3008
6, JUNE 2013
Fault-Tolerant Strategy for a Photovoltaic
DC–DC Converter
Eunice Ribeiro, Student Member, IEEE, Antonio J. Marques Cardoso, Senior Member, IEEE,
and Chiara Boccaletti, Member, IEEE
Abstract—The photovoltaic (PV) technology has a small impact
on the environment and is suitable for a wide range of applications.
The main barrier for a more extensive implementation has been
the reliability, mainly related to the power converters. According
to this consideration, this paper presents an open-circuit fault diag-
nosis and fault-tolerant scheme for a three-level boost converter in
a PV power system using batteries as storage devices. The fault di-
agnostic method takes advantage only of the control variables used
for maximum power point tracking and output dc-link capacitor
voltage balance. The fault-tolerant strategy requires only a few
components added to the original three-level boost converter, so
that, under an open-circuit power switch fault, it can be partly re-
configured into a two-level boost converter ensuring battery energy
supply. Experimental results verify the proposed fault diagnostic
method and reconfiguration for fault-tolerant operation.
Index Terms—DC–DC power conversion, fault tolerance,
photovoltaic (PV) power systems.
I. INTRODUCTION
NVIRONMENTAL concerns and sustainability problems
E related to an energy economy based on oil urgently
thrusted to introduce renewable energies on several applica-
tions (ranging from grid-connected to standalone power sys-
tems). Their naturally replenishing and pollution-free energy
production are attractive features, which have encouraged their
development toward new challenges in the search of alternative
power systems.
Photovoltaic (PV) energy and its related technology differ
from other renewable energies in some important features, such
as a wide power range (wind, hydro, and geothermal energies
are not so flexible for small power applications), suitability for
all climates (as long as there is sunlight, electric energy is being
Manuscript received May 14, 2012; revised September 9, 2012; accepted
October 10, 2012. Date of current version December 7, 2012. This work was
supported by the Portuguese Government through the Foundation for Science
and Technology under Project SFRH/BD/47741/2008 and Project PTDC/EEA-
EEL/114846/2009. Recommended for publication by Associate Editor R. Redl.
E. Ribeiro is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of Coimbra, 3030-290 Coimbra, Portugal, and also with the Instituto
de Telecomunicações, Portugal (e-mail: eribeiro@co.it.pt).
A. J. M. Cardoso is with the Department of Electromechanical Engineer-
ing, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal, and also with the
Instituto de Telecomunicações, Portugal (e-mail: ajmcardoso@ieee.org).
C. Boccaletti is with the Department of Astronautics, Electrical and Ener-
getic Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy (e-mail:
chiara.boccaletti@uniroma1.it).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2012.2226059
0885-8993/$31.00 © 2012 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 28, NO.
produced, even if the climatic conditions are not the best ones),
modularity, and low need for maintenance. These are the main
reasons why PV systems are getting spread as an alternative
power solution for a variety of end uses. Calculators, traffic
lights and signalizations, water pumps, and warning systems
are some of the most common small-size applications, but they
are also suitable for high-power applications such as central
power plants and electrification of remote areas.
Due to industry efforts in module manufacturing technology,
in improving the performance, and in reducing degradation, PV
modules benefit from a high reliability [1] and their warranties
last at least 20 years [2]. Obviously, more efforts should be
made in getting cheaper, more reliable, and efficient modules,
but, at this development level, other worries arise on PV sys-
tems, which are associated with the components responsible for
power conditioning and energy storage [1]–[3]. Many surveys
on existent PV system reliability prove that power converters
are the most vulnerable components [4], [5]. Therefore, power
electronics reliability for PV systems has been a main issue in
many studies, concerning not only technical problems, such as
islanding [4], [6] and maximum power point tracking (mppt)
performance [4], [7], but also the design process [5].
There are three basic types of PV systems: grid-connected,
standalone, and hybrid PV systems. They have specific appli-
cations and design concerns. High-power central power plants
with a large number of PV modules in a huge area and house-
holder PV systems are the most common practices to connect
electric power produced from the PV cells to the grid. These
systems are composed of many PV modules (which can have
different arrangements), dc–dc converters with mppt control,
and inverters. Standalone power systems based on PV technol-
ogy and storage devices are an alternative solution for low-power
remote equipment [8]. To supply high-power loads, other kinds
of renewable energies can interact simultaneously with the PV
generator complementing its operation. Such a power system
combining different energy sources and energy storage devices
is called a hybrid power system. In all these systems, dc–dc con-
verters have a main role in conditioning the power produced by
the PV generator. They track its maximum power point (mpp)
at any climatic conditions and load demand, and provide the
power interface to a dc bus, in the case of standalone (either
only PV or hybrid) systems, or to an inverter, in the case of grid
connected systems. A failure in the dc–dc converter will affect
the whole PV system and it might lead to its stoppage, since it
is directly connected to the arrays.
As in many other power applications, electrolytic capaci-
tors and power switches are the most likely components to
fail in PV power converters, because they are exposed to high
RIBEIRO et al.: FAULT-TOLERANT STRATEGY FOR A PHOTOVOLTAIC DC–DC CONVERTER 3009

mechanical and thermal stresses [4], [5]. Industrial manufac-

turers, for example, are conscious of the significant losses in
production and profits due to faulty operation of power con-
verters. Therefore, controlled rectifiers and several topologies
of inverters applied to power drives with quite a few differ-
ent control methods applied benefit from various power switch
fault-diagnostic methods and fault-tolerant strategies [9]–[11].
