A New Photovoltaic System Architecture of Module- Integrated Converter with a Single-sourced Asymmetric Multilevel Inverter Using a Costeffective Single-ended Pre-regulator

Mohana Sundar Manoharan; Ashraf Ahmed; Joung-Hu Park

A New Photovoltaic System Architecture of Module- Integrated Converter with a Single-sourced Asymmetric Multilevel Inverter Using a Costeffective Single-ended Pre-regulator

Mohana Sundar Manoharan

Ashraf Ahmed

Joung-Hu Park

Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 222-231, Jan. 2017

10.6113/JPE.2019.17.1.222

Asymmetric multilevel inverter

Coupled-inductor

Modulation-index limitation

Module-integrated converter

Voltage pre-regulator

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Abstract

In this paper, a new architecture for a cost-effective power conditioning systems (PCS) using a single-sourced asymmetric cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter (MLI) for photovoltaic (PV) applications is proposed. The asymmetric MLI topology has a reduced number of parts compared to the symmetrical type for the same number of voltage level. However, the modulation index threshold related to the drop in the number of levels of the inverter output is higher than that of the symmetrical MLI. This problem results in a modulation index limitation which is relatively higher than that of the symmetrical MLI. Hence, an extra voltage pre-regulator becomes a necessary component in the PCS under a wide operating bias variation. In addition to pre-stage voltage regulation for the constant MLI dc-links, another auxiliary pre-regulator should provide isolation and voltage balance among the multiple H-bridge cells in the asymmetrical MLI as well as the symmetrical ones. The proposed PCS uses a singleended DC-DC converter topology with a coupled inductor and charge-pump circuit to satisfy all of the aforementioned requirements. Since the proposed integrated-type voltage pre-regulator circuit uses only a single MOSFET switch and a single magnetic component, the size and cost of the PCS is an optimal trade-off. In addition, the voltage balance between the separate H-bridge cells is automatically maintained by the number of turns in the coupled inductor transformer regardless of the duty cycle, which eliminates the need for an extra voltage regulator for the auxiliary H-bridge in MLIs. The voltage balance is also maintained under the discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). Thus, the PCS is also operational during light load conditions. The proposed architecture can apply the module-integrated converter (MIC) concept to perform distributed MPPT. The proposed architecture is analyzed and verified for a 7-level asymmetric MLI, using simulation results and a hardware implementation.

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Cite this article

[IEEE Style]

M. S. Manoharan, A. Ahmed, J. Park, "A New Photovoltaic System Architecture of Module- Integrated Converter with a Single-sourced Asymmetric Multilevel Inverter Using a Costeffective Single-ended Pre-regulator," Journal of Power Electronics, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 222-231, 2017. DOI: 10.6113/JPE.2019.17.1.222.

[ACM Style]

Mohana Sundar Manoharan, Ashraf Ahmed, and Joung-Hu Park. 2017. A New Photovoltaic System Architecture of Module- Integrated Converter with a Single-sourced Asymmetric Multilevel Inverter Using a Costeffective Single-ended Pre-regulator. Journal of Power Electronics, 17, 1, (2017), 222-231. DOI: 10.6113/JPE.2019.17.1.222.