Proceeding of the IEEE 28th

Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering

Halifax, Canada, May 3-6, 2015

Photovoltaic Inverters Technology

Shadi H. Shehadeh, Student IEEE, Hamed H. Aly, Member IEEE, and M. E. El-Hawary, Fellow IEEE

scale. PV systems can be designed to provide either AC or DC

Abstract— Demand for renewable energy has grown to achieve waveforms and may include some energy storage capability.
sustainable, and clean energy not associated with a carbon foot- Depending on system specifications there are configurations
print. Photovoltaic energy (PVE) is a significant renewable and certain classifications required. There are two primary
resource, and this paper presents an overview of current research
types of PV systems commonly available on the market,
on PVE systems and technology. Various topologies for PV power
converter/inverter technologies are reviewed, and discussed with stand-alone and grid connected [4].
respect to their advantages and drawbacks.
i. Stand-alone PV Systems
Index Terms—Solar Energy, Converters, Inverters, Off-grid systems are preferred when connection to the grid
Photovoltaic (PV) Systems, Energy Conversion.
is unfeasible or impossible. Examples are consumer
electronics and remote locations. These applications are run
I. INTRODUCTION solely from the power produced by the solar cells as shown in
Fig. 1 [5].
P ower generated by solar technology has increased in the
past twenty years. The total global capacity was 138GW
as of 2013 [1]. Solar energy, employs one of two ways to
PV energy storage is a stand-alone system. This allows for
storage of energy for low power demand and can provide
energy during peak demand times or when the solar radiation
generate electricity. The first, which is not treated in this is non-existent. Off-grid systems with storage are often
paper, is thermal where the heat energy irradiated by the sun is employed in areas with no access to the grid [5].
collected and concentrated as a means of heating water, which
produces steam which is then used to drive a turbine for power
generation. The second method of harnessing solar energy,
and the primary concern of this work, involves use of
photovoltaic (PV) cells, which are generally placed in an array
on large panels which are positioned optimally so as to receive
the maximum amount of sunlight falling upon them. The cell
silicon or other semiconductor material, undergoes electron
excitation. This process results in direct conversion of sunlight Fig. 1 Stand- alone System
to electricity, which is then be either stored or fed to a stand-
alone load or distribution grid infrastructure [2-3]. The third stand-alone PV system is a hybrid system. A
The paper is organized as follows: section II describes the hybrid system allows for an interconnection between a PV
two main photovoltaic system structures, section III discusses system and another form of power production [6].
photovoltaic integration topologies, and section IV
summarizes current research and development directions on ii. Grid Connected PV Systems
photovoltaic integration topologies. Conclusions are offered in The grid connected PV system is interfaced with the
Section VI. distribution grid with or without battery storage via a power
converter. The PV system must be synchronized with the grid
II. PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM CLASSIFICATION in voltage, frequency, and phase. These systems vary in size,
from roof-mounted to PV power generation stations [7, 8].
a. Classification of PV Systems The main advantage of grid-connected systems is that when
power is not available from the PV system, power can be
Photovoltaic systems consist of several interconnected
drawn from the interconnected central distribution grid. The
components, depending on the application. These systems are
PV system helps to improve grid voltage and overall
designed to accomplish specific tasks ranging from powering
reliability. It is desired to develop a cost effective and reliable
small portable devices to providing power on a much larger
method for integration of PV systems with the current power
Manuscript received . grid [7].
S. H. Shehadeh, and M. E. El-Hawary are with the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova
Scotia, Canada (E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]).
H. H. Aly is with Ivan Curry School of Engineering, Acadia University,
Canada. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (E-mail: [email protected])