An excess of electrical and thermal stresses is the main cause
for the failure of power switches [9], which can be classified
as open-circuit and short-circuit faults [9], [12]. Short-circuit
fault protection is already a standard practice integrated in most
power switche drives [13]. However, such protections are not
able to detect open-circuit faults, whose causes can be the lifting
of the bonding wires during thermical cycling, a driver failure,
or a short-circuit fault-induced rupture [9], [12]–[14]. Recently,
such strategies have also been developed for dc–dc convert-
ers as well [12], [15]–[24], due to their vital role in power
systems, such as the aforementioned PV ones, and automotive
applications.
An open-circuit power switch diagnostic method for two cas-
caded buck nonisolated converters is presented in [15] and [16].
This method uses the measured output voltage and current at
the source and load converters. The third statistical moment of
the measured signals provides the required information about
the location and type of fault [15], [16]. Diagnostic methods
for isolated topologies are presented in [12], [17] and [18]. The
diagnostic method presented in [17] only detects the MOSFET
fault of a zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) dc–dc converter at the
starting moment, which is a disadvantage as it does not prevent Fig. 1. Fault-tolerant three-level boost converter with a diagnostic method.
fault propagation during the operation of the dc–dc converter. It
uses the integral and peak values of the dc-link current patterns.
Another diagnostic method limited to ZVS dc–dc converters is gain of conventional two-level nonisolated topologies, while
presented in [12]. It detects any open-circuit power switches’ halving the power switch voltage stress [25]–[27]. Therefore,
fault using the transformer primary voltage of the converter fol- conduction and switching losses and electromagnetic interfer-
lowed by triggering an active phase shifted in the control system ence noise are reduced. Nonetheless, if not correctly sized, the
to locate it. Afterward, the converter is reconfigured to keep its output-diode reverse recovery can be a serious problem, due to
operation under reduced load. The magnetic near field of dc–dc the hard switching of power devices [23].
converters is used as a diagnostic variable by analyzing its Fast This paper presents a new design for the three-level boost
Fourier transform [18]. Despite its wide application (both iso- converter in order to make it fault-tolerant to power switch
lated and nonisolated dc–dc converter topologies are covered), it open-circuit faults. A fault-diagnostic technique is also pro-
requires high processing time due to the use of a neural network. posed based on the converter faulty operation in a PV system
There are also some other works on multilevel inverters [19], supplying batteries. The fault-tolerant strategy requires only a
[20], which have been extended to multilevel dc–dc convert- few changes and a very few number of components added to
ers [21], [22], due to their currently significant application in the original converter. A brief description of the system and
modern vehicle designs. These strategies are mostly based on its operational process is presented in Section II, followed by
the principle of system redundancy and on remedial control. a detailed explanation of the fault-diagnostic method and the
Any of the isolated dc–dc converter topologies can be applied fault-tolerant strategy in Sections III and IV, respectively. The
in a PV system. However, their pulsed input current might be proposed methodologies are verified in Section IV with experi-
harmful for the useful life of PV modules [23], requiring high in- mental results.
put filters to suppress such current ripple. Although the provided
galvanic isolation can be useful for grid-connected systems (due II. PV SYSTEM OVERVIEW
to the large capacitance to the ground of the PV modules and
consequent leakage current [24]), other solutions can be used for A. Basic Configuration
the control of grid connected inverters and nonisolated topolo- The PV system represented in Fig. 1 (including a scheme of
gies remain as an efficient and economical solution, even for the control part) consists of a PV array supplying batteries with
high output-voltage applications [23]. Among those topologies, the proposed open-circuit power switch fault-tolerant converter.
the three-level boost converter is able to double the voltage It is based on a conventional three-level boost converter, whose
3010
Fig. 2. Possible PV module configurations for the application of the proposed
fault-tolerant converter: (a) parallel–series array (with middle point connection)
and (b) series–parallel array.
application in PV arrays with high output-voltage requirements
has proven to be very efficient [23]. In this specific case, for
fault-tolerant purposes, a very few extra components are needed,
when compared to the conventional topology, and the PV array
must have at least two series modules or any other even number
of series modules association, as long as it is possible to locate a
middle point dividing the module series to connect it to the con-
verter. Examples of possible combinations for the application of
this fault-tolerant dc–dc converter topology are shown in Fig. 2.
This scheme is convenient for many applications, because the
output voltage of PV modules is very low. Besides the afore-
mentioned compulsory feature, the topology requires at least
two inductances and two capacitors at the input capacitor bank
(so that these components can be placed according to Fig. 1)
whose values can sum up to the original designed one. It also
requires two more sensors than the conventional topology for
measuring the input current and voltage of each division of the
series combination of PV modules. The conventional topology
only needs the total input current and voltage measurement of
the whole PV array, while both topologies need voltage sensors
at the output capacitors for balancing the dc-link voltage, which
is imposed by the batteries. The extra devices are inside the
dashed line in Fig. 1. The mentioned extra sensors, if applied
for each parallel connecting branch of a series–parallel PV ar-
ray, can also be used for diagnosing PV array faults according
to the method presented in [28], in addition to their use for this
fault-tolerant topology. Finally, a TRIAC is also required (also
inside a dashed line in Fig. 1) connecting the midpoint of the in-
put capacitor bank to the midpoint of the insulated-gate bipolar
transistors (IGBTs). This TRIAC is only triggered in the case of
a fault occurrence.
