High-efficiency grid-connected photovoltaic module integrated converter system with high-speed communication interfaces for small-scale distribution power generation

This paper presents a high-efficiency grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) module integrated converter (MIC) system with reduced PV current variation. The proposed PV MIC system consists of a high-efficiency step-up DC-DC converter and a single-phase full-bridge DC-AC inverter. An active-clamping flyback converter with a voltage-doubler rectifier is proposed for the step-up DC-DC converter. The proposed step-up DC-DC converter reduces the switching losses by eliminating the reverse-recovery current of the output rectifying diodes. To reduce the PV current variation introduced by the grid-connected inverter, a PV current variation reduction method is also suggested. The suggested PV current variation reduction method reduces the PV current variation without any additional components. Moreover, for centralized power control of distributed PV MIC systems, a PV power control scheme with both a central control level and a local control level is presented. The central PV power control level controls the whole power production by sending out reference power signals to each individual PV MIC system. The proposed step-up DC-DC converter achieves a high-efficiency of 97.5% at 260 W output power to generate the DC-link voltage of 350 V from the PV voltage of 36.1 V. The PV MIC system including the DC-DC converter and the DC-AC inverter achieves a high-efficiency of 95% with the PV current ripple less than 3% variation of the rated PV current.     

A new control scheme of a cascaded transformer type multilevel PWM inverter for a residential photovoltaic power conditioning system

From the viewpoint of high quality output voltage generation in a residential photovoltaic system, a multilevel inverter employing cascaded transformers can become a good substitute for the conventional pulse width modulated inverters and other multilevel counterparts. However, to obtain more sinusoidal output voltage waves, it should increase the number of switching devices and transformers resulting in a cost increase. To alleviate this problem, an efficient switching pattern is proposed and applied to a multilevel inverter equipped with two cascaded transformers, which have a series-connected secondary. Operational principle and analysis are illustrated focusing on a change of the switching pattern. High-performance of the proposed multilevel scheme embedded in a photovoltaic power conditioning system is verified by computer-aided simulations and experimental results.     

基于交替单相PWM控制的三相光伏并网系统

提出了可用于多支路型三相光伏并网逆变器的交替单相PWM控制方法。该控制方法在一个工频周期内,逆变器有6种开关模式,每种开关模式中只须对三相中的一相桥臂进行PWM控制,从而有效降低了功率管开关损耗,在多支路光伏并网结构提高能量转换效率的基础上,进一步提高系统效率。采用电流滞环PWM跟踪控制,能够简单实现逆变正弦电流输出,跟踪性能好,并网功率因数为1,系统稳定性好,电流总谐波畸变率(THD)较低,可满足并网要求。通过Matlab仿真验证了该控制方法的正确性和有效性。     

Direct power control of grid connected PV systems with three level NPC inverter

This paper presents the control of a three-level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) voltage source inverter for grid connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. The control method used is the Extended Direct Power Control (EDPC), which is a generic approach for Direct Power Control (DPC) of multilevel inverters based on geometrical considerations. Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithms, that allow maximal power conversion into the grid, have been included. These methods are capable of extracting maximum power from each of the independent PV arrays connected to each DC link voltage level. The first one is a conventional MPPT which outputs DC link voltage references to EDPC. The second one is based on DPC concept. This new MPPT outputs power increment references to EDPC, thus avoiding the use of a DC link voltage regulator. The whole control system has been tested on a three-level NPC voltage source inverter connected to the grid and results confirm the validity of the method.     

Load independent efficient,transformerless inverter for photovoltaic applications

The overall efficiency of photovoltaic power systems (PVPS) depends on the efficiency of the PV panels, the storage batteries, and the efficiency of the inverter circuitry. The last is greatly influenced by the connected load, as the efficiencies are severly reduced when operating at low loads. This is especially effective when the PVPS is most likely to operate with a fraction of the full load. The suggested inverter has excellent efficiency characteristics over a wide power range, and because it contains only electronic components further cost reduction can be expected. Experimentally this inverter is designed for a 120 W output using thyristor switching devices; the efficiency obtained is 88% at full load and 85.2% at 10% of full load, with a maximum output voltage of 60 V stepped sinewave with frequency of 50 Hz. However, higher power outputs could also be achieved with this type of inverter.     

