The aim of this MSc dissertation is to assess the impact of the use of DC-DC converters in the photovoltaic conversion efficiency, operating under adverse conditions. The work was motivated by the challenges posed by the development of the R & D Project Light/Aneel 080/2011, which required the installation of a photovoltaic laboratory power plant (20 kW, nominal) to operate in adverse conditions to match the non-ideal conditions of the available roof of the Energy Light Museum chosen to receive the photovoltaic panels. In seeking to overcome challenges posed by the project, this study helped to ensure gains in the efficiency of the photovoltaic conversion to compensate for the operation under adverse conditions. The methodology used benefited from the study of the state of the art of photovoltaic conversion, whose results guided the development of a mathematical model to estimate the electrical parameters of a PV module allowing the study of the influence of shading in photovoltaic conversion. Among the consolidated results, the work (i) implemented the laboratory photovoltaic power plant that have installed three technologies of PV panel on the roof of the Energy Light Museum (ii) developed a model that predicts the electrical parameters of the PV module; (Iii) modelled the performance of the photovoltaic module in the presence of partial shading and (iv) investigated efficiency gains resulting from the use of DC-DC converters in the presence of partial shading. Regarding the findings, the proposed model was effective to estimate the electrical parameters and simulate the characteristic curves of the photovoltaic module under the effect of partial shading.