B. Operational Process
During normal state, the circuit behavior is identical to the
conventional topology, although its control has been adapted for
a PV system. Power switch S1 is controlled in order to provide
mppt by means of using the perturb and observe method, which
has been fully studied in the literature [29], and it uses the
total array output voltage (the sum of vPV1 and vPV2 in Fig. 1)
and one of the monitorized currents (iPV1 or iPV2 in Fig. 1).
Power switch S2 balances the output dc-link capacitor voltages
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 28, NO. 6, JUNE 2013
Fig. 3. Fault-tolerant converter control during normal state where it operates
like a conventional three-level boost converter.
(VC 1 and VC 2 in Fig. 1). These controls, during the normal state,
are detailed in Fig. 3.
The circuit analysis is divided into normal state (operation
of the circuit without any fault), faulty state (transient after
an open-circuit power switch fault), and rebuilt state (postfault
circuit operation with the proposed fault-tolerant strategy which
requires hardware and software reconfiguration).
The normal state is characterized by four operation modes,
according to the power switches conduction state, which can be
both conducting, or both turned OFF, or one of them conducting
and the other turned OFF. The converter operates like a conven-
tional three-level boost converter and each operating mode is
described in [25].
When an open-circuit fault occurs in any of the power
switches, the converter stops working soon. Before that hap-
pens, a transient state occurs which is illustrated in Fig. 4(a) for
an open-circuit fault in S1 and in Fig. 4(b) for an open-circuit
fault in S2. After an open-circuit fault, the remaining healthy
IGBT continues working while it receives impulses to turn on
(until the control stops working). Only two operating modes are
possible: both power switches OFF and one power switch ON
(the healthy one) and the other OFF (the faulty one). During
the period where both S1 and S2 are OFF, diodes D1 and D2
are forward biased and conducting and both output dc-link ca-
pacitors are charging. Assuming that all elements are ideal and
the supply voltage is constant during one switching period, the
equations related to this operation mode are as follows:
diL
vPV 1 + vPV 2 = (L1 + L2 ) + vC 1 + v C 2 (1)
dt
dvC 1
C1 + io = iL (2)
dt
dvC 2
C2 + io = iL . (3)
dt
RIBEIRO et al.: FAULT-TOLERANT STRATEGY FOR A PHOTOVOLTAIC DC–DC CONVERTER
Fig. 4. Operating modes under faulty state: (a) open-circuit fault in power
switch S1 and (b) open-circuit fault in power switch S2.
According to (2) and (3), the charging current of both capaci-
tors is iL − io . During the period where S1 is ON and S2 is OFF
owing to an open-circuit fault, diode D1 is reverse biased and
diode D2 is conducting. The charging current of capacitor C1 is
iL − io and capacitor C2 will be discharging with a current io .
The following equations are related to this operation mode:
diL
vPV 1 + vPV 2 = (L1 + L2 ) + vC 2 (4)
dt
dvC 1
C1 + io = iL (5)
dt
dvC 2
C2 + io = 0. (6)
dt
In the case of a fault in switch S2, C2 will charge with a
current iL − io while C1 discharges with a current io . This will
result in an unbalance between both output dc-link capacitor
voltages, according to how much time the control will be send-
ing impulses to the healthy power switch and the rate of the
capacitors charging or discharging. As aforementioned, the ca-
pacitor which is charging or discharging depends on where the
open-circuit fault occurs.
After diagnosing and detecting the fault occurrence, the con-
trol and the circuit are rebuilt to continue operating, although
obviously under worst conditions, such as lower power, higher
3011
Fig. 5. Reconfigured fault-tolerant converter for a fault (a) in power switch
S1 and (b) in power switch S2.
input ripple, and higher voltage on the power switches (and con-
sequently higher stresses). Based on the fault location, the circuit
reconfiguration is slightly different. The reconfigured converter
for a fault at switches S1 and S2 is shown in Fig. 5(a) and (b),
respectively.
III. FAULT-DIAGNOSTIC METHODOLOGY
The conventional three-level boost converter employs a re-
duced number of control variables (only the input current and
voltage for mppt purposes and the output dc-link capacitor volt-
ages for balancing them) and they are also useful for fault detec-
tion, which is desirable for avoiding extra hardware and costs.
The fault-diagnostic method must be reliable and robust
against transients related to load variations or climatic con-
ditions which affect the PV array. Temperature and radiation
changes disturb the mpp of the PV array output voltage, current,
and power in different ways which are illustrated in Fig. 6. If
the radiation increases during the day, the mpp voltage slightly
increases and the current mpp has a higher increment, while the
mpp power increases [see Fig. 6(c) and (d)]. If the solar radiation
decreases, the effect will be the opposite with the mpp voltage
3012 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 28, NO. 6, JUNE 2013

temperature and irradiation effects on the PV cell behavior is

not significant [31]–[33].
