dc-dc converter vs optimizer

[vsman]

The project that never ends. Added my 6 new panels. In series feeding into my sol-ark-15k. I've been reading about optimizers and not really 100% sold on them. Is using dc-dc converters an alternative possibility? A dc-dc converter on each panel- boost the voltage from 48v to ~300V. Tie all the outputs from each panel in parallel and feed that to my inverter. I am essentially optimizing each panel. No one panel can throttle the other one down.

 

[Reed Cole]

Sounds inefficient, suitable converters that I was able to quickly google had an efficiency rating of "normally 80-92%" You're always going to be losing watts instead of just the times when one of the panels may be shaded. Maybe there are better options though.

If one of your converters fails then you need to replace it before you can harvest any power from its panel.

The optimisers seem a lot better, they claim to be very efficient and if they fail the panels still output power to your charge controller or whatever. What about them is unconvincing to you?

 

[fourtytwo]

The project that never ends. Added my 6 new panels. In series feeding into my sol-ark-15k. I've been reading about optimizers and not really 100% sold on them. Is using dc-dc converters an alternative possibility? A dc-dc converter on each panel- boost the voltage from 48v to ~300V. Tie all the outputs from each panel in parallel and feed that to my inverter. I am essentially optimizing each panel. No one panel can throttle the other one down.

I thought about doing that many times but abandoned it on economic grounds, however I tend to use more strings in parallel now to reduce the dependency on shaded panels and also advanced inverter software to find the true mpp of the array.

What did you decide to do ?