Abstract
This paper presents a modular cascaded H-bridge multilevel photovoltaic (PV) inverter for single- or three-phase grid-connected applications. The modular cascaded multilevel topology helps to improve the efficiency and flexibility of PV systems. To realize better utilization of PV modules and maximize the solar energy extraction, a distributed maximum power point tracking control scheme is applied to both single- and three-phase multilevel inverters, which allows independent control of each dc-link voltage. For three-phase grid-connected applications, PV mismatches may introduce unbalanced supplied power, leading to unbalanced grid current. To solve this issue, a control scheme with modulation compensation is also proposed. An experimental three-phase seven-level cascaded H-bridge inverter has been built utilizing nine H-bridge modules (three modules per phase). Each H-bridge module is connected to a 185-W solar panel. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 6891310 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1722-1731 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Cascaded multilevel inverter
- distributed maximum power point (MPP) tracking (MPPT)
- modular
- modulation compensation
- photovoltaic (PV)
