between the charge and the discharge states of the resonant tank circuit, or by creating packets of pulses using ON-OFF burst mode control.

9. A DPP system according to claim 4 , wherein the control circuit is adapted to transfer power from the first PV element to the second PV element by controlling the switches to:

a) charge the resonant tank circuit from said first PV element;

b) add time-delay according to a necessary amount of power to be transferred;

c) discharge the resonant tank circuit into said second PV element; and

d) reverse the polarity of the voltage across the flying capacitor.

10. A DPP system according to claim 4 , in which when power should be transferred from the second PV element to the first PV element, wherein the control circuit is adapted to transfer power from the second PV element to the first PV element by controlling the switches to:

a) discharge the resonant tank circuit into said second PV element;

b) charge the resonant tank circuit from said first PV element;

c) add time-delay according to the a necessary amount of power to be transferred; and

d) reverse the polarity of the voltage across the flying capacitor.

11. A DPP system according to claim 3 , in which local MPPT on at least one PV element is performed by using a Hill-Climbing (HC) scheme.

12. A DPP system according to claim 11 , in which a correction signal of the Hill-Climbing (HC) scheme is modified as to frequency, incremented by fixed steps.

13. A DPP system according to claim 3 , in which local MPPT on at least one PV element is performed by using a Perturb and Observe (P&O) scheme.

14. A method according to claim 1 , wherein a proportion of the power processed by each converter in said chain is linear with respect to the mismatched PV element.