A novel cascaded H-bridge photovoltaic inverter with flexible arc suppression function

This paper presents a novel approach that simultaneously enables photovoltaic(PV)inversion and flexible arc suppression during single-phase grounding faults.Inverters compensate for ground currents through an arc-elimination function,while outputting a PV direct current(DC)power supply.This method effectively reduces the residual grounding current.To reduce the dependence of the arc-suppression performance on accurate compensation current-injection models,an adaptive fuzzy neural network imitating a sliding mode controller was designed.An online adaptive adjustment law for network parameters was developed,based on the Lyapunov stability theorem,to improve the robustness of the inverter to fault and connection locations.Furthermore,a new arc-suppression control exit strategy is proposed to allow a zerosequence voltage amplitude to quickly and smoothly track a target value by controlling the nonlinear decrease in current and reducing the regulation time.Simulation results showed that the proposed method can effectively achieve fast arc suppression and reduce the fault impact current in single-phase grounding faults.Compared to other methods,the proposed method can generate a lower residual grounding current and maintain good arc-suppression performance under different transition resistances and fault locations.

Adaptive Predefined-Time Backstepping Control for Grid Connected Photovoltaic Inverter

The system performance of grid-connected photovoltaic(PV)has a serious impact on the grid stability.To improve the control performance and shorten the convergence time,a predefined-time controller based on backstepping technology and dynamic surface control is formulated for the inverter in the grid-connected photovoltaic.The time-varying tuning functions are introduced into state-tracking errors to realize the predefined-time control effect.To address the“computational explosion problem”in the design process of backstepping control,dynamic surface control is adopted to avoid the analytical calculations of virtual control.The disturbances of the PV system are estimated and compensated by adaptive laws.The control parameters are chosen and the global stability of the closed-loop is ensured by Lyapunov conditions.Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed controller and ensure the predefined time control in the photovoltaic inverter.

Integration of a Fault-Tolerant H-Bridge Inverter into the Photovoltaic System for DC-AC Conversion of Electrical Energy

The photovoltaic system is experiencing great growth in the production of electrical energy these days.It plays a vital role in the production of electrical energy in isolated towns.It is generally either stand-alone or connected to a network.The energy produced by the photovoltaic generator is in continuous form;the conversion from its continuous form to the alternating form requires a converter:the inverter.In order to improve the quality of the waveform,we moved from the classic solar inverter to multilevel inverters.These multilevel inverters are equipped with power switches which are required to withstand strong fluctuations in the voltage produced by the GPV(photovoltaic generator).It is obvious that the degradation of the inverter leads to a distortion of the wave quality.This article presents the simulation of the GPV-Chopper Boost-Inverter chain in fault-tolerant cascaded H-bridges in order to overcome the difficulties of voltage constraints experienced by power switches(IGBT:insulated gate bipolar transistor).The results of simulations carried out in Matlab/Simulink show good performance of the designed inverter model.

Reducing Condensation Inside the Photovoltaic(PV)Inverter according to the Effect of Diffusion as a Process of Vapor Transport

A photovoltaic(PV)inverter is a vital component of a photovoltaic(PV)solar system.Photovoltaic(PV)inverter failure can mean a solar system that is no longer functioning.When electronic devices such as photovoltaic(PV)inverter devices are subjected to vapor condensation,a risk could occur.Given the amount of moisture in the air,saturation occurswhen the temperature drops to the dewpoint,and condensationmay formon surfaces.Numerical simulation with“COMSOL Software”is important for obtaining knowledge relevant to preventing condensation by using two steps.At first,the assumption was that the device’s water vapor concentration was homogeneous to evaluate the amount of liquid water accumulated on the internal walls of the photovoltaic(PV)inverter box.Second,by considering the effect of external wind velocity onmoisture transport at the air interface to evaluate water vapor transport outdoors and reduce condensation.General factorial designs are utilized for analyzing the nature of the relationship between the vapor condensation response and the variables.Reducing vapor condensation inside the solar inverter by the effect of external wind speed on diffusion as a process of transporting moister air outside the inverter box is the main solution for this problem.During the movement and assessment of the flow of water vapor,the impact of vapor condensation is reduced.The saturation period was determined by using a Boolean saturation indicator.The saturation indicator was set to 1 when saturation was detected(relative humidity greater than or equal to 1)and 0 otherwise.Calculating the flow and dispersion of moist air as a function of wind speed helped solve the problem.

