Core volume reduction based on non-linear inductors for a PV DC–DC converter

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to analyze and achieve inductor core volume reduction based on non-linear inductance design techniques for a PV DC–DC Converter, and to perform a comparison of volume and efficiency among usual design techniques. The volume reduction in PV systems is a crucial design parameter for microinverters, leading to development of new techniques for this area. The paper performs a design-oriented approach of two different non-linear inductance techniques to compare with usual techniques for inductor design of a buck-boost converter applied as a power point tracker in a photovoltaic system. One technique performs the inclusion of an auxiliary winding in ferrite E core inductor, and the other consists of sendust core design aiming for inductance variability regarding its natural magnetic saturation properties. The design of all inductors and experimental results will be presented, besides the possibility of volume reduction by applying non-linear inductance techniques.