IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY

Power Quality From Multiple Grid-Connected

Single-Phase Inverters
David G. Infield, Peter Onions, Anton D. Simmons, and Gordon A. Smith

AbstractThis paper reports on a study into the aggregate

power quality from multiple grid connected inverters. Measurements are presented for individual single-phase inverters
generating into the low voltage network under a range of operational conditions, and for groups of similar converters connected
at the same point on the network. Some results from the modeling
of multiple inverter interaction are also presented. Particular
attention is given to power factor, the harmonic content of the
generated currents, and dc injection.
Index TermsHarmonic distortion, inverters, photovoltaic
power systems, power quality.

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I. INTRODUCTION

customers. It is important that the interaction between inverters

is understood, and hence their aggregate impact on the network,
so as to inform applications and the process of the standards development which is now going on.
Power factor, for sources just as for loads, is also an issue for
network operators, primarily due to its impact on losses. Most
commercial inverters for the grid-connection of small generators are designed to operate at unity power factor although some
advantages are perceived for inverters with control of power
factor since they can be used to provide a degree of local voltage
control, [3].
When power-electronic sources are operated in parallel, two
particular effects are apparent which affect harmonic generation: attenuation and cancellation (see [4] and [5]). Attenuation
occurs since the generated currents cause voltage variations that
in turn affect the other sources; the impact is such as to reduce
the currents causing the disturbance. Cancellation is the result of
the harmonic current components of the different sources being
to some extent out of phase, resulting of course in a reduction in
that particular harmonic for the aggregate. The specific case of
cancellation of the switching harmonics for multiple inverters,
which can generally be taken to be of statistically independent
phase, has been dealt with in recently published work, [6], that
draws on a strand of analysis that can be traced back to 1972.
The key limitation of this and related approaches is the assumption of statistical independence, which, it will be shown in Section IV, is inappropriate for the important lower frequency harmonics.
Many modern inverters used in the grid connection of PV systems do not include a transformer on the ac side. Smaller, lower
cost circuits provide galvanic isolation through a high frequency
transformer that is not connected directly to the network. Some
approaches rely entirely on control of the inverter bridge to prevent dc injection. As a result, depending on the inverter topology
and control, there can be some level of dc supplied to the network. Understandably the network operators are concerned that
accumulated dc contributions could result in transformer saturation.
The issues discussed are of direct concern to both equipment manufacturers and utility companies/DNOs and as such
are in the process of being addressed by the various organizations in different countries and internationally charged with
standards development relevant to electricity supply systems: in
the USA the IEEE; the British Standards Institution (BSI) and/or
the Electricity Association in the UK; and the IEC internationally. These activities have to date led to two draft Standards:
IEEE P1547/D10, [7] and G83, [8].

VER the next few years it is expected that increasing

numbers of small-scale generators will be connected to
the electricity distribution network, or the distribution level of
the utility electricity power system (EPS), to use the terminology of the IEEE. Many of these will utilize power-electronic
converters. In the case of photovoltaic (PV) systems, the
grid connection of many small (less than 50 kW) specifically
designed inverters can be anticipated. These generators will inevitably have some impact on the voltage waveform at the point
of common coupling, and thus on the network power quality.
Current standards and guidelines for generators connected to
the network evolved prior to the advent of significant generation from small systems through power-electronic interfaces.
Although many of these documents are now under review,
limited technical consideration has been given to the relevant
aspects of grid-connected inverters to date. The main issues
highlighted by the distribution network operators (DNOs)
and researchers in this area are: power factor characteristics;
harmonic distortion; islanding; and possible dc injection.
Islanded operation, in which embedded generators continue to
energize the line following disconnection of the main network,
is of concern, but has been extensively dealt with elsewhere,
[1] and [2]. For high local penetrations, prolonged voltage rise
is also an issue, but this is a network, rather than an inverter
issue, and will not be addressed here.
Of particular concern to the network operators is the potential increase in harmonics with their negative impact on distribution losses and the possibility of disruption caused to other

Manuscript received April 9, 2003. This work was supported by the U.K.
Engineering and Physical Science Research Council under Grant GR/L15050.
The authors are with Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology
(CREST), Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Loughborough
University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, U.K. (email:D.G.Infield@lboro.ac.uk).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2004.829950