A Review of Novel Leakage Current Suppression Techniques for Transformerless Photovoltaic Inverters

漏电流抑制是无变压器型光伏并网系统需要解决的关键问题之一。VDE-0126-1-1标准规定,漏电流高于300 mA时光伏并网系统必须在0.3 s内从电网中切除。为了解释漏电流的根源,建立系统共模电压数学模型,在此基础上分析漏电流产生的原因,探讨不同调制策略对漏电流的影响,然后介绍几种典型的、能够有效抑制漏电流的电路拓扑结构,并分析各种拓扑的工作原理和特点。最后对漏电流抑制技术方面的发展趋势做了展望。

An Efficient Fuzzy Logic Fault Detection and Identification Method of Photovoltaic Inverters

Fuzzy logic control(FLC)systems have found wide utilization in several industrial applications.This paper proposes a fuzzy logic-based fault detection and identification method for open-circuit switch fault in grid-tied photovoltaic(PV)inverters.Large installations and ambitious plans have been recently achieved for PV systems as clean and renewable power generation sources due to their improved environmental impacts and availability everywhere.Power converters represent the main parts for the grid integration of PV systems.However,PV power converters contain several power switches that construct their circuits.The power switches in PV systems are highly subjected to high stresses due to the continuously varying operating conditions.Moreover,the grid-tied systems represent nonlinear systems and the system model parameters are changing continuously.Consequently,the grid-tied PV systems have a nonlinear factor and the fault detection and identification(FDI)methods based on using mathematical models become more complex.The proposed fuzzy logic-based FDI(FL-FDI)method is based on employing the fuzzy logic concept for detecting and identifying the location of various switch faults.The proposed FL-FDI method is designed and extracted from the analysis and comparison of the various measured voltage/current components for the control purposes.Therefore,the proposed FL-FDI method does not require additional components or measurement circuits.Additionally,the proposed method can detect the faulty condition and also identify the location of the faulty switch for replacement and maintenance purposes.The proposed method can detect the faulty condition within only a single fundamental line period without the need for additional sensors and/or performing complex calculations or precise models.The proposed FL-FDI method is tested on the widely used T-type PV inverter system,wherein there are twelve different switches and the FDI process represents a challenging task.The results shows the superior and accurate performance of the proposed FL-FDI method.

Comparison between SiC- and Si-Based Inverters for Photovoltaic Power Generation Systems

100-W class power storage systems were developed, which comprised spherical Si solar cells, a maximum power point tracking charge control-ler, a lithium-ion battery, and one of two different types of direct current (DC)-alter- nating current (AC) converters. One inverter used SiC met-al-oxide-semicon-ductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) as switching devices while the other used Si MOSFETs. In these 100-W class inverters, the ON resistance was considered to have little influence on the efficiency. Nevertheless, the SiC-based inverter exhibited an approximately 3% higher DC-AC conversion efficiency than the Si-based inverter. Power loss analysis indicated that the higher efficiency resulted predominantly from lower switching and reverse recovery losses in the SiC MOSFETs compared with in the Si MOSFETs.

Performance Assessment of Islanding Detection for Mul-ti-inverter Grid-connected Photovoltaic Systems

Islanding detection is an essential function for safety and reliability in grid-connected Distributed Generation Systems (DGS). Passive and active islanding detection methods have been analyzed in literature considering DGS with only one inverter connected to the utility. With the big scale application of photovoltaic (PV) power systems, islanding detection technology of multi-inverter DGS has been paid more attention. This paper analyzes the performance of diverse islanding detection methods in multiple inverters grid-connected PV systems. Non-Detection Zones (NDZ) of multi-inverter systems in a load parameter space are used as analytical tool. The paper provides guidance for the islanding detection design in multiple grid-connected inverters.

A Study of DTC-Power Electronic Cascade Fed by Photovoltaic Cell-Three-Level NPC Inverter

This paper proposes a high performance three-level inverter Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) structure for photovoltaic system. The proposed configuration which can boost the low voltage of photovoltaic (PV) array, can also convert the photovoltaic DC power into high quality AC power. Attention has been paid to the problem of neutral point potential variation. In this way, a Direct Torque Control (DTC) technique has been applied and the estimated value of the Neutral Point Potential (NPP) is used, which is calculated by motor currents. This control strategy uses the redundancy presented by the inverter for selecting appropriate switching state through a switching table to achieve the control of NPP. This study shows the effect of the stability problem of the DC voltages and good static and dynamic performances were obtained in simulation of the proposed cascade “photovoltaic cell-three-level NPC VSI-induction motor”.