一种多逆变器太阳能光伏并网发电系统的组群控制方法

对光伏发电系统中的光伏阵列一逆变器对进行轮循分组控制,在逆变器输入功率小于设定的下限阈值时,部分光伏阵列并联后连接到一台逆变器输出;在并联开关分合闸过程中,一直保持光伏阵列以最大功率不问断输出;并且该方法对光照突变情况进行自适应判断,作为控制的预启动条件。此方法的优点是：能够同时提高逆变器和光伏阵列的转换效率,改善电能质量,降低并联开关和逆变器的动作次数,延长设备使用寿命,并且控制过程系统输出功率平稳。     

Optimal energy control of a PV-fuel cell hybrid system

This paper deals with a real time implementation of a fuzzy logic-based power management of a small scale generation hybrid power system. The system consists of a photovoltaic array and a fuel cell stack, supported by a single-phase grid that supplies a stand-alone AC load. The proposed supervisory algorithm guaranties the system to switch smart between two operation modes, according to the load demand, the gas level and the PV availability. Obviously, the PV side DC–DC converter is controlled to track permanently the maximum power point by using a fuzzy logic MPPT method; whereas, the fuel cell stack and the grid converters are tuned to cover the remaining power, or alternatively, injecting the exceeding power to the utility. Besides, to feed the AC load with a pure sine wave, a Back stepping algorithm is proposed to control the front-end single-phase inverter. To test the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms, experimental results obtained with a given load profile are presented and commented.     

基于LC滤波的光伏逆变器电感电流反馈控制策略研究

针对光伏并网逆变器的特点,基于电感电流反馈控制的光伏并网逆变器,提出了参考电流相位超前的电流内环控制策略。通过分析单相并网逆变器结构,推导了LC滤波器上电压电流矢量关系。加入电网电压瞬时值前馈解耦控制,研究了比例调节和准比例谐振调节两种策略下参考电流与输出电流的关联。基于一台3 kW逆变器为实验平台的理论分析和实验结果表明,采用该策略的逆变器并网电流时刻跟踪电网电压频率和相位,功率因数为1,并网电流谐波失真度低于3%。     

Modeling and control of a PEM fuel cell based hybrid multilevel inverter

Multilevel inverter is an effective and practical solution for increasing power demand and reducing harmonics of AC waveforms. It is mainly employed in the distributed energy sources area because several batteries, fuel cell and solar cell can be connected through multilevel inverter to feed a load. This paper investigates the potentials of a single-phase Hybrid Cascaded Multilevel Inverter (HCMLI) fed from Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). A mathematical model of the PEMFC supplying HCMLI has been developed. This paper also presents the effect of a novel hybrid modulation on the device switching losses and harmonics of HCMLI. The proposed hybrid modulation technique combines the fundamental frequency switching scheme and Variable Frequency Inverted Sine Pulse Width Modulation (VFISPWM) technique. A comparison between the hybrid modulation strategy and the conventional Phase Disposition (PD) PWM method is also presented in terms of THD and switching losses. A suitable PID controller has been designed to control the output voltage of fuel cell based HCMLI, so that it can provide constant AC voltage with minimum THD up to the rated conditions. The inverter circuit topology and its control scheme are described in detail and their performance is verified based on simulation and experimental results.     

Photovoltaic solar system connected to the electric power grid operating as active power generator and reactive power compensator

In the case of photovoltaic (PV) systems acting as distributed generation (DG) systems, the DC energy that is produced is fed to the grid through the power-conditioning unit (inverter). The majority of contemporary inverters used in DG systems are current source inverters (CSI) operating at unity power factor. If, however, we assume that voltage source inverters (VSI) can replace CSIs, we can generate reactive power proportionally to the remaining unused capacity at any given time. According to the theory of instantaneous power, the inverter reactive power can be regulated by changing the amplitude of its output voltage. In addition, the inverter active power can be adjusted by modifying the phase angle of its output voltage. Based on such theory, both the active power supply and the reactive power compensation (RPC) can be carried out simultaneously. When the insolation is weak or the PV modules are inoperative at night, the RPC feature of a PV system can still be used to improve the inverter utilisation factor. Some MATLAB simulation results are included here to show the feasibility of the method.     

