Grid-tie inverter topology with maximum power extraction from two photovoltaic arrays

This study presents a transformerless topology for a grid-tied single-phase inverter capable of performing the simultaneous maximum power point tracking of two independent and series connected photovoltaic sources. This topology is derived from the neutral point clamped multilevel inverter in half-b...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Authors: Patrao Herrero, Iván|||0000-0003-4412-0365, Garcerá, Gabriel|||0000-0002-5507-4379, Figueres Amorós, Emilio|||0000-0002-0716-3916, González-Medina, Raúl|||0000-0003-0378-5045
Format: article
Publication Date:2014
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repository:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/58897
Online Access:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/58897
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:invertors
maximum power point trackers
photovoltaic power systems
generation control circuit
grid-tie inverter topology
grid-tied single-phase inverter
half-bridge topology
independent photovoltaic sources
maximum power extraction
neutral point clamped multilevel inverter
partial shadowing conditions
photovoltaic arrays
series connected photovoltaic sources
simultaneous maximum power point tracking
voltage quality
TECNOLOGIA ELECTRONICA
Description
Summary:This study presents a transformerless topology for a grid-tied single-phase inverter capable of performing the simultaneous maximum power point tracking of two independent and series connected photovoltaic sources. This topology is derived from the neutral point clamped multilevel inverter in half-bridge configuration. The use of a half-bridge topology reduces the leakage current to very low values, whereas the multilevel topology presents an output voltage quality similar to that of a full-bridge inverter. To simultaneously track the maximum power of both photovoltaic sources, a generation control circuit is used. With this topology, it is possible to improve the performance of the converter under partial shadowing conditions, very common in photovoltaic facilities operating in residential areas. A 5 kW prototype of this topology has been implemented and tested in the laboratory.