ABSTRACT
Maximum-power point tracking circuits coupled with buck and boost converters display very high efficiencies. A low-cost adaptor having an efficiency of better than 90% would then reduce the loss on peak-power rating and allow one to decrease the installed peak-power capacity. The adaptors are basically dc–dc converters. Since their main purpose is to maintain both generator and load at their respective optimum operating conditions, they are often referred to as maximum-power-point trackers. Synchronous demodulation of the generator power signal allows one to display on which side of the maximum-power voltage the generator is at present operating. There are basically two kinds of load: the voltage receiver and the current receiver, without mentioning the purely resistive load which is the worst case in terms of its matching to the photovoltaic generator characterization. Voltage reducers—which are, in fact, current boosters—are generally employed to drive current-receiver loads.
