Reliability assessment of fault-tolerant Dc-Dc converters for photovoltaic applications

A framework for integrating performance and reliability analysis of switch-mode, dc-dc power converters employed as front ends in photovoltaic energy processing applications is presented. The proposed approach acknowledges the influence of the converter's steady-state operation on device failure rates. Markov reliability models are derived to assess reliability-oriented metrics of the system. The conceptual background is elucidated in the context of a topologically-redundant dc-dc converter, and the dependence of the Mean Time to Failure on design parameters is explored. The subtle affiliation between power-electronics design and system reliability is assessed through several case studies.