Advanced Modulation Strategy for MMCs in Grid-Tied PV Systems: Module-Level Maximum Power Extraction Under Varying Irradiance Conditions

The integration of large-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems requires advanced converter architectures capable of ensuring both high efficiency and fast dynamic response. Leveraging the inherent modularity and low harmonic distortion of Modular Multilevel Converters (MMCs), this paper presents a novel control and modulation framework for grid-connected PV applications. The key innovation lies in the implementation of distributed, string-level Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), enabling optimal energy extraction even under non-uniform (shaded) irradiance conditions. The proposed method operates within a dual time-scale control architecture: an outer Perturb and Observe (P&O) loop assigns independent power references, while the inner modulation stage employs an innovative switching strategy that activates only one module per sampling period. Unlike conventional MPPT-based schemes, where submodules are driven by voltage references, the proposed approach directly regulates the power of each MMC submodule, eliminating the need for PV-side current measurement.