Isolated High Gain Multi-Input Converter fed Floating PV System for DC Microgrid

Abstract

An Isolated High Gain Multi-Input Converter (IHG-MIC) fed floating PV DC backbone microgrid catering to lake side recreational activities is presented in the paper. The proposed converter utilizes two units of tandem connected interleaved boost converter with multiplier cells converging at high frequency transformer to provide high voltage gain with intrinsic galvanic isolation. The converter facilitates the connection of low voltage floating PV panels with the 380V backbone DC microgrid as a module integrated approach. The low stress aggregation at the low side devices and interleaving of the inductor currents at the input stage allows highly efficient operation of the converter. Each unit of IHG-MIC feeding the power to the backbone DC microgrid avoid circulating and common mode current to offer non-interfering ambience. The fast dynamics of the converter under partial shading of floating PV panels caused by the waves is discussed. The capability of fast variation of voltage gain of the proposed converter is demonstrated through simulated results in MATLAB environment. The comparison of improved efficiency of the proposed converter with the cascaded boost converter is drawn in terms of the variation in the duty cycle.