Reliability Assessment of a Hybrid PV/Battery Converter

Renewable energy systems with individual converters have drawn the attention of researchers in the recent past due to several reasons. However, individual converter for sources increases the size, control complexity and cost of the system. In this regard, this paper proposes a multiple input converter that integrates PV and battery. The proposed converter possesses the advantages like simple structure, high control flexibility and efficient integration of sources. Most of the emerging MIC topologies fail to estimate the lifetime of the converter which is an essential parameter for real-time implementation. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the reliability and effect of various parameters on reliability of the proposed MIC. Further, the reliability of the system depends on various factors such as on the on-state resistance of the switch, junction temperature and values of passive elements. In this regard, the effect of major factors on reliability has been discussed and the mean time to failure has been evaluated. This evaluation aids in estimating the failure rate of the components and thereby improving the reliability of the proposed MIC.