The demand for increased renewable energy production has led to increased photovoltaic (PV) installations worldwide. As this demand continues to grow, it is important that the costs of PV installations decrease while the power output capability increases. One of the components in PV installations that has lots of room for improvement is the power conditioning system. The power conditioning system is responsible for converting the power output of PV modules into power useable by the utility grid while insuring the PV array is outputting the maximum available power. Modular power conditioning systems, where each PV module has its own power converter, have been proven to yield higher output power due to their superior maximum power point tracking capabilities. However, this comes with the disadvantages of higher costs and lower power conversion efficiencies due to the increased number of power electronics converters. The primary objective of this dissertation is to develop a high-efficiency, low cost microconverter in an effort to increase the output power capability and decrease the cost of modular power conditioning systems.

First, existing isolated dc-dc converter topologies are explored and a new topology is proposed based on the highly-efficient series resonant converter operating near the series resonant frequency. Two different hybrid modes of operation are introduced in order to add wide input-voltage regulation capability to the series resonant converter while achieving high efficiency through low circulating currents, zero-current switching (ZCS) of the output diodes, zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and/or ZCS of the primary side active switches, and direct power transfer from the source to the load for the majority of the switching cycle. Each operating mode is analyzed in detail using state-plane trajectory plots. A systematic design approach that is unique to the newly proposed converter is presented along with a detailed loss analysis and loss model. A 300-W microconverter prototype is designed to experimentally validate the analysis and loss model. The converter featured a 97.7% weighted California Energy Commission (CEC) efficiency with a nominal input voltage of 30 V. This is higher than any other reported CEC efficiency for PV microconverters in literature to date.

Each operating mode of the proposed converter can be controlled using simple fixed-frequency pulse-width modulation (PWM) based techniques, which makes implementation of control straightforward. Simplified models of each operating mode are derived as well as control-to-input voltage transfer functions. A smooth transition method is then introduced using a two-carrier PWM modulator, which allows the converter to transition between operating modes quickly and smoothly. The performance of the voltage controllers and transition method were verified experimentally.

To ensure the proposed converter is compatible with different types of modular power conditioning system architectures, system-level interaction issues associated with different modular applications are explored. The first issue is soft start, which is necessary when the converter is beginning operation with a large capacitive load. A novel soft start method is introduced that allows the converter to start up safely and quickly, even with a short-circuited output. Maximum power point tracking and double line frequency ripple rejection are also explored, both of which are very important to ensuring the PV module is outputting the maximum amount of available power.

Lastly, this work deals with efficiency optimization of the proposed converter. It is possible to use magnetic integration so that the resonant inductor can be incorporated into the isolation transformer by way of the transformer leakage inductance in order to reduce parts count and associated costs. This chapter, however, analyzes the disadvantages to this technique, which are increased proximity effect losses resulting in higher conduction losses. A new prototype is designed and tested that utilizes an external resonant inductor and the CEC efficiency was increased from 97.7% to 98.0% with a marginal 1.8% total cost increase. Additionally, a variable frequency efficiency optimization algorithm is proposed which increases the system efficiency under the high-line and low-line input voltage conditions. This algorithm is used for efficiency optimization only and not control, so the previously presented simple fixed-frequency modeling and control techniques can still be utilized.