Modular Multilevel Inverter with Maximum Power Point Tracking for Grid Connected Photovoltaic Application

A single-phase modular multilevel inverter based photovoltaic system for grid connection is proposed. This photovoltaic system utilizes two conversion stages： a boost converter for tracking the maximum power point and a modular multilevel inverter used as an interfacing unit. The maximum power point tracking is achieved with a fuzzy logic controller, and the modular multilevel inverter regulates the DC link voltage and synchronizes the grid voltage and current in order to achieve unity power factor operation. The proposed system provides high dynamic performance and power quality injected into the grid. The validity of the proposed system is confirmed by simulations.

New Approach of Multi-Cell Stacked Cell Inverter for Solar Photovoltaic System

In this paper, a new inverter topology dedicated to isolated or grid-connected PV systems is proposed. This inverter is based on the structures of a stacked multi-cell converter (SMC) and an H-bridge. This new topology has allowed the voltage stresses of the converter to be distributed among several switching cells. Secondly, divide the input voltage into several fractions to reduce the number of power semiconductors to be switched. In this contribution, the general topology of this micro-inverter has been described and the simulation tests developed to validate its operation have been presented. Finally, we discussed the simulation results, the efficiency of this topology and the feasibility of its use in a grid-connected photovoltaic production system.

Polymer Fiber Rigid Network with High Glass Transition Temperature Reinforces Stability of Organic Photovoltaics

Organic photovoltaics(OPVs)need to overcome limitations such as insufficient thermal stability to be commercialized.The reported approaches to improve stability either rely on the development of new materials or on tailoring the donor/acceptor morphology,however,exhibiting limited applicability.Therefore,it is timely to develop an easy method to enhance thermal stability without having to develop new donor/acceptor materials or donor–acceptor compatibilizers,or by introducing another third component.Herein,a unique approach is presented,based on constructing a polymer fiber rigid network with a high glass transition temperature(T_(g))to impede the movement of acceptor and donor molecules,to immobilize the active layer morphology,and thereby to improve thermal stability.A high-T_(g) one-dimensional aramid nanofiber(ANF)is utilized for network construction.Inverted OPVs with ANF network yield superior thermal stability compared to the ANF-free counterpart.The ANF network-incorporated active layer demonstrates significantly more stable morphology than the ANF-free counterpart,thereby leaving fundamental processes such as charge separation,transport,and collection,determining the device efficiency,largely unaltered.This strategy is also successfully applied to other photovoltaic systems.The strategy of incorporating a polymer fiber rigid network with high T_(g) offers a distinct perspective addressing the challenge of thermal instability with simplicity and universality.

Off-Grid Photovoltaic System Design for Haiti School Project

In this paper a Photovoltaic (PV) system was designed for the Port-Margot School Solar Project in Haiti. This off-grid system consists of PV panels, inverter, battery storage and other components such as fuses, dc/ac disconnects and transformers [1]. Sizing the PV to fit on the roof was determined. The battery storage and inverter were chosen to be installed in the school building. The expected energy production was compared with data file from NASA website. The KW PV system was chosen to be the most effective and demonstrating renewable technologies and reducing the electrical load of the school.

Model Predictive Control for Cascaded H-Bridge PV Inverter with Capacitor Voltage Balance

We designed an improved direct-current capacitor voltage balancing control model predictive control(MPC)for single-phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel photovoltaic(PV)inverters.Compared with conventional voltage balanc-ing control methods,the method proposed could make the PV strings of each submodule operate at their maximum power point by independent capacitor voltage control.Besides,the predicted and reference value of the grid-connected current was obtained according to the maximum power output of the maximum power point tracking.A cost function was con-structed to achieve the high-precision grid-connected control of the CHB inverter.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed control method was verified through a semi-physical simulation platform with three submodules.

Application Research of Off-grid Home Photovoltaic Power System in Shaanxi Northern Region

Because working performance of off-grid home photovoltaic power system is influenced by factors of solar radiation, ambient temperature and installation angle, this research established power supply model, analyzed working performance and optimized system configuration, by referencing weather conditions of Yulin and Yan’an and those factors. Results showed that under given solar radiation and ambient temperature, difference of installation angle can cause 30% to 40% difference of performance. In order to meet power demand, installation angles of Yulin and Yan'an were selected as 40 degree and 30 degree, and annual output power were 1.44 kWh/Wp and 1.32 kWh/Wp. Based on those results, the configuration of Yulin and Yan'an was 150 Wp and 170 Wp, and annual output power was 172.70 kWh and 179.66 kWh. Systems optimized above can meet the mid-scale demand in Shaanxi northern region and build theoretical foundation of application.

