A driver IC for photovoltaic module-integrated DC/DC converters

Photovoltaic (PV) installations suffer from a disproportional decrease in output power in case irradiance differences are present in the system. The Delta converter improves the output power in such cases by routing current differences around the shaded substring or module. This paper presents a driver IC for the Delta converter that simultaneously reduces its cost and improves its reliability. The driver IC integrates the complete control loop, power supplies, protections and references. The driver IC demonstrated trouble-free operation for 3 months under real-life conditions in a PV installation with different shading patterns. Depending on the shading pattern the Delta converter energy gain was 8%-18%.