436
978-1-4799-5829-0/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE
 III. PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM INVERTERS IV. PHOTOVOLTAIC INTEGRATION TOPOLOGY
Inverters take a DC waveform and transform it into a
The topologies are classified according to the number of
sinusoidal waveform using switches. There are two types of
stages, and the system configuration [13-15]. The isolation
inverters, two-level inverters and multi-level inverters.
and the number of processing stages are discussed here.
a. Two-level Inverters
a. Number of Processing Stages
The two-level inverter is the classical inverter design. An Typically, the prevalent topologies in use have one or two
example of a single-phase two-level inverter is shown in Fig. stages. The number of stages is significant in determining the
2. The functional mechanism depends on the state of the complexity of the PV system and cost. A single stage is the
switches. The on-off switch states result in two different most desirable topology because of the advantages associated
voltage levels at the output. It is possible to achieve a single with that structure. There are problems however which can
and three-phase structure of a two-level inverter [9]. appear during implementation and some of the benefits can be
lost. Multiple stage inverters can accept a wide range of
b. Multilevel Inverters
voltage inputs. Multiple stage inverters are typically more
Multilevel inverters are advantageous in comparison with expensive, more complex, and relatively inefficient [13].
two-level inverters particularly when used in medium and
high-power applications. This is because they are able to b. Isolation
synthesize a higher output voltage. The output of these
inverters is a stepped function as compared to the square wave Isolation in a PV system inverter is usually achieved using a
produced by a two-level inverter. Thus, there is less distortion transformer which can be placed on either the grid frequency
and significantly reduced harmonic content in the output side (low frequency – LF) or on the source frequency side
waveforms. The most commonly used multi-level inverter (high frequency – HF). Using a high frequency transformer
topologies are the diode-clamped, flying capacitor, and the results in solutions which are more compact in size, but
cascade inverter as shown in Fig. 3. The operational and special care is needed in the design of the transformer so that
structural specifications of the three multi-level inverter potential losses can be reduced [16, 17].
topologies are detailed in [10- 12]. Newer solutions utilize pulse width modulating DC-AC
inverters with IGBTs which are switched at 10 and 20 kHz.
This leads to much better quality output waveform and device
performance [3].
Connection of the grid to a DC side without using a
transformer can cause further leakage currents due to parasitic
capacitance to ground. These currents in turn increase
conducted and radiated electromagnetic emissions and
contribute to current harmonics injected into the utility grid as
well as power losses. The amplitude and spectrum of leakage
current depends on the converter topology as well as on the
switching strategy and on the resonant circuit created by the
ground capacitance, the inverter, any applied filters and the
impedance of the utility grid itself [16].
Fig. 2 Two level inverter
c. Advanced Topologies
Advances in power converter technology have made them
more efficient, cheap, and allow easy power grid integration.
In what follows, various topologies based on the integration of
PV systems are discussed.

i. Topology #1

This topology consists of a dc–dc boost converter followed

by seven- level inverter as shown in Fig. 4 [17]. C1 and C2 are
the independent input voltage sources of seven- level inverter.
(a) (b) (c) They are controlled by S1 and S2 to determine the discharge
Fig. 3 Multi –level inverter: a) single phase leg of a diode clamped inverter. b) path and they are given by [17]
Single leg of a three level of flying capacitor inverter. c) Single leg of a five
level cascade inverter ଵ
ୡଵ ൌ  (1)
ଶሺଵି஽ሻ ୱ

437
 ଵ
ୡଶ ൌ  (2)
ሺଵି஽ሻ ୱ

where ୱ is the solar cell array output voltage and D is duty

ratio of switch S1.
S3 and S4 transfer two level of the output voltage of dc- dc
converter to three levels. H- Bridge changes the negative
voltage polarity every half cycle and generates seven– level
voltage at the output. Only one of these switches is switched at
Pulse width modulation frequency at any time to generate the
proper output voltage. The different output voltage for this
୚ ଶ୚
topology are shown in Table I when ୡଵ ൌ ౚౙ and ୡଶ ൌ ౚౙ .
ଷ ଷ