A highly efficient PV system using a series connection of DC–DC converter output with a photovoltaic panel

A photovoltaic (PV) power conditioning system (PCS) must have high conversion efficiency and low cost. Generally, a PV PCS uses either a single string converter or a multilevel module integrated converter (MIC). Each of these approaches has both advantages and disadvantages. For a high conversion efficiency and low cost PV module, a series connection of a module integrated DC–DC converter output with a photovoltaic panel was proposed. The output voltage of the PV panel is connected to the output capacitor of the fly-back converter. Thus, the converter output voltage is added to the output voltage of the PV panel. The isolated DC–DC converter generates only the difference voltage between the PV panel voltage and the required total output voltage. This method reduces the power level of the DC–DC converter and enhances energy conversion efficiency compared with a conventional DC–DC converter.     

An original observer design for reduced sensor control of Packed U Cells based renewable energy system

This paper presents an original Switched Observer (SO) for reduced-sensor control of a grid-connected Packed U Cells (PUC) multilevel inverter. The proposed SO performance is evaluated using a single-phase 7-level PUC inverter connected to the grid through filtering inductor. Based on the actual grid current, the proposed SO estimates accurately the PUC capacitor voltage, which is fed to the Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm while making use of a hybrid model considering both discrete and continuous variables. For real-time application, necessary conditions are given to guarantee the practical stability of the proposed SO under system parameters and input voltage variations according to the selected switching pattern. Theoretical analysis and simulation investigations are conducted to prove that the proposed SO-MPC scheme is stable in closed-loop for all system configurations and has good performances even during various disturbances (load change, parameters mismatch, and input voltage variation).     

Fuzzy dispatching of solar energy in distribution system

This paper presents a novel approach for solar energy using in distribution system as distributed generation (DG) unit. A nonlinear fuzzy controller tunes the modulation index of PWM inverter to feed the load in the grid via photovoltaic arrays. The controller also dispatches two dc sources to control input of inverter. The proposed system controls the voltage even during changing sunlight voltage condition or unbalanced load. A low pass LC filter is linked to the output of voltage source converter to bypass switching harmonics. The evolutionary method based on fuzzy theory is used to determine the value of modulation index and disperse the sources from a fuzzy rule-based defined on load voltage error of the point of common coupling. This system gives a full flexibility to the grid to obtain power from the solar photovoltaic units depending on its cost and load requirement at any given time. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of performance of proposed method.     

Z源逆变电路及其直通控制策略在光伏并网系统中的应用

针对传统的Z源逆变电路控制方式中需要独立分析升压电路控制因子和并网电路控制因子的问题,先在典型的Z源全桥逆变电路的拓扑结构中实现单桥臂上下管的直通相位控制方式下的开关时序,进而分析了Z源逆变电路的5种模态的工作原理,提出了一种适用于单相光伏逆变系统的Z源逆变电路直通控制方式,就是利用能量传递和傅里叶算法在直通零矢量和输出逆变电压之间建立直接联系。以一台3kW光伏并网逆变样机的测试结果表明,样机PV电压稳定,并网电压电流相位在50%输出功率下基本一致,其谐波含量和功率因数符合要求;同时,还具备一定的过压、欠压动态保护特性,反应时间迅速。结果表明,Z源逆变电路及其直通控制策略在光伏并网系统中的应用效果较好。     

考虑补偿方法的单相DVR检测方法研究与仿真

定量分析计算电网电压暂降时DVR逆变单元与电网的功率交换情况,详细研究逆变单元在各种补偿策略下的输出电压和有功功率与故障前后电网电压、负载电压和参考相量的具体关系,并根据具体关系总结出5种补偿方法,通过Matlab平台对各种补偿方法进行仿真研究,最后根据不同的补偿方式进行单相DVR检测方法研究。     

A multi-function grid connected PV system with three level NPC inverter and voltage oriented control

In this paper a grid connected photovoltaic (PV) system is presented. The grid integration of the PV system is carried out via a three phase three level neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter. To control the inverter a modified version of voltage oriented control (VOC) method and the space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) technique have been applied. With the proposed modification the PV system operates as a shunt active power filter (SAPF), a reactive power compensator, and a load’s current balancer simultaneously. In this way the PV system operates more efficiently compared to the conventional PV systems and offers ancillary services to electric power system. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is established through simulation results with Matlab/Simulink in steady state and transient response of the electric power distribution system.     