Using (7), the power of a PV cell is given by
    
qV
P = V × I = V IPV − Io exp − 1 . (8)
akT
When the derivative of power is zero, the mpp current and
voltage can be calculated according to (9) and (10), which are
transcendent equations [32]. Therefore, the linear dependence
of mpp voltage and current on the open-circuit voltage and
short-circuit current, respectively, is used to study the effect of
temperature and irradiance on these electrical parameters [33].
This useful property of PV cells has been proved by numerical
methods [34]
   
qVm pp
Im pp = IPV − Io exp −1
akT
 
qVm pp qVm pp
− Io exp (9)
akT akT
 
q qVm pp
Vm pp = Vo c − ln 1 + . (10)
akT akT
Applying the short-circuit condition, V = 0, in (7) the short-
circuit current is
ISC = IPV . (11)
The light-induced current IPV depends linearly on the solar
irradiation and also increases with the temperature [30] accord-
ing to
G
IPV = [IPV ,n + KI (T − Tn )] (12)
Gn
where IPV ,n is the light-induced current at nominal conditions,
Fig. 6. Effects of temperature and irradiation changes on PV modules. KI is the temperature coefficient of the current, Tn is the nomi-
nal temperature, T is the actual temperature, Gn is the nominal
solar irradiation, and G is the actual solar irradiation. The same
slightly decreasing and a major difference in the reduction of the properties are valid for the short-circuit current and the current
mpp current, while the mpp power decreasing. If the PV module at the mpp. Their values increase with temperature and solar
temperature increases, the mpp voltage decreases and the mpp irradiation.
current value slightly rises, while the mpp power decreases [see The open-circuit condition is I = 0 and, by applying it to
Fig. 6(a) and (b)]. If the temperature decreases, the mpp voltage (7), the open-circuit voltage can be calculated and related to the
increases and the mpp current hardly decreases, while the mpp short-circuit current according to [32]
power increases.    
These transients caused by temperature and irradiation at the akT IPV akT ISC
VOC = ln +1 ≈ ln . (13)
mpp of PV modules can be mathematically verified using the q Io q Io
I–V characteristic of the ideal PV cell [30], which is
Equation (13) shows clearly that the open-circuit voltage de-
   
qV pends logarithmically on the short-circuit current, which in turn
I = IPV − Io exp −1 (7) depends linearly on solar irradiation. Therefore, this results in
akT
a logarithmic dependence of the open-circuit voltage on irra-
where IPV is the light-induced current, Io is the saturation
 diance [32], meaning that the open-circuit voltage, and subse-
current, q is the electroncharge 1.60217646 × 10−19 C , k is quently the voltage at the PV cell mpp, increases with solar
the Boltzmann constant 1.3806503 × 10−23 J/K , T is the cell irradiation (although its effect on the voltage at the PV cell mpp
temperature (in Kelvin), a is the diode ideality constant, I is the is lower than that on the current).
current at the output of the PV cell, and V is the voltage at the To study the effect of the temperature on the open-circuit
output of the PV cell. Series and shunt resistive losses of PV voltage, the saturation current I0 equation must be substituted
cells were not taken into account, because their influence in the into (13), because it is dependent on temperature as shown in
RIBEIRO et al.: FAULT-TOLERANT STRATEGY FOR A PHOTOVOLTAIC DC–DC CONVERTER
TABLE I
EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE, IRRADIATION, AND OPEN-CIRCUIT POWER SWITCH
FAULT ON PV ARRAY ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS
the following equation [32]:
 
EG 0
I0 = BT exp −
γ
(14)
kT
where B and γ are the temperature independent constants and
EG 0 is the band gap extrapolated to the absolute zero.
Considering that the temperature effect on the short-circuit
current is very small and can be neglected [32], the derivative
of the open-circuit voltage as a function of temperature is given
by
dVOC VG 0 − VOC + γ kq T
=− . (15)
dT T
The parameters of (15) can be substituted by silicon values
and the result will be −2.3 mV/ ◦ C [32], showing that the open-
circuit voltage, and subsequently, the voltage at the PV cell mpp
decrease with the temperature.
According to the mentioned properties of the voltage and
current at the PV cell mpp, the effect of temperature and solar
irradiation on maximum power can be easily derived. As the
temperature increases, the current at PV cell mpp increases, but
the effect on the voltage is more significant. Therefore, the effect
of temperature on the PV cell maximum power will be similar
to the effect that it has on the voltage at the PV cell maximum
point. The solar irradiation has similar qualitative effects on
both electrical parameters at the PV cell mpp. Consequently,
the effect will qualitatively be the same on the mpp.
During a fault transient, the power and current suddenly drop,
while the voltage increases (until the PV array open-circuit
value). Table I summarizes this information that allows diag-
nosing an open-circuit fault occurrence by monitoring the input
power, voltage, and current. These variables must be filtered so
that sensor noises, small transients related to the mppt control,
and variable ripples do not compromise the diagnostic results.
This implies the use of a small cut-off frequency, which will
delay the signal acquisition. The fault detection is not affected
by this fact, because only the signal qualitative variations (an in-
crease or decrease) are used for fault detection and their value is
not important. Concerning the filter design, a good performance
is obtained with first-order low pass filters with a frequency
between 0.5 and 1 Hz.
