Lecture 8

Solar cell inverters

Olli Pyrhnen
BL40A2400 - Shkjrjestelmt tuuli- ja aurinkoenergiasovelluksissa,
Electrical Engineering in wind and solar systems

Figures: Sarnia 80 MW PV power plant, world record in size 2010,

Photos by First Solar and Enbridge

Lecture 8, additional info, Solar intensity measures

Nominal peak power of a PV plant

Lecture 8, content
Solar inverters
Configurations
Modulation principles
Examples of commercial devices

DC-AC Conversion in PV application [1]

PV panel produces DC voltage in the typical range of a few tens of volts

When PV system is to be connected to the grid, the DC voltage must be converted to AC
voltage
Voltage amplitude must be increased by series connection, dc-booster or transformer
Conversion is made by inverters, H-bridge is most used topology
Current and voltage of the PV-module must be controlable to have maintain high oputput
despite of changes in solar intensity

b)

a)
a) H-bridge topology (with a transformer)
b) Modulation principle with sinus-triange comparison
c) Output of unipolar PWM modulation
Figures from [1]

c)

Different types of PV inverters [2]

Module integrated inverters, power range 50 400 W, very small PV plants

String inverters, power range 0.4 2 kW for small roof-top with one string
Multistring inverters, power range 1.5 6 kW for medium size roof-top plants,
where panels are connected to multiple strings
Mini central inverters, power range > 6 kW, three phase modular topology for
large roof-top installations or small power plants up to 100 kW, unit size 6,8,10 or
15 kW
Central inverters, power range 100 -1000 kW, three phase topology, large power
plants up to multimegawatt range

ABB PVS 300 String inverter 3..8 kW

SMA Sunny Boy 10..12 kW

Siemens Sinvert PVS 0.52 MW

Maximum power point tracking [1]

The maximum power from the panel is reached, when the product of output current and
voltage reaches the maximum
Invererter must have voltage and current controllers to keep the the panel in its optimal
working point
The optimal point changes as a function of
solar intensity
Due to variation, the MPP-controller must
adjust the working point continiously
The tracking can be implemented by applying
small changes in the output of the module
and observing the changes in output power

Figure from [1]. The maximum power is obtained,

When P-V curve and constant power curve
tangentiate to each other. Othervice the panel working point falls into a lower power curve

Requirements of solar inverters [2]

High efficiency is one of the main goals in PV inverter technology

Compared to inverters in motor drives, there are much larger variation
of different topologies
The additional features of PV inverter compared to motor inverters [2]
High efficiency
Input DC-voltage boost
Grid connection filter
Grid disconnection relay
DC switch
Maximum power point tracking control
Anti-islanding protection
Grid synchronization
Data logging and energy metering
20 years or more lifetime

Transformerless PV-inverter [2]

Transformer and galvanic isolation has been eliminated in most of the

modern medium size PV-inverters
High ground capacitance due to PV module sandwich structure creates
high capacitive currents, the capacitance up to 10 nF/kW
The capacitive leakage currents must be taken into account, when
designing inverter and protection system
Two main topologies are used in transformerless PV inverters
H-bridge
NPC-topology
Manufacturers of transformerless small power solar inverters:
SMA, Sunways, Conergy, Ingeteam
Danfoss Solar (Danfoss bought 20% of SMA 2/2014), Refu

Manufacturers of utility scale solar inverters

ABB (ABB bought Power One in 2013), Siemens
The Switch/Vacon,

Modulation and control of solar inverters

Modulation of PV inverter is essential to power losses and leakage currents

The basic modulation schemes for H-bridge topologies are
Bipolar modulation (BP)
Unipolar modulation (UP)
Hybrid modulation

Bipolar modulation
In the figure current paths of bipolar modulation are shown
The diagonal transistors are switched synchronously to each other (S1=S4 or S2=S3)

Positive and negative current paths in H-bridge BP modulation , Figure from [2]

Modulation and control of solar inverters

Pros and cons of Bipolar modulation

+ The panel voltage agains ground VPE has only grid frequency component and
no PWM component, as a result a low leakage current level and EMC
disturbances are obtained
-

High switching ripple in the current due high voltage pulses (+ or -, no zero
voltage)
High core losses in the filter due to bipolar voltage over filter
Reactive power exchange between capacitance Cpv and L1(2) during the
freewheeling, both swiches operated every switching instant
Low
efficiency

Not suitable for transformerless PV applications due to low efficiency < 97 %

Modulation and control of solar inverters

Unipolar modulation

Every switch has own switching command

Also zero voltage sequence available
Four different zero sequencies
S1 or S4 on, positive current
S2 or S3 on, negative current
Same switching frequency in all transistors

Pros
+ lower current ripple, smaller filter
+ Unipolar voltage over filter, low losses
+ High efficiency up to 98%
Cons
Switching frequency in Vpe
High leakage current and EMI

Figure from [2]

Not suitable for transformerless PV system

Modulation and control of solar inverters

Hybrid modulation

One leg is switches at grid frequency (A)

Another leg is switching at high frequency (B)

Pros
+ Unipolar voltage in filter, lower core losses
+ Higher efficiency due to low fsw in leg A
Cons
Higher current ripple, bigger filter
Vpe has square wave voltage
high EMI

Not suitable for transformerless PV system

due to high EMI

Figure from [2]

Modulation and control of solar inverters

H5 Inverter
Patented topology of SMA
Used in Sunny Boy inverters
H-bridge with additional switch in DC-link
No reactive energy exchange between L and C
No high frequency in VPE
Pros
+ Unipolar voltage in filter
+ Higher efficiency (no reactive power exchange)
+ Low EMI
Cons
One extra switch
Three switches in series, conducting losses

Figure from [2]

Figure from [3]

Modulation and control of solar inverters

SUNNY BOY 8000TL-US / 9000TL-US / 10000TL-US with H5 topology [3]

Modulation and control of solar inverters

HERIC Inverter
Patented topology by Sunaways
AC by pass system
No reactive energy exchange between L and C
No high frequency in VPE
Pros
+ Unipolar voltage in filter
+ Higher efficiency (no reactive power exchange)
+ Low EMI
Cons
Two extra switches

Figure from [2]

Figure from [4]

Modulation and control of solar inverters

REFU Inverter
Patented topology of REFUSol
Used in Refusol Inverters
AC by-pass
No reactive energy exchange between L and C
No high frequency in VPE
Additional Boost converter
Pros
+ Unipolar voltage in filter
+ Higher efficiency (no reactive power exchange)
+ Low EMI
Figure from [2]

Cons
Double DC voltage needed
Two extra switches

Figure from [2]

Modulation and control of solar inverters

NPC Half bridge I

Middle point of DC link Is clamped

with C1 and C2

Lower transistor voltage ratings

possible due to series connection

Requires double voltage

compared to H-bridge

Used in Danfoss TripleLynx

Figure from [2]

Modulation and control of solar inverters

NPC Half bridge II

Conergy version of NPC

Figure from [2]

PV transformer alternatives

High frequency transformer

Low frequency transformer

Figure from [2]

Case ABB, PVS300 String inverter [5]

Case ABB, PVS300 String inverter [5]

Case ABB, PVS300 String inverter [5]

Single line diagram, one phase system

Case ABB, PVS300 String inverter [5]

Single line diagram, three phase system

Case ABB, PVS300 String inverter [5]

Case ABB, PVS300 String inverter [5]

Case ABB, PVS300 String inverter [5]

Referencies
1. ABB: Technical Application Papers No.10, Photovoltaic plants
2. Teodoresku, Liserre, Rodrigus, Grid Converters for Photovoltaic and Wind power
Systems, Wiley 2011
3. http://files.sma.de/dl/10707/SUNNYBOY8910TL-DUS110318W.pdf
4. http://www.sunways.eu/static/sites/default/downloads/de/produkte/solarinverter/nt1/Sunways_SI_NT1phase900V_Datasheet_DE_10-11.pdf
5. ABB, Product manual, PVS300 string inverter
6. Video of Power-One module: http://www.power-one.com/renewableenergy/products/solar/string-inverters/aurora-uno-single-phase/uno-20-i-uno-25i/series