This article presents a novel problem statement for photovoltaic (PV)-based partial power
converter (PPC) around zero partiality or unity PPC gain. The idea of PPC is developed to
reduce the power processed by the converter so that the overall efficiency can be increased.
With efficient maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and PPC, the overall system efficiency
can be enhanced significantly. However, the limited PPC controllability near zero partiality
results in a significant reduction in the MPPT efficiency and overall system efficiency. This …

The concept of partial power processing was developed to reduce the power processes by
converter components to increase efficiency and power density. This paper investigates the
behavior of partial power converter (PPC) applied to photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper
uses a series PPC to integrate a PV string into a DC bus. Extracting maximum power from
PV string is problematic for PPC at near-zero partiality. At this point, the converter does not
change its quadrant if needed, and the controller saturates. This leads to a loss of the …