Such fault-detection method can be applied to any dc–dc
converter controlled for PV mppt, because any power switch
open-circuit fault will lead to control failure. While the current
3013
Fig. 7. Fault-diagnostic method.
and the power are decreasing, the voltage will increase as ex-
plained.
After detecting the fault, it is necessary to locate it, because
this topology has two power switches. For fault localization, the
unbalance between the capacitor voltages is used. Both power
switch open-circuit fault transients have been previously ana-
lyzed and in both cases the dc-link capacitor voltage balance
is lost, but with different consequences. Therefore, a fault-
diagnostic variable can be created using the difference between
the output dc-link capacitor voltages:
F1 = V C 1 − V C 2 . (16)
If F1 is bigger than a predefined positive threshold k, then the
faulty switch is S1. If F1 is smaller than a negative threshold
−k, then the faulty switch is S2. This threshold was empirically
chosen during tests and 3% value of dc-link voltage was found
to be a good compromise between the diagnosing time and the
usual transients caused by climatic variations (which are slow
and cause reduced transients in balancing the output dc-link
capacitor voltage). The whole diagnostic method is summarized
in Fig. 7.
IV. RECONFIGURATION METHOD FOR FAULT-TOLERANT
OPERATION
After having detected the fault and identified the faulty switch,
the circuit is reconfigured for postfault operation. The circuit and
the whole control system are represented with much detail in
Fig. 8. When the three-level boost converter is in the normal
state, the control system uses the PV array total output voltage
and current for the mppt and the output dc-link capacitor voltage
for balancing it. Therefore, the PV array output-voltage sensor
signals are summed up and only one of the current sensors is
used. During normal operation, power switch S1 is used for
mppt control and power switch S2 is used for balancing the
output dc-link capacitor voltage.
After fault detection, the control system used to keep the
converter operation is different, depending on whether the fault
has occurred in power switch S1 or power switch S2. However,
the concept is the same: when one of the power switches stops
working, the three-level boost converter is reconfigured into a
conventional two-level boost converter with mppt control for
only half of the module array while the other half is still operat-
ing without mppt control for not overcharging the remaining part
of the circuit. As a result, after a fault occurrence, the converter
does not stop working, although providing less power.
3014
Fig. 8. Fault-tolerant strategy control.
TABLE II
BP 4175 PV MODULES PARAMETERS
If power switch S1 suffers an open-circuit fault, after its de-
tection, TRIAC P is triggered, providing the hardware reconfig-
uration for a two-level boost converter. The control system is
also reconfigured according to Fig. 8. The measured current now
is that from the other current sensor, providing only the second-
half PV array output current and also only its output voltage
are monitored. Then, power switch S2 stops controlling the out-
put dc-link capacitor voltages (which are not effective after a
fault) and provides mppt control for this rearranged two-level
boost configuration. Alternatively, if power switch S2 suffers an
open-circuit fault, after its detection, TRIAC P is also triggered,
providing again the hardware reconfiguration for a similar two-
level boost converter. The control system is reconfigured with a
similar goal, but the changes are different. The monitored cur-
rent remains the same, which is the first half PV array output
current (see Fig. 8), and also only its output voltage is moni-
tored. Subsequently, S1 continues the mppt control, but only for
a two-level boost converter. The remaining half of the PV array
continues supplying the batteries, but without mppt control.
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The proposed strategies were validated through the experi-
mental setup in Fig. 1 including a three-level boost converter,
two BP 4175B PV modules, and a battery pack of 10 series 12 V
12 Ah lead acid batteries. The parameters of the PV modules
and the converter components are presented in Tables II and
III, respectively. The described converter control was imple-
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 28, NO. 6, JUNE 2013
TABLE III
PARAMETERS OF THE FAULT-TOLERANT DC–DC CONVERTER
Fig. 9. Experimental results of mppt control variables before and during an
open-circuit fault in power switch S1 and reconfiguration state: (a) mppt control
input voltage (v P V ) and (b) mppt control input current (iP V ).
mented in a dSPACE DS1103 controller board with a sampling
time of 50 μs, including mppt control, dc-link capacitor voltage
balance, and fault-tolerant strategy control. Using interface and
isolation boards, voltage and current signals are connected to
the dSPACE controller, and the IGBT gate commands are sent
out. The power converter switch open-circuit faults were intro-
duced by disabling the gate-drivers signal of the relevant faulty
switch.
Figs. 9–14 show the results of the implementation of the
proposed methodologies, including the normal, the faulty, and
the reconfiguration states (with simultaneous fault-detection
and fault-tolerant strategy) for an open-circuit fault in power
switches 1 and 2. Figs. 9 and 10 are related to the current and
voltage mppt control variables of the converter with an open-
circuit fault in power switches 1 and 2, respectively, at different
instants and different initial climatic conditions. These variables,
together with the total input power (shown in Figs. 11(b) and
12(b) for both studied cases), and the output dc-link capacitor
voltages, [see Figs. 11(a) and 12(a)] are related to the diagnostic
method.
Before a fault occurrence, during the normal state, both mod-
ules are used to track the mpp of the array. Therefore, the input
of the mppt algorithm control is the sum of both modules out-
put voltages until the instant when a fault occurs. When a power
switch open-circuit fault is introduced, the PV array output volt-
age increases (until its open-circuit voltage, if the fault is not
RIBEIRO et al.: FAULT-TOLERANT STRATEGY FOR A PHOTOVOLTAIC DC–DC CONVERTER
Fig. 10. Experimental results of mppt control variables before and during an
open-circuit fault in power switch S2 and reconfiguration state: (a) mppt control
input voltage (v P V ) and (b) mppt control input current (iP V ).
