A Low-Cost Cell-Level Differential Power Processing CMOS IC for Single Junction Photovoltaic Cells

This article presents a cell-level differential power processing IC to maximize the power yield under partial shading and mismatch condition in series-connected single junction photovoltaic (PV) cells. A 3-MHz bidirectional buck–boost converter is employed to realize voltage equalization technique forcing the PV cells to constantly operate close to their maximum power points. A novel and simple low-power low-area analog control circuit is proposed to maintain the high system efficiency at low and high levels of mismatch by obviating the need for power hungry blocks such as analog to digital converters, digital to analog converters, op-amps, saw-tooth generator, and regulators. The voltage of adjacent PV cells is used to drive the high-side switches through bootstrap supplies eliminating the need for voltage regulators. The performance of the proposed IC, fabricated in 130 nm CMOS process, is validated through simulation and experimental results. The converter is capable of processing mismatch currents up to 4 A while the control circuitry consumes less than 40 mW and a system efficiency above 95% is achieved.