Power management of series connected photovoltaic sub-modules using the element-to-virtual bus differential power processing architecture

State-of-the-art solutions to photovoltaic power management track the maximum power of a solar installation at the cost of processing 100% of this generated power. Differential power processing (DPP) has demonstrated maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of a photovoltaic system by processing a small fraction of the generated solar power – specifically, the element-to- element DPP architecture. An MPPT algorithm is developed for the element-to-virtual bus DPP architecture in this thesis. Furthermore, it is shown that this topology processes substantially less power than the element-to-element DPP architecture for larger, utility scale photovoltaic systems. This characteristic enables employment of inexpensive and low power rated electronics, which are highly desirable traits for the PV grid parity movement. The design of the DPP hardware prototype is provided. Simulated and experimental results for static and dynamic MPPT are demonstrated for several insolation cases. This document will conclude with suggestions for future work and improvement of this architecture and DPP in general