0885-8977/04$20.00 2004 IEEE

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY

II. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

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Inverter technology has so far not converged and a range of

designs is presently in use. For the purposes of this study the
PG400 from Nada Electronics (now trading as IntelPower Ltd.)
of Gateshead in the U.K. was selected. Since the experiment
is solely concerned with the grid connection issues, these inverters, designed for photovoltaic application, were ordered to
be supplied without the PV interface (which includes the maximum power point tracking and voltage boost circuitry). The resulting inverters were suitable for supply from a 400 V dc rail,
which was provided as part of the experimental arrangement,
and current control (via an RS232 interface) was provided by
the manufacturer.
The PG400 design connects directly to the 230 V singlephase supply, with no intervening grid side transformer. This
was a strategic requirement for the research as it is believed that
inverters up to about 500 W are likely to use this approach in
order to be competitive. It also enables the question of potential
dc injection control to be addressed experimentally. The PG400
inverter uses IGBTs at the relatively low switching frequency
of 20 kHz in order to reduce switching losses. A state of the
art vector control approach is used to regulate real and reactive
power independently. It should be noted that although a reactive
power control feature is not generally available with inverters of
this size, this added degree of freedom available with the PG400
widens the applicability of the study. It is straightforward to set
, the PG400 then behaves like a more conventional unity
power factor inverter.
The experimental arrangement, shown in Fig. 1, allows up
to 5 inverters to be operated in parallel. A sophisticated data
acquisition system enables information from up to 32 channels,
to be sampled at up to 200 kHz, easily fast enough to resolve all
significant harmonics of interest here.

Fig. 1. Overall experimental arrangement.

Fig. 2. Intrinsic variation of power factor with load.

IV. HARMONIC DISTORTION

III. POWER FACTOR CHARACTERISTICS

Since most inverters operate at around unity power factor,

experiments have been undertaken with Q set to zero for the
PG400. The variation of power factor across the output range
is shown in Fig. 2 and this characteristic is comparable to those
measured for other commercial inverters. As could be expected,
the inverter fails to maintain unity power factor at very low
power outputs. To an extent this is explained by the fixed modulation index employed as the feed forward element in the controller. The PG400 uses feedback control of both the real and
reactive currents to improve performance, and the characteristic
shown reflects to an extent the limitations of inverter control
action at low power levels. This should not be of excessive concern to the DNOs, as the power levels are almost insignificant
at these poor power factors.
Investigations have also been conducted into the effect on the
network of operating the inverter during periods when no power
is being produced by the PV array. It was concluded that the effect on the network at these times is minimal, and in any case
the inverter would most likely be disconnected under these circumstances to minimize losses.

All power-electronic devices produce distortion, and inverters

are no exception. However it is important to assess this in the
context of the existing low voltage supply which in general exhibits a far from sinusoidal waveform, and in particular a flat
topped peak caused by electronic power supply loads. Although
the quality of a network supply is conventionally assessed in
terms of voltage harmonics, the grid impedance determines how
these relate to the output current. Consequently harmonics can
be taken here to mean current harmonics as generated by the
inverter, unless specifically stated otherwise. Harmonics arise
in two distinct ways when an inverter is sourcing current into
a network. First, there is the switching harmonic and its side
bands. For the PG400 the fundamental switching harmonic is
at 20 kHz. Being a fixed frequency, the fundamental is reasonably straightforward to attenuate through conventional passive
filtering. The second source of harmonics, and by far the most
significant, relates to the degree to which the switching control
algorithms fail to produce a perfectly sinusoidal current. This
reflects the combined effects of limited resolution (of measured
parameters used in the inverter control), a finite loop time of the
digital controller used in the PG400, limited control gain (for
stability reasons), and other inaccuracies in measurement and
control implementation.

INFIELD et al.: POWER QUALITY FROM MULTIPLE GRID-CONNECTED SINGLE-PHASE INVERTERS

Fig. 3. Effect of phase angle control on total harmonic distortion.

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For a single inverter, the current harmonics have been assessed through a program of detailed measurement, and computer modeling. The degree of total harmonic distortion (THD),
as a percentage of the fundamental current, varies significantly
with the real power output of the inverter. At part load, THD
levels are higher mainly due to measurement resolution errors.
The PG400 exhibits a higher THD when operating at a
leading power factor, i.e., when importing reactive power from
the grid (while exporting real power), as shown in Fig. 3.
This is explained by the lower voltages that occur under these
conditions, and the consequent deterioration in resolution.
Given that PV inverters operate mostly at part load, it is important that performance standards be set which reflect these
conditions. Otherwise, manufacturers will continue to design
for THD targets at rated power, and not optimize their designs
for more typical operating conditions.
Fig. 4 shows the distribution of distortion up to the 50th harmonic for a single inverter at rated power; Table II lists the first
15 of these.
Most of the significant contributions, as expected, are of
relatively low order, but it is noticeable that the even harmonics
(2nd in particular) are significant. This reflects asymmetry in
the current (and therefore switching pattern) waveform over
one cycle, about its mid point. This issue was investigated
further, and found to be mainly due to an unnecessarily large
2nd harmonic component in the reference sine wave pattern
(from a look-up table) used to generate the switching pattern.
Whether the harmonic components are acceptable depends
on which standard or draft standard is being referred to. Both
G83 and IEEE P1547/D10 limits THD to 5% at rated output
so that the total measured at 4.5% is acceptable. However the
IEEE draft places greater restrictions on individual harmonics,
in particular the second harmonic is required to be below 1%.
Table II shows this is not the case for the PG400 as measured,
although correction of the look-up table will remedy this. The
stringent approach to even order harmonic currents reflects
concern that they may add to unwanted negative sequence
currents, adversely affecting three-phase loads.