Fig. 5 Topology#2

TABLE II
The switching states of Topology#1
On- State switches Switching at high Vo region Ccf
frequency
Fig. 4 Topology#1 S2, S3 and S7 S5 and S6 [-VDC -Vcf, - VDC] Discharging
S3 and S7 S1, S2, S5 and S6 [-VDC, -Vcf] Discharging
TABLE I S1, S3 and S7 S5and S6 [-Vcf, 0] Discharging
The switching states of Topology#1 S4 and S7 S1, S2, S5 and S6 [0, VDC -Vcf] Discharging
On- State switches Switching at Vo region S1, S4 and S8 S5 and S6 [VDC -Vcf, VDC] Discharging
high frequency S2, S3 and S8 S5 and S6 [-VDC, -VDC +Vcf] charging
S6 and S7 S3 ሾെܸௗ௖ ǡ െʹܸௗ௖ Τ͵ሿ S3 and S7 S1, S2, S5 and S6 [-VDC +Vcf, 0] charging
S6 and S7 S4 ሾെʹܸௗ௖ Τ͵ǡ െܸௗ௖ Τ͵ሿ S2, S4 and S8 S5and S6 [0, Vcf] charging
S3, S4, and S6 S7 ሾെܸௗ௖ Τ͵ǡͲሿ S4 and S7 S1, S2, S5 and S6 [Vcf, VDC] charging
S8 S5 [0,ܸௗ௖ Τ͵] S1, S4 and S8 S5 and S6 [VDC, VDC +Vcf] charging
S5 and S8 S4 ሾܸௗ௖ Τ͵ ǡ ʹܸௗ௖ Τ͵ሿ
S4, S5 and S8 S3 ሾʹܸௗ௖ Τ͵ǡ ܸௗ௖ ሿ
iii. Topology #3

ii. Topology #2
This topology uses dc–dc converter with hybrid transformer
[19]. Pulse width modulation (PWM) and resonant power
Fig. 5 shows the nine -level inverter. It includes two cascaded conversions are used in this topology by adding small resonant
full bridges (CFB) which are supplied by a DC source and inductor ୰ to the switched-capacitor ୰ as shown in Fig. 6. In
flying capacitor. Different output levels sets can be generated this way, inductive and capacitive energy transfer
by controlling the ratio between two sources [18]. Two sets of simultaneously to the high voltage dc bus which increases the
switches are used in this typology. S1, S2, S5 and S6 are
delivered power. Five different stages for one switching cycle
IGBT while S3, S4, S7 and S8 are MOSFET. Different
are shown in Table III. The boost conversion ratio is given by
generated output voltage regions when Vcf < 0.5VDC are
[19]
shown in Table II. These generated regions depend on the ௡ାଶ
ratio between two sources, states of the switches and the status ൌ (3)
ଵି஽
of Ccf if it is charging or discharging. Nine equally spaced
୚
output regions are generated whenୡ୤ ൌ ౚౙ . Depending on the where n is turn ratio of transformer and D is duty ratio of
ଷ
output voltage, the adequate region will be chosen which switch S1. This topology introduced the term n into boost
controls the voltage of the flying capacitor. M1, M2 and S9 conversion compare to other traditional boost converters [20].
reduce the current surge. Furthermore, these switches help to The transferring energy from resonant current can be measured
keep the voltage across the parasitic capacitor of PV constant by resonant contribution  ୰ and is given by [19]
and eliminate the ground leakage current. ௡ ୚౟౤
୰ ൌ Ǥ (4)
ଶ஽ ୚౥

where ୧୬ is input voltage and୭ is output voltage. Resonant

contribution index increased when the input voltage increased.
This will reduce the conduction and switching losses
438
 Fig. 6 Topology#3 Fig. 7 Topology#4

TABLE III TABLE IV

Five different stages of Topology#3 Charging and discharging of battery [21]
Stage On- State Cr Cc Condition Battery
component ‫ܜܝܗ۾ < ܖܑ۾‬ discharging
1 S1 charging discharging ‫ܜܝܗ۾ > ܖܑ۾‬ charging
2 D1 nothing charging ‫ܜܝܗ۾ = ܖܑ۾‬ Nothing happens
3 D1 and D0 discharging charging
4 D0 discharging nothing
v. Topology #5
5 S1, and D0 discharging Nothing

