Investigation of high gain switched capacitor dc-dc converter for pv applications

Photovoltaics (PV) is the fast growing segment among the renewable source of energy owing to the depletion of fossil fuels. But the output of PV module is low. In order to obtain a sufficiently high voltage, a step up dc-dc converter is required. The conventional boost converter experiences switching losses and switching stresses during turn- on and turn-off periods. This paper focuses on the investigation of switched capacitor boost dc-dc converter. The switched capacitor module is selected as it provides high gain, low cost and low fabrication space. Simulation studies are carried out using MATLAB/SIMULINK. A PV panel is used as input to the converter. In order to extract maximum power from the panel, an MPPT algorithm is also used. The resultant module is analyzed and the performance parameters are determined. The simulation results are verified by developing a prototype of the proposed SC