Power converter circuitry for photovoltaic devices
View Patent ↗Power converter circuitry includes a direct current (DC) input comprising a first DC input node and a second DC input node, an alternating current (AC) output comprising a first AC output node coupled to the first DC input node and a second AC output node, a first boost switch coupled between the second DC input node and a boost intermediate node, a second boost switch coupled between the boost intermediate node and a common node, a boost inductor coupled between the boost intermediate node and the first DC input node, a link capacitor coupled between the second DC input node and the common node, a first half-bridge switch coupled between the second DC input node and a half-bridge intermediate node, a second half-bridge switch coupled between the half-bridge intermediate node and the common node, and a half-bridge inductor coupled between the half-bridge intermediate node and the second AC output node.
1. Power converter circuitry comprising:
a direct current (DC) input;
an alternating current (AC) output coupled to the DC input;
a boost converter comprising a first boost switch and a second boost switch coupled between the DC input and a boost converter output and configured to receive a DC input signal from a DC device coupled to the DC input and provide a boosted DC signal at the boost converter output;
a link capacitor coupled across the DC input and the boost converter output, wherein the link capacitor is sized to provide a capacitance configured to cause the power converter circuitry to operate at a power factor between 0.7 and 1; and
a half-bridge converter coupled between the boost converter output and the AC output and configured to receive the boosted DC signal and provide an AC output signal at the AC output.
2. The power converter circuitry of claim 1 further comprising control circuitry coupled to the boost converter and the half-bridge converter and configured to:
maintain a power drawn from the DC device coupled to the DC input at a substantially constant value; and
provide the AC output signal at the AC output.
3. The power converter circuitry of claim 2 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to track a maximum power point of an output of the DC device.
4. The power converter circuitry of claim 3 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to maximize a power conversion efficiency of the power converter circuitry.
5. The power converter circuitry of claim 4 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to control the state of one or more switches in the half-bridge converter based on a voltage at the output of the DC device, a current at the output of the DC device, and a voltage at the AC output.
6. The power converter circuitry of claim 1 further comprising:
an additional AC output; and
an additional half-bridge converter coupled between the boost converter output and the additional AC output and configured to receive the boosted DC signal and provide an additional AC output signal at the additional AC output.
7. The power converter circuitry of claim 6 further comprising control circuitry coupled to the boost converter, the half-bridge converter, and the additional half-bridge converter and configured to:
maintain a power drawn from the DC device coupled to the DC input at a substantially constant value; and
provide the AC output signal at the AC output.
8. The power converter circuitry of claim 7 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to track a maximum power point of an output of the DC device.
9. The power converter circuitry of claim 8 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to maximize a power conversion efficiency of the power converter circuitry.
10. The power converter circuitry of claim 9 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to control a state of one or more switches in the half-bridge converter and the additional half-bridge converter based on a voltage at the output of the DC device, a current at the output of the DC device, and a voltage at the AC output.