An adaptive control developed for Multi-Phase Converters based on look-up tables and applied to photovoltaic conversion systems

This paper presents an Adaptive Multi-Phase Converter (AMPC) used as a perfect matching stage to improve the global energy production and conversion efficiency of a photovoltaic power conversion system. A control law was specially developed to guarantee high conversion efficiency, even in presence of a constantly changing operating point, which is the main constraint in a traditional photovoltaic system design. Another control law was designed to reduce the stress on the components of each converter's phase and then to insure a higher life time for the system. Through this control, we proposed a rotation algorithm that guarantees an homogeneous aging of the phases and increases the average lifetime of the converter. Examples of guidelines of these control laws are presented with their impact on the efficiency. An experimental prototype has been designed to evaluate the performances of this proposed adaptation stage and to validate this concept in real field operating conditions.