Fig. 4. Harmonics from a single inverter at rated output.

TABLE I
SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PG400

TABLE II
HARMONICS UP TO FIFTEENTH ORDER

A. Effect of Grid Voltage Waveform

Power quality from inverters is significantly influenced by
minor distortion of the voltage waveform on the network into
which current is being sourced. This has been demonstrated by
a combination of modeling and experiment and a complete de-

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY

Fig. 5.

Transition to islanded operation.

frequency harmonics evident for these particular conditions,

mainly due to the very low grid impedance at these frequencies.
However, these calculations do require knowledge of the phase
relationships for all the major harmonics, which in practice
will not be available. The worst case is no cancellation (giving
a fixed percentage of THD). In practice a limited degree of
cancellation of these lower harmonics can be expected (thus
reducing THD). However, this is very dependent on the type
and mix of inverters, and the conditions under which they are
operating.
The distribution of the harmonics for the combined output
of 4 inverters, all operating at rated power, is shown in Fig. 7.
The THD in this case is 4.3%, which is slightly lower than the
case for a single inverter, and the individual harmonics are very
similar in magnitude.
If the phases of a particular harmonic are clustered around a
common value and are of equal magnitude, a simple approximate expression can be derived as follows that accounts for the
cancellation due to aggregation.
Assume without loss of generality, that the mean phase of
denote
the harmonic components in question is zero. Let
the phasor angles of the individual harmonics. Since these are
by , and
by
.
small we can approximate
The magnitude of the aggregate of the n phasors is given
times the magnitude
simply by
of the individual phasors. For small
this factor becomes
, but since the mean value of is
zero,
, and hence the factor is given simply by:

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scription is available in [9]. In particular it was shown that generation into an ideal grid, provided by a Kikusui power supply
with resistive load, produced a THD of 3.15% whereas connection to the low voltage network at Loughborough gave 5.68%
with all other conditions remaining the same.
An experimental indication of the PG400s performance,
when connected to a near perfect supply, is provided by
measurement of its output when operating islanded (for a few
cycles, prior to disconnection by the protection function of the
inverter) into a purely resistive load. A significant improvement
in the current waveform is shown in Fig. 5 after the point of
disconnection from the network at 2.03 seconds; the voltage
waveform is also shown in the figure and is much nearer to ideal
after this point. The calculated THD figures before and after
disconnection are 6.15% and 3.29% respectively, confirming
the significant effect that network voltage waveform quality
has on inverter operation, and the resultant power quality of
connected inverters.
In interpreting these results, it should be noted that inverters
vary in the way that the reference sine wave is produced. Many,
like the PG400, use an internally generated function (either from
a look-up table, or simple series expansion); but some use the
measured grid voltage as reference. These approaches result in
rather different inverter characteristics. The former will perform
better if the objective is to move the grid voltage toward a more
perfect sine wave, but will suffer more current distortion when
connected to a poor quality voltage source. The latter can be
controlled to generate sinusoidal currents irrespective of the grid
supply waveform, but will do nothing to attenuate existing levels
of voltage distortion. The choice of approach also has implications for the way in which the inverter will operate islanded, and
in parallel with inverters controlled in a different manner. It is
clear that the form of type approval tests likely to be specified in
future standards for grid-connected inverters will influence the
way manufacturers approach this issue.
B. Harmonics From Multiple Inverters

