STMicroelectronics 300 W PV converter to be integrated into a photovoltaic panel based on SPV1020 and bypass diodes SPV1001N30 and SPV1001N STEVAL-ISV018V1 Data Sheet

For further information contact your local STMicroelectronics sales office.

April 2012

Doc ID 023149 Rev 1

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300 W PV converter to be integrated into a photovoltaic panel based

on SPV1020 and bypass diodes SPV1001N30 and SPV1001N40

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PWM mode DC-DC boost converter

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Duty cycle controlled by MPPT algorithm with 
0.2% accuracy

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Operating input voltage range: 6.5 V to 40 V

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Operating output voltage: up to 120 V

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Overvoltage, overcurrent, overtemperature 
protection 

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Built in soft-start 

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Up to 98% efficiency 

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Automatic transition to burst mode for 
improved efficiency at low solar radiation 

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SPI interface for remote telemetry and control

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RoHS compliant

The STEVAL-ISV018V1 demonstration board 
contains three SPV1020s in the same PCB and is 
suitable for distributed PV panels with 3 isolated 
strings. The outputs of the SPV1020s can be 
connected in parallel or in series, despite the 
pairs of independent inputs. 

The STEVAL-ISV018v1 default setting is output 
series connection.

The SPV1020, is a monolithic DC-DC boost 
converter designed to maximize the power 
generated by photovoltaic panels independent of 
temperature and amount of solar radiation. 

The optimization of the power conversion is 
obtained with an embedded logic which performs 
the MPPT (max power point tracking) algorithm 
on the PV cells connected to the converter.

One or more converters can be housed in the 
connection box of PV panels, replacing the 
bypass diodes and, thanks to the fact that the 
maximum power point is locally computed, the 
efficiency at system level is higher than that of 
conventional topologies, where the MPP is 
computed in the main centralized inverter.

For a cost effective application solution and the 
meeting of miniaturization needs, the SPV1020 
embeds the power MOSFETs for active switches 
and synchronous rectification, minimizing the 
number of external devices. Furthermore, the 4 
phase interleaved topology of the DC-DC 
converter allows the use of electrolytic capacitors 
to be avoided, which could severely limit the 
lifetime.

It works at fixed frequency in PWM mode, where 
the duty cycle is controlled by the embedded logic 
running a Perturb and Observe MPPT algorithm. 
The switching frequency, internally generated and 
set by default at 100 kHz, is externally tunable, 
while the duty cycle can range from 5% to 90% 
with a step of 0.2%.

Safety of the application is guaranteed by 
stopping the drivers in the case of output 
overvoltage or overtemperature.