Battery-integrated boost converter utilizing distributed MPPT configuration for photovoltaic systems

In this paper, a battery-integrated boost converter utilizing the distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT) configuration for a photovoltaic (PV) system is studied. Each PV module has its own battery and DC/DC converter. Due to the proposed topology and use of battery, the MPPT function is not affected by the load demand and input power from PV. Application of the proposed converter to DMPPT configuration can save the voltage amplification stage and maintain PV voltage during partial shading. Steady-state analysis of the converter to determine the power flow equations is presented. Comparison with the series-connected conventional boost converter is reported in this paper. Simulation and experiment results of a laboratory prototype are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach. System design considerations are also discussed.     

Digital power factor control and reactive power regulation for grid-connected photovoltaic inverter

The overall efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) systems connected to the grid depends on the efficiency of direct current (DC) of the solar modules to alternate current (AC) inverter conversion. The requirements for inverter connection include: maximum power point, high efficiency, control power injected into the grid, high power factor and low total harmonic distortion of the currents injected into the grid. An approach to power factor control and reactive power regulation for PV systems connected to the grid using field programmable gate array (FPGA) is proposed. According to the grid demands; both the injected active and reactive powers are controlled.In this paper, a new digital control strategy for a single-phase inverter is carried out. This control strategy is based on the phase shift between the inverter output voltage and the grid voltage, and the digital sinusoidal pulse width modulation (DSPWM) patterns, in order to control the power factor for a wide range of the inverter output current and consequently the control and the regulation of the reactive power will be achieved. The advantage of the proposed control strategy is its implementation around simple digital circuits.In this work, a simulation study of this strategy has been realized using Matlab/Simulink and PSIM. In order to validate its performance, this control has been implemented in a FPGA. Experimental tests have been carried out demonstrating the viability of this control in order to control the power factor and the injected power into the grid.     

基于Matlab/Simulink的两级式光伏并网系统仿真分析

研究一种单相光伏并网发电控制仿真系统。利用Matlab2008b/Simulink,采用boost电路和逆变电路两级式结构,其中采用电导增量法的最大功率跟踪功能在boost电路中实现,并网控制通过采集电网电压参数和逆变输出电流电压参数在逆变电路中通过PI调节实现。通过光伏阵列通用模型验证最大功率跟踪模块的正确性,通过并网实验验证并网跟踪性能。基本实现了光伏阵列最大功率点的快速、准确跟踪功能和逆变输出电流电压与电网电压的同频同相,保证了输出电流为正弦波形且纹波较少,能够快速跟踪电网电压的变化。证明此系统在实际中是可行的。     

Polar coordinated fuzzy controller based real-time maximum-power point control of photovoltaic system

It is crucial to improve the photovoltaic (PV) system efficiency and to develop the reliability of PV generation control systems. There are two ways to increase the efficiency of PV power generation system. The first is to develop materials offering high conversion efficiency at low cost. The second is to operate PV systems optimally. However, the PV system can be optimally operated only at a specific output voltage and its output power fluctuates under intermittent weather conditions. Moreover, it is very difficult to test the performance of a maximum-power point tracking (MPPT) controller under the same weather condition during the development process and also the field testing is costly and time consuming. This paper presents a novel real-time simulation technique of PV generation system by using dSPACE real-time interface system. The proposed system includes Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and fuzzy logic controller scheme using polar information. This type of fuzzy logic rules is implemented for the first time to operate the PV module at optimum operating point. ANN is utilized to determine the optimum operating voltage for monocrystalline silicon, thin-film cadmium telluride and triple junction amorphous silicon solar cells. The verification of availability and stability of the proposed system through the real-time simulator shows that the proposed system can respond accurately for different scenarios and different solar cell technologies.