The DNOs concern is focused legitimately on future scenarios that involve many grid-connected inverters embedded in
the distribution system. How the harmonic output of these multiple inverters adds up is, therefore, a key question. Although
switching harmonics can be regarded as occurring with random
phase, [6], this is not the case for the lower frequency harmonics
which constitute the bulk of the THD. Lower order harmonics
are less straightforward to deal with in practice because of this
large but variable degree of phase alignment. Fig. 6 shows this
rather clearly for the case of five inverters, all operating under
similar conditions. This phenomenon is not entirely unexpected
as all the inverters are sensing a common grid waveform for control purposes. Provisional results from a Japanese study confirm
this behavior suggesting that the conclusions apply more generally than the use of data from a single inverter might indicate.
Even with unequal loading, a significant proportion of the correlation persists although it does reduce, and this was found too
by the Japanese who, in addition, used a range of different inverters [10].
The measured harmonics were found to combine, following
standard phasor calculation, with no attenuation of these lower

(1)

where is the standard deviation of the phase angles. Clearly,

the larger the spread, the greater the degree of cancellation. For
, all the components are perfectly in phase and the result is the algebraic sum of the magnitudes, as expected. Equation (1) is straightforward to apply; importantly and in contrast
to most published approaches (for example [11]), its derivation
makes no assumptions regarding the probability distribution of
the phases.
Modern inverters almost all employ control systems to determine commutation, and the complex time domain repercussions
of this make a successful theoretical approach unlikely, and simulation modeling problematic. Nevertheless this issue has been
addressed within the study, as far as facilities permitted.

INFIELD et al.: POWER QUALITY FROM MULTIPLE GRID-CONNECTED SINGLE-PHASE INVERTERS

Phase relationships for selected harmonics.

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Fig. 6.

Fig. 8. Increased THD at part loading.

Fig. 7. Harmonics of combined output of 4 inverters at rated power.

C. Part Load Operation

At part load (power), as measurement resolution thresholds

are approached, the limitations of inverter control become more
apparent. This is manifest in increased THD with reducing
power output. Fig. 8 shows the THD of four individual inverters
at a range of loading down to 10% of rated output, together with
the THD of the aggregate output current. A degree of variation
between the individuals is evident, which becomes more
marked as the output reduces. In all cases the combined THD
is less than all individuals, confirming a degree of cancellation
that becomes more significant as the output falls.
Computer simulation using IsSPICE has been conducted for
various configurations of control system for switching of a conventional H-bridge inverter circuit. The PG400 uses a sophisticated vector rotation technique to control reactive power delivery. The main characteristics of the PG400 have been represented within IsSPICE, and, for comparison, a PI controller
was also modeled. It was found that vector control, correctly
tuned, provided superior current waveforms to the optimized PI
controller. Modeling allows full control of the phase relationship between the operation of the different inverters, which in
reality is unavailable. By arranging that all the switches of the

paralleled inverters are modeled to be exactly in unison, attenuation effects and multiple inverter interaction were investigated.
Figs. 9 and 10 show the combined effects of attenuation, which
can be viewed as a desirable inverter-inverter interaction, and
some clearly undesirable interactive effects. In Fig. 9 the aggregate current waveform from seven inverters modeled using
IsSPICE, is shown for both weak (with an impedance representing 2.5 km of low-voltage cabling to the infinite bus) and
strong grids (with no intervening impedance). The weak grid
connection results in a marginally poorer current waveform so
that interference between the controllers predominates over attenuation (harmonic cancellation being zero due to the deliberate phase alignment).
Fig. 10 suggests that for smaller numbers of inverters, attenuation, which is larger with a weak grid, results in some reduction
in overall harmonic content, while larger numbers display significant increases in THD reflecting potential inverter control
instabilities. Extreme care has been taken to establish that these
results are not a consequence of inadequate numerical solution
within IsSPICE.
It can be concluded that care should be taken to exclude
unwanted interaction when large numbers of inverters are
connected very closely together, as with ac modules, or string
inverters, installed for example on a large building integrated
system. Applications where there is significant impedance
between the inverters themselves (not studied in this project)
will be less likely to exhibit these problems.

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY

with adequate precision. The 0.5% limit set by IEEE P1547/D10

is reasonably achievable in this context. There do remain questions about galvanic isolation between PV and network, where
other design approaches can be applied, but these lie outside the
scope of this work.

VI. CONCLUSIONS

Effect of grid impedance.

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Fig. 9.

Valuable insights into inverter design and control issues have

been gained through the analysis of experimental data and modeling. The topic of harmonic distortion (including dc injection)
has been put in perspective in a way that should reassure the
industry and assist in the development or refinement of appropriate national and international standards.
In particular, it has been shown that for identical inverters,
as commonly found on larger building integrated applications,
only very limited cancellation of lower order harmonics takes
place due to their similar phases, attenuation effects are also limited, and a small degree of unwanted inverter-inverter interaction can be identified which becomes more likely as the number
of interconnected inverters increases. This last issue merits more
detailed investigation and has recently been investigated in the
Netherlands, [12].

