A Distributed Multimode Control Strategy for the Cascaded DC–DC Converter Applied to MVAC Grid-Tied PV System

Abstract

The cascaded dc–dc converter is a popular topology for large-scale medium-voltage photovoltaic (PV) system with the advantages of high voltage conversion ratio, high efficiency, great flexibility, and independent control capability. However, the absence of optimal string maximum power point tracking (MPPT) operation under power mismatch is a big issue in common centralized control. Furthermore, the cost and time delay are unacceptable resulting from the distance among PV strings in the large-scale PV station and the cascaded dc–dc converter needs to adopt the distributed control method without real-time communication. To this end, by introducing other necessary constraints including voltage constraints, power constraints, and gain constraints on the basis of the distributed MPPT control strategy, a distributed multimode control scheme is proposed in this article. Each submodule (SM) can be switched flexibly between multiple operation modes to maximize the extracted solar energy. Individual string MPPT and autonomous distribution of output voltage are achieved without communication under the proposed distributed control strategy. In this way, optimal operation range is wider, mode switching is simpler, and applicability and robustness are improved. A downscaled prototype and a 35-kV/6-MW simulation system are constructed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.