Fig. 11. Experimental results before and during an open-circuit fault in power
switch S1 and reconfiguration state: (a) output dc-link capacitor voltages (V C 1
and V C 2 ); (b) input power (P P V ); and (c) fault-diagnostic variables (S1O ff
and S2O ff ).
3015
Fig. 12. Experimental results before and during an open-circuit fault in power
switch S2 and reconfiguration state: (a) output dc-link capacitor voltages (V C 1
and V C 2 ); (b) input power (P P V ); and (c) fault-diagnostic variables (S1O ff
and S2O ff ).
detected) while its output current and power suddenly decrease.
Under these conditions, together with the output dc-link capac-
itor voltage imbalance (shown in Figs. 11(a) and 12(a) for an
open-circuit fault in power switches 1 and 2, respectively), the
fault-diagnostic variables turn ON when the output dc-link ca-
pacitor voltage unbalance exceeds the threshold value. These
fault-diagnostic variables are shown in Figs. 11(c) and 12(c).
Until the fault is not detected (while S1Off and S2Off are not
turned ON), the circuit operates under faulty state. The duration
of this mode depends on the charge/discharge rate of the output
dc-link capacitors as shown in Figs. 11(a) and 12(a) for an open-
circuit fault in power switches 1 and 2, respectively. As soon as
the fault is detected (S1Off and S2Off change their output value
in Figs. 11 and 12), the converter is immediately reconfigured
into a partly two-level boost converter with mppt control only
for one of the PV modules, while the other still produces energy,
but without mppt control.
Each PV module output power, voltage, and current are shown
in Figs. 13 and 14 for an open-circuit fault in power switches
1 and 2, respectively, under different climatic conditions. When
the fault occurs in S1, after fault detection, PV module PV1 (see
Fig. 1) is monitored for mppt control. After the reconfiguration
for postfault operation, it produces the same power which it was
3016
Fig. 13. Experimental results of each PV module before and during an open-
circuit fault in power switch S1 and reconfiguration state.
already producing before the fault occurrence and it presents the
same output voltage and current, unless the climatic conditions
change. PV module PV2 still produces power, but its output
power, voltage, and current are very different from the previous
ones, because its mpp is no longer being tracked; otherwise, it
would overcharge the converter. Similar results were obtained
for a fault occurring in S2, but, in this case, PV module PV2 is
monitored for mppt control while the other is not.
The reconfigured converter produces approximately 30% less
power than the original one in both cases and for different cli-
matic conditions. At the same time, it introduces higher stresses
on the remaining healthy IGBT, due to the output dc-link ca-
pacitor voltage unbalance, making the IGBT voltage some 30%
higher. Besides, the PV module with mppt control has higher
output voltage and current ripple. These are the main disadvan-
tages and limitations of this strategy, which should be expected,
because they are related to the disadvantages of two-level boost
power converters over the three-level ones. However, the con-
verter remains operating until it can be replaced without stop-
ping supplying batteries, which can be useful in critical appli-
cations where the power supplying should be uninterrupted.
The fault-diagnostic method is effective even under variable
climatic conditions, whose variation is usually very slow, and
under any load condition, because the battery controls the dc-
link voltage while working in its safe operating voltages, without
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 28, NO. 6, JUNE 2013
Fig. 14. Experimental results of each PV module before and during an open-
circuit fault in power switch S2 and reconfiguration state.
overcharging or deep discharging. This is provided by the battery
energy management, which is not the concern of this paper.
VI. CONCLUSION
A diagnostic method and a fault-tolerant reconfiguration for a
three-level boost converter in a PV power system supplying bat-
teries have been presented. The fault diagnostics uses only nor-
mal state control variables and its implementation is effortless. It
monitors any open-circuit power switch fault while providing its
localization. A few components are added to a three-level boost
converter for fault-tolerant reconfiguration. The input capacitor
bank should have at least two capacitors and its midpoint should
be connected to the midpoint of the PV array, which should
have no less than two modules. An additional inductance and a
TRIAC are also required. Usually, capacitor banks have more
than one capacitor and the PV module output voltages are very
low for most applications (requiring the series connection of
PV modules). Therefore, these issues are not limitative for most
implementations. However, this converter is more cost effec-
tive than redundancy or multiphase dc–dc converter. The fault-
tolerant reconfiguration starts as soon as the fault is detected.
It rearranges the converter components so that the healthy part
of the three-level boost converter is converted into a two-level
one. This converter remains operating with mppt control using
RIBEIRO et al.: FAULT-TOLERANT STRATEGY FOR A PHOTOVOLTAIC DC–DC CONVERTER 3017

only one of the PV modules, which is an advantage as the op- [18] Y. Chen, X. Pei, S. Nie, and Y. Kang, “Monitoring and diagnosis for the
eration of PV modules without such control is very ineffective. dc-dc converter using the magnetic near field waveform,” IEEE Trans.
Ind. Electron., vol. 58, no. 5, pp. 1634–1647, Apr. 2011.
