Reliability-Oriented Assessment of a DC/DC Converter for Photovoltaic Applications

There is a trend toward increasing the performance of power electronics converters used in photovoltaic systems. However, parameters such as reliability, efficiency, and complexity might be in conflict. In this paper, the design of a simple DC/DC interleaved boost converter is assessed. It takes advantage of state-of-the-art power devices that have fast switching times. It is shown that requirements of low complexity, high reliability, and high efficiency can be satisfied, without resorting to switching aids, provided that the devices are selected with reliability in mind. A 1 kW prototype attained a peak efficiency as high as 98%, and a predicted mean time between failures of 100,000 hours at 80 C.