High Step-Up Converter for Regeneration of Photovoltaic Cells Affected by Potential Induced Degradation

In this paper a high step-up AC-DC converter is proposed, for regenerating photovoltaic (PV) cells that have been degraded due to the Potential Induced Degradation (PID) phenomenon. A description of the PID is presented and the fundamental technique to counteract the phenomenon is explained. A practical, easy and safe solution is suggested, using a power converter, with multiple output voltage stages for universal use in photovoltaic (PV) parks of different scale. Moreover, with the proposed plug & play solution the PID effect can be artificially created, to study the degradation effect under controlled conditions. Experimental tests with maximum output voltage of 1kV were conducted to verify the proof-of-concept, both in creating as well as reverting the PID phenomenon.