DC to AC Inverter for Solar Panel

Stanislav Arendrik, (Aug 2010)

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Main Topics
Main topics:

Solar panel description and characteristics

Main parameters of the inverter
Structure and block schematic of the inverter
Blocks description

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Solar cell simple description

Photons

in sunlight hit the solar panel

and are absorbed by semiconductor
material silicon.
Electrons

(negatively charged) are

knocked loose from their atoms, allowing
them to flow through the material to
produce electricity. Due to special
composition of solar cell, the electrons
are only allowed to move in a single
direction.
An

array of the solar cells converts

solar energy into a usable amount of
direct current (DC) electricity.
source: wikipedia

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Solar cell characteristics

A solar cell may be modeled by a current source in parallel with

a diode, shunt and series resistances.

IL represents the max current of the solar panel (short current)
Diode forms the I-V characteristic
Shunt resistor represents the leakage currents (very small)
Series resistance represents the wiring losses

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Solar cell characteristics - variations

For most crystalline silicon solar cells the change
in VOC with temperature is about -0.50%/C

Impact of the product of the series resistor and

short-circuit current (ISCRS) is about 25mV/cell.

Impact of the parallel resistance is small.

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Solar cell characteristics example

The maximum power point (MPP) on the I-V curve varies with real working conditions
high dependency on the irradiance and lower dependency on the temperature.

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Maximum Power Point

In the technical parameters of the solar cell

panel are defined:
VMP voltage at MPP
IMP current at MPP

The Inverter for the solar cell panel must

achieve the operation on the MPP. This
method is called as MPPT maximum power
point tracking.

The presented inverter has implemented the

P&O (perturb & observe) algorithm for MPPT.

To get maximum power from a PV panel

required operating at the optimum voltage.

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Selected range of the solar panels

The amount of the solar cells is used to build one solar panel. Usually 72, 36, or other.

For this design was selected panel with 72 cells, this implies MPP at 36V, which fairly
corresponds to 3 x 12V lead acid batteries in series as the back-up for the power source for
the inverter. This battery is used as the energy accumulator for the off-grid inverter usage.

The characteristic of the selected solar panel:

PMAX = 180W
VSC = 44.4V
VMP = 36V
ISC = 5.25A
IMP = 5A

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Inverter structure

Option

DEMO Inverter

Charger

Battery

MPPT

Boost
stage

PV String

Output
filter

Inverter

GRID

PV Panel
Isolation

Isolation

Main HW/SW

Selected design way

Possible design way

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Main Parameters of DC to AC Inverter

Input voltage source

Output voltage

Lower than 3%;

Fault Protection

400VA;

Harmonic distortion of the output voltage

This design aims 1-phase 230V 50Hz (115V 60Hz optional);

Single design, just different power components;
Tolerance +5% to -10%;

Output power

Voltage level from solar panel VMP = +36V

Solar energy can be stored in Lead-Acid batteries
Battery charger can be implemented (phase 2)
Selected 3 pcs Lead-Acid batteries in series

Output over-current, over-voltage, short-circuit;

Input under-voltage;

Signal output

Serial link RS-485 to main system

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Block Diagram of DC to AC Inverter

Block Diagram of Inverter

The whole DC to AC inverter consists of main power parts:

MPP Tracking for solar panel output software implemented

DC low voltage to DC high voltage converter
DC high voltage to AC sine output voltage inverter
Output filter
Isolated RS-485 line

Associated control and fault detection circuits

Both DC-DC converter and DC-AC inverter is controlled by one DSC MC56F8023.

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DC to DC Converter

Push-Pull type with bridge rectifier on the isolated secondary side

Advantage:
Simple transformer windings
Simple control
Good efficiency
MPPT algorithm integrated in the software control loop

D1
+400V DCBus

T1
L1

PWM1
Q1

C1
+ C2

PWM2

Q2
0V DCBus
D2

0V DC In
+36V DC In

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DC to DC Converter

Push-Pull type control signals:

Dmin

Dmax

The duty-cycle for the PWM1 and PWM2 has the

same value

The PWM2 control signal is shifted of T/2 later

against the PWM1 signal

PWM 1

t
U

The actual duty-cycle value D depends on the

actual power transferred through the transformer

PWM 2

PWM period T
PWM Duty-cycle variation
PWM 2 = PWM 1 + T/2
Dmax < 0.5 T

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DC to AC Inverter

Full-bridge type inverter

Advantages:
Simple +400V DCBus used to generate 230V AC
Simple PWM control
Simple reconstruction filter for AC line output
Can be controlled by half-bridge drivers or isolated gate transformers
Power MOSFETs or IGBTs can be used
+400V DCBus