REFERENCES

Fig. 10.

Interaction of different numbers of inverters on a weak grid.

V. DIRECT CURRENT INJECTION

It has already been mentioned that no isolation transformer

is included in the PG400; instead real time control is used to
limit the dc component of the generated current. As with all
controllers, a degree of imperfection can be expected, and the
PG400 allows a very small dc component to flow into the grid.
Due to the sensitivity of this issue, and the DNOs concern with
transformer saturation, this issue has been investigated in some
detail. Repeated measurements have shown the dc levels to be
low at around 1% of the inverter output, though these do exceed
the 0.5% limit set in IEEE P1547/D10.
Given possible scenarios with widespread connection of such
transformerless inverters, the aggregation of dc output from numerous inverters was assessed. This was straightforward as the
dc components were found to be approximately normally distributed with zero mean, and so summation across large numbers of inverters will result in an aggregate dc component that
where is the
tends rather quickly to zero (in fact as
number of inverters). It is however important that inverter manufacturers avoid biasing the dc component away from zero, as a
result of poor controller design.
It can be concluded from these results that worries about dc
injection have been exaggerated, and should not be allowed to
prejudice forthcoming standards against the more cost effective
inverter topologies, or to result in unrealistically small allowed
levels of dc which will be problematic and expensive to measure

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Power Applicat., vol. 147, no. 1, pp. 16, Jan. 2000.
[3] N. Jenkins, R. Allan, P. Crossley, D. Kirschen, and G. Strbac, Embedded generation, in Power and Energy Series 31: The Institution of
Electrical Engineers, 2000.
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IEEE, PLEASE PROVIDE MONTH.
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[5] E. F. El-Saadany and M. M. A. Salama, Reduction of the net harmonic
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Recommendations for the Connection of Small-Scale Embedded Generators (Up to 16 A per Phase) in Parallel With Public Low-Voltage Distribution Networks, Electricity Association, U.K., 2002.
[9] A. D. Simmons and D. G. Infield, Current waveform quality from gridconnected photovoltaic inverters and its dependence on operating conditions, Prog. Photovoltaics, vol. 8, pp. 411420, 2000.
[10] CRIEPI, Draft Testing Procedure of Islanding Prevention Measures for
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voltage distortion in a system with multiple random harmonic sources,
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INFIELD et al.: POWER QUALITY FROM MULTIPLE GRID-CONNECTED SINGLE-PHASE INVERTERS

David G. Infield received the B.A. degree in mathematics and physics from the
University of Lancaster PLEASE PROVIDE LOCATION and the Ph.D. degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Kent PLEASE PROVIDE
LOCATION.
Currently, he is Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) and Professor of Renewable Energy Systems with the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Loughborough University, Leicestershire, U.K. He worked first for the Building Services Research
and Information Association, Bracknell, U.K., on solar thermal system design,
and then for the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory PLEASE PROVIDE LOCATION from 1982 until 1993, on wind energy systems and electricity supply
modeling.

Anton D. Simmons received the B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in electronic engineering

from the University of Wales PLEASE PROVIDE LOCATION and the Ph.D.
degree in wind turbine control from Imperial College, London, U.K.
Currently, he is a Part-Time Research Associate at the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), specializing in grid-connected
photovoltaic system performance. His research at CREST concentrates on
the grid interconnection of photovoltaics, with emphasis on power-electronic
interfacing and system operational performance. He was also with Wind &
Sun Ltd. PLEASE PROVIDE LOCATION, where he was involved with
the design of domestic PV systems involving stand-alone and grid-connected
inverters and associated data-acquisition systems.

Gordon A. Smith graduated from the University of Birmingham, Birmingham,

U.K. He received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Leicester PLEASE
PROVIDE LOCATION in 1970 for work on supersynchronous operation of
induction motors.
Currently, he is an Expert Adviser to the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) on power electronics. He also worked on the control
of nuclear reactors, machine drives, and satellite tracking aerials in the industry
for 15 years. His research and consultancy interests include power electronics,
lately applied to renewable energy sources. His recent work has addressed the
anti-islanding protection of PV inverters connected to a utility network.

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Peter Onions received the B.Eng. (Hons.) degree in electrical and electronic
engineering from Loughborough University, Leicestershire, U.K.
Currently, he is a Freelance Electrical/Electronic Engineer. He worked first
in electrical control and distribution before joining the Centre for Renewable
Energy Systems Technology (CREST) in 1996, where he was a Researcher in
the area of grid-connected PV inverters until 2000.