This is a high-frequency ac-link photovoltaic (PV) inverter,

iv. Topology #4 as seen in Fig. 8 [23]. This topology uses two types of
switches. Unidirectional switches which interface between the
Fig. 7 shows quasi-Z-source inverter (q-ZSI) with battery PV cells and the ac-link. Bidirectional switches can be used
[21].The battery is connected in parallel with C1which is instead to let reactive power transfer between the capacitor on
different from topology in [22] which the battery is connected the PV cells side and the load when the grid fault occurs.
in parallel with C2. In this topology, controlling the output of Bidirectional switches are used to interface between ac-link
the inverter, tracking the maximum power point of the PV and the load , the ac-link is made of pair of parallel inductor
panel, and controlling the discharging and charging of the and capacitor which produces partial resonant. When the
battery can be done at the same time. In addition, this topology resonance happens, the voltage across the switches will be
operates in continues conduction mode (CCM) which zero which reduces the losses and voltage stress. The ac – link
overcomes the drawback of operating at dis-continues charges and discharges at high frequency which reduces the
conduction mode (DCM) which cause deformation in the inductor size compare to other topologies [24, 25]. The ac-
output power of the inverter. They are two modes for this link passes through twelve modes of charging, discharging and
topology. First mode when two switches at the same leg turn resonating as shown in table V. The ac- link transfers first
on at same time which produces shoot through state. Another energy to pair of phase that has small value of line to line
mode which produces eight states which represents the non- voltage and then to pair of phase that has next larger value.
shoot through state. The power, current and peak output
voltage of the this topology equations are given by [21]

୧୬ െ ୭୳୲ ൅ ୆ ൌ Ͳ (5)

୐ଶ െ ୐ଵ ൌ ୆ (6)
ெ
୭ ൌ ሺʹ୆ െ ୧୬ ሻǤ (7)
ଶ

where ୧୬ is PV panel power, ୭୳୲ is output power topology,

୆ is the battery power, ୐ଵ is current of inductor L1, ୐ଵ is
current of inductor L2, ୆ is battery current, ୆ is the battery
voltage, ୧୬ is the input voltage of the inverter and  is the
modulation index.
Depends on the relationship between the input and output
power, battery is charging or discharging as shown in table IV.
Fig. 8 Topology#5

439
 TABLE V TABLE VI
The modes of ac- link of Topology#5 The modes of Topology#6
Mode Ac- link status Switches at Switches at Vo Mode Transformer C1 On state Switches Switches
link frequency line components at high at line
frequency frequency frequency
1 Charging S1 and S4 - - 1 Charging - Sp1 S1 Non
2 Resonating - - - (positive
3 Dis-charging - S8 and S15 Vab ac cycle)
4 Resonating - - - 2 Dis-charging to Charging Sp1 Non Non
5 Dis-charging - S8and S16 Vac C1
6 Resonating - - - 3 Dis-charging - Sp1 and Non non
7 Charging S2 and S3 - - to the grid Dp2
8 Resonating - - - 4 Charging from - Sp1 Non Sp2
9 Dis-charging - S5 and S9 Vba the grid
10 Resonating - - - 5 Dis-charging to Dis- Non Non non
11 Dis-charging - S5 and S10 Vca Cdc charging
12 Resonating - - - 6 Dis-charging to - D Non Non
Cdc

vi. Topology #6
vii. Topology #7
This topology uses fly-back inverter which operates in
modified boundary conduction mode (BCM) [26].Working in The topology shown in Fig .10 is active buck- boost
this mode helps to eliminate the drawbacks of operating in inverter [29]. It is a quasi-single stage inverter which helps to
continues conduction mode (CCM) and discontinuous eliminate the drawbacks of using single or multistage
conduction mