PV inverters for module level applications

Abstract

Nowadays, the photovoltaic (PV) energy is presented as one of the most promising source of clean energy, and so a good way for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and reduce the fossil fuel dependence. Within it, the photovoltaic energy has caused a huge interest in the electronic converters, and the need to improve their efficiency and reducing their cost. With this work I present a solution for a module scale grid-connected single-phase inverter. The solution consists in a two-stage inverter insolated with a grid line transformer. The two-stage inverter is composed by a DC-DC converter and a DC-AC converter connected through a DC-link capacitor. The DC-DC converter in case is a boost converter used to elevate the voltage from the PV module to a higher level. For the DC-AC converter it is used a full-bridge inverter, and both the DC-DC and the DC-AC converters use the IGBTs form an integrated module with its respective drivers. To the boost control it is implemented a Maximum Power Point Tracking algorithm that can optimize the power extraction from the PV source and for the inverter it is used a sliding mode hysteretic control. Once this inverter is conceived to work connected to the grid, a single-phase PLL system is used to synchronize the injected current to grid voltage. All the control part is made digitally using an Arduino Uno board, which uses an Atmel microcontroller.