Design of Off-grid Home Photovoltaic Power System in Shaanxi Region

Shaanxi province has three land forms which are Shaanxi’s northern plateau, Guanzhong plain and Qinba mountain land in the south of Shaanxi province. So the climate type is also divided into three types and the solar energy resources distribution has a big gap between different regions. PV modules, as the core component of off-grid home photovoltaic power system, their output power are mainly influenced by sun radiation, array tile angle, temperature and so on. Based on the reasons above, in order to apply off-grid home photovoltaic power system in Shaanxi region, this paper designs different systems with different configuration, and makes the performance prediction. The results show that the capacity of PV modules reaches to the largest in Shaanxi northern region, reach minimum in Shaanxi southern region and the output power in the winter is less than in the summer and reach minimum in the spring and autumn. In light of the characteristics above, this research select different type and configuration in different areas systematically, and the performance analysis shows that the configuration can meet the basic life demand of power to the people whose power is not available.

Non-Fullerene-Based Inverted Organic Photovoltaic Device with Long-Term Stability

In this work,we developed the PM6:Y6-based inverted structure organic photovoltaic(i-OPV)with improved power conversion efficiency(PCE)and long-term stability by resolving the origins of the performance deterioration.The deep defects between the metal oxide-based electron transport layer and bulk-heterojunction photoactive layer interface were responsible for suboptimal PCE and facilitated degradation of devices.While the density of deep traps is increased during the storage of i-OPV,the penetrative oxygen-containing defects additionally generated shallow traps below the band-edge of Y6,causing an additional loss in the open-circuit voltage.The suppression of interfacial defects by chemical modification effectively improved the PCE and long-term stability of i-OPV.The modified i-OPV(mi-OPV)achieved a PCE of 17.42%,which is the highest value among the reported PM6:Y6-based i-OPV devices.Moreover,long-term stability was significantly improved:~90%and~80%retention of its initial PCE after 1200 h of air storage and illumination,respectively.

H6 Non-isolated Full Bridge Grid-connected PV Inverters With Low Leakage Currents

为满足非隔离光伏并网发电系统对共模漏电流的限制，提出一种六开关逆变器拓朴（H6拓扑）。所提出的H6拓扑在功率传输模态时，进网电流半个工频周期流过3支开关管，而另半个工频周期流过2支开关管，故相对于H5拓扑，降低了通态损耗，有利于热应力均衡，且仍满足续流阶段光伏电池输出端与电网脱离的要求。详细分析拓扑的工作原理，并推论给出H6非隔离光伏并网逆变器的其它3种拓扑结构；比较分析了H5拓扑、Heric拓扑和H6拓扑的损耗和成本。通过1kW通用样机平台对比验证了上述3种拓扑的效率和共模特性。实验结果表明，H6拓扑的变换效率高于H5拓扑、但略低于Heric拓扑，共模特性优于Heric拓扑、但略劣于H5拓扑。

Improved Voltage Control Strategy for Photovoltaic Grid-Connected System Based on DoubleLayer Coordination Control

An improved automatic voltage coordination control strategy （AVCCS） based on ;automatic voltage control （AVC） and battery energy storage control （BESC） is proposed for photovoltaic grid-connected system （PVGS） to mitigate the voltage fluctuations caused by environmental disturbances. Only AVC is used when small environ- mental disturbances happen, while BESC is incorporated with AVC to restrain the voltage fluctuations when large disturbances happen. An adjustable parameter determining the allowed amplitudes of voltage fluctuations is introduced to realize the above switching process. A benchmark low voltage distribution system including ]？VGS is established by using the commercial software Dig SILENT. Simulation results show that the voltage under AVCCS satisfies the IEEE Standard 1547, and the installed battery capacity is also reduced. Meanwhile, the battery＇s service life is ex- tended by avoiding frequent charges/discharges in the control process.

Analysis and Simulation of a High Performance Quasi Resonant PWM Inverter for Solar Power Generation

A quasi resonant pulse width modulation（PWM） inverter is used in a solar power system to convert the solar panel and battery charger＇s direct current（DC） output to alternating current（AC）.Although much has been published about DC to AC PWM inverters,none of the previous work has shown modeling and simulation results for DC to AC inverters.In this study,we suggest a new topology for a quasi resonant PWM inverter.Experimental results are also presented.