The other PV module is operating without mppt control for not [19] F. Z. Peng, “A generalized multilevel inverter topology with self voltage
overcharging the reconfigured converter. The fault-tolerant op- balancing,” in Proc. Conf. Rec. IEEE Ind. Appl. Conf., 2000, vol. 3,
eration of the converter results in less produced power, more PV pp. 2024–2031.
[20] A. Chen, L. Hu, L. Chen, Y. Deng, G. Yao, and X. He, “A multilevel
module output voltage and current ripple, and higher stresses on converter topology with fault tolerant ability,” in Proc. 19th Annu. IEEE
the power components. However, the converter rebuilds itself Appl. Power Electron. Conf. Expo., 2004, vol. 3, pp. 1610–1616.
to keep its operation after fault detection and it proves to be an [21] K. A. Ambusaidi, V. Pickert, and B. Zahawi, “Computer aided analysis
of fault tolerant multilevel dc/dc converters,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Power
effective and low-cost choice for all those applications in which Electron., Drives Energy Syst., Dec. 2006, pp. 1–6.
the uninterrupted supplying is a critical issue. [22] K. Ambusaidi, V. Pickert, B. Zahawi, and B. Ji, “PSPICE analysis of PWM
controlled inductorless fault tolerant multilevel dc/dc converters,” in Proc.
4th IET Conf. Power Electron., Mach. Drives, Apr. 2008, pp. 490–494.
[23] W. Li and X. He, “Review of nonisolated high-step-up dc/dc converters
in photovoltaic grid-connected applications,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.,
REFERENCES vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 1239–1250, Apr. 2011.
[24] B. Yang, W. Li, Y. Gu, W. Cui, and X. He, “Improved transformerless
[1] N. G. Dhere, “Reliability of PV modules and balance-of-system com-
inverter with common-mode leakage current elimination for a photovoltaic
ponents,” in Proc. Conf. Rec. 13st IEEE Photovoltaic Spec., Jan. 2005,
grid-connected power system,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 27,
pp. 1570–1576.
no. 2, pp. 752–762, Feb. 2012.
[2] A. Ristow, M. Begovic, A. Pregeli, and A. Rohategi, “Development of a
[25] J. Kwon, B. Kwon, and K. Nam, “Three-phase photovoltaic system with
methodology for improving photovoltaic inverter reliability,” IEEE Trans.
three-level boosting MPPT control,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 23,
Ind. Electron., vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 2581–2592, Jul. 2008.
no. 5, pp. 2319–2327, Sep. 2008.
[3] F. Nejabatkhah, S. Danyali, S. H. Hosseini, M. Sabahi, and S. M. Niapour,
[26] M. T. Zhang, Y. Jiang, F. C. Lee, and M. M. Jovanovic, “Single-phase
“Modeling and control of a new three-input dc–dc boost converter for hy-
three-level boost power factor correction converter,” in Proc. 10th Annu.
brid PV/FC/battery power system,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 27,
Appl. Power Electron. Conf. Expo., 1995, vol. 1, pp. 434–439.
no. 5, pp. 2309–2342, May 2012.
[27] B. Lin and H. Lu, “Single-phase three-level PWM rectifier,” in Proc. Int.
[4] G. Petrone, G. Spagnuolo, R. Teodorescu, M. Veerachary, and M. Vitelli,
Conf. Power Electron. Drive Syst., 1999, vol. 1, pp. 63–68.
“Reliability issues in photovoltaic power processing systems,” IEEE
[28] X. Xu, H. Wang, and Y. Zuo, “Method for diagnosing photovoltaic array
Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 2569–2580, Jul. 2008.
fault in solar photovoltaic system,” in Proc. Asian-Pacific Power Energy
[5] S. V. Dhople, A. Davoudi, A. D. Dominguez-Garcia, and P. L. Chapman,
Eng. Conf., Mar. 2011, pp. 1–5.
“A unified approach to reliability assessment of multiphase dc–dc con-
[29] C. Hua, J. Lin, and C. Shen, “Implementation of a DSP-controlled pho-
verters in photovoltaic energy conversion systems,” IEEE Trans. Power
tovoltaic system with peak power tracking,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.,
Electron., vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 739–751, Feb. 2012.
vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 99–107, Feb. 1998.
[6] A. Yafaoui, B. Wu, and S. Kouro, “Improved active frequency drift anti-
[30] M. G. Villalva, J. R. Gazoli, and E. R. Filho, “Comprehensive approach
islanding detection method for grid connected photovoltaic systems,”
to modeling and simulation of photovoltaic arrays,” IEEE Trans. Power
IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 2367–2375, May 2012.
Electron., vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 1198–1208, May 2009.
[7] K. Ishaque, Z. Salam, M. Amjad, and S. Mekhilef, “An improved particle
[31] R. Kadri, J. P. Gaubert, and G. Champenois, “Nondissipative string current
swarm optimization (PSO)-based MPPT for PV with reduced steady-state
diverter for solving the cascaded dc–dc converter connection problem in
oscillation,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 27, no. 8, pp. 3627–3638,
photovoltaic power generation system,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron.,
Aug. 2012.
vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 1249–1258, Mar. 2012.
[8] E. Ribeiro, A. J. M. Cardoso, and C. Boccaletti, “Power conditioning
[32] L. Castañer and S. Silvestre, Modelling Photovoltaic Systems Using
and energy management in a renewable energy based hybrid system for
PSpice. New York: Wiley, 2002.
telecommunications,” in Proc. IEEE 33rd Int. Telecommun. Energy Conf.,
[33] J. J. Soon and K. Low, “Photovoltaic model identification using particle
Oct. 2011, pp. 1–9.
swarm optimization with inverse barrier constraint,” IEEE Trans. Power
[9] B. Lu and S. K. Sharma, “A literature review of IGBT fault diagnostic and
Electron., vol. 27, no. 9, pp. 3975–3983, Sep. 2012.
protection methods for power inverters,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 45,
[34] M. A. S. Masoum, H. Dehbonei, and E. F. Fuchs, “Theoretical and exper-
no. 5, pp. 1770–1777, Sep.-Oct. 2009.
imental analyses of photovoltaic systems with voltage and current-based
[10] J. Estima and A. J. M. Cardoso, “A new algorithm for real-time multi-
maximum power-point tracking,” IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 17,
ple open-circuit fault diagnosis in voltage-fed PWM motor drives by the
no. 4, pp. 514–522, Dec. 2002.
reference current errors,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., Feb. 2012.
[11] J. Li, A. Q. Huang, Z. Liang, and S. Bhattacharya, “Analysis and design
of active NPC (ANPC) inverters for fault-tolerant operation of high-power
electrical drives,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 519–
533, Feb. 2012.
[12] X. Pei, S. Nie, Y. Chen, and Y. Kang, “Open-circuit fault diagnosis and
fault-tolerant strategies for full-bridge dc–dc converters,” IEEE Trans.
Power Electron., vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 2550–2565, May 2012.
[13] K. Rothenhagen and F. W. Fuchs, “Performance of diagnosis methods for
IGBT open circuit faults in voltage source active rectifiers,” in Proc. IEEE
35th Annu. Power Electron. Spec. Conf., Jun. 2004, vol. 6, pp. 4348–4354.
[14] P. Duan, K. Xie, L. Zhang, and X. Rong, “Open-switch fault diagnosis
and system reconfiguration of doubly fed wind power converter used in
a microgrid,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 816–821,
Mar. 2011. Eunice Ribeiro (S’09) received the Graduate de-
[15] R. Jayabalan and B. Fahimi, “Monitoring and fault diagnosis of cascaded gree in electrical engineering from the University of
multiconverter systems in hybrid electric vehicles,” in Proc. IEEE Conf. Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, in 2008, where she is
Veh. Power Propul., Sep. 2005, pp. 1–5. currently working toward the Ph.D. degree with the
[16] R. Jayabalan and B. Fahimi, “Monitoring and fault diagnosis of dc–dc Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
multistage converter for hybrid electric vehicles,” in Proc. 5th IEEE Int. and also with the Instituto de Telecomunicações.
Symp. Diagn. Electr. Mach., Power Electron. Drives, Sep. 2005, pp. 1–6. Her research interests include electronic power
[17] S. Y. Kim, K. Nam, H. Song, and H. Kim, “Fault diagnosis of a ZVS converters, renewable energies, and energy systems.
dc–dc converter based on dc-link current pulse shapes,” IEEE Trans. Ind.
Electron., vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 1491–1494, Mar. 2008.
3018
Antonio J. Marques Cardoso (S’89–A’95–SM’99)
was born in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1962. He received
the Electrical Engineering diploma, the Dr. Eng. de-
gree, and the Habilitation degree, all from the Univer-
sity of Coimbra, Coimbra, in 1985, 1995, and 2008,
respectively.
From 1985 until 2011, he was with the Univer-
sity of Coimbra, where he was the Director of the
Electrical Machines Laboratory. Since 2011, he has
been with the University of Beira Interior, Covilhã,
Portugal, where he is a Full Professor at the Depart-
ment of Electromechanical Engineering. His teaching interests cover electrical
rotating machines, transformers, and maintenance of electromechatronic sys-
tems. His research interests include condition monitoring and diagnostics of
electrical machines and drives. He is the author of a book entitled Fault Diag-
nosis in Three-Phase Induction Motors (Coimbra, Portugal: Coimbra Editora,
1991), (in Portuguese) and about 300 papers published in technical journals and
conference proceedings.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 28, NO. 6, JUNE 2013
Chiara Boccaletti (M’04) was born in Bologna, Italy,
in 1967. She received the Laurea degree in mechan-
ical engineering and the Ph.D. degree in energetics
from the Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy,
in 1991 and 1995, respectively.
She has carried out an independent professional
activity in several industrial and research fields for
7 years. In 1998, she was an Assistant Professor at
the Roma Tre University, Rome. Since 2002, she has
been with the Sapienza University of Rome, where
she is an Assistant Professor. Her current research
interests include design, analysis, and optimization of electrical machines, con-
dition monitoring and diagnostics of electrical machines and drives, and systems
based on renewable energies. She is a coauthor of two books and an author of
about 90 published papers in technical journals and conference proceedings.
Dr. Boccaletti has been a member of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers until 2004 and has been a member of the Italian Engineering Board
since 1992. In 1998, she received the National Award “Energy and Environ-
ment” for her Ph.D. thesis.