AC Line_1
Q3

Q5
L2
C3
AC Line_2

PWM4

DRIVER

Q4

Q6

PWM3

DRIVER

0V DCBus

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DC to AC Inverter

+Umax

Full-bridge type inverter control signals:

-Umax

The PWM3 and PWM4 are complementary

PWM 3

The duty-cycle varies ideal from zero to full

period in sine amplitude and power line
frequency

t
U

Real duty-cycle varies from 5% to 95% of the

period

PWM 4

When the duty-cycle is <50%, the negative

part of the output sine voltage is generated

PWM period T

When the duty-cycle is >50%, the positive part

of the output sine voltage is generated

PWM Duty-cycle variation

PWM 4 = PWM 3
D = (5% - 95%) T

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Output filter

Integrated output EMI filter used

Advantages:
Compact standard design
Good EMI properties
Sufficient load properties

AC Line_1

Line L

L3

C5
Line PE

C4
C6
AC Line_2

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Line N

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Auxiliary Power Supplies

Auxiliary power supplies power the on-board circuitry
The HW comparator enables the first
DC/DC converter if the input voltage is >
18V DC from PV panel

MOSFET

MOSFETs

DRIVERS

TR
PUSH-PULL

+5VA-ISO
DC/DC
0VA-ISO

The main +12V DC power supply acts as

the source for all other DC/DC converters

+12V-ISO
ISOL

IGBT

DC/DC

+36V

0V-ISO

DRIVERS

FULLBRIDGE

BAT Relay +
+5VA-ISOA

HW Comparator

ISOL

ANALOG

DC/DC

PV

Two isolated power supplies provide the

power for the isolated secondary side of the
inverter

PARTs

3 x 12V

+12V

ANALOG

+5VA

If the battery is connected, the inverter

runs from battery and battery is charged by
the solar panel

+5VA

0V-ISOA

PARTs

+36V

DC/DC

+12V

+5VA
DC/DC

+12V
0V

+5VA

0V

ANALOG
0VA

PARTs

+3.3V
DC/DC

The control DSC is placed on the primary

low voltage side

DSC

+3.3V
0V

Isolated circuitry

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Control circuits

DSC MC56F8023 used

Controls the DC/DC converter and DC/AC inverter
MPPT software algorithm for the solar panel implemented
Battery charger control as option
RS-485 line interface for supervisors line communication
Output over-current, over-voltage, short-circuit and input under-voltage fuses implemented
ON-GRID or OFF-GRID mode

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Battery connector
Solar Panel Battery
Connectors present
relay

Low power
DC-DC converters
For control circuitry
Push-Pull
Primary side

DSC MC56F8023
Control Board
RS-485 Line
Battery Charger HW

Inverter view
Full-Bridge Inverter
+ L-C Filter

DCBus +400V

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Output Filter

Power
Output

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Conclusion

One standard DSC MC56F8023 used for whole inverter control

Possibility of use as the ON-GRID or OFF-GRID connected inverter

Possibility of use of wide range of the solar panels:

One piece of the 36V type with the output power up to 450W
Two pieces of the 18V types in series with the total output power up to 450W

Inverters can be connected in parallel at the output to boost the output power in the OFF-GRID usage

The inverter starts run when the sufficient amount of the power is available from the solar panel (if battery
not connected)

The 3 x 12V lead-acid batteries in series are used as the energy accumulator

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DEMO Connection

DEMO Start-up sequence:

Switch

OFF both switches (down position)

Connect

load bulb (60W to 100W) at output

Connect

the solar panel

Put

The green LED shines, red LED not

OFF-GRID switch ON (up position)

Switch

ON the main switch

The

Fault LED indicates the over-current when

shines, switch OFF the main switch, wait about 2030 sec and switch ON the main switch.

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Literature
[1]: http://www.solarserver.com/knowledge/basic-knowledge/photovoltaics.html
[2]: http://www.nikhef.nl/~h73/kn1c/praktikum/phywe/LEP/Experim/4_1_09.pdf
[3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell
[4]: http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=56F802X&tid=mDHp
[5]: http://www.simosolar.com/uploadfile/learn/uploadfile/200904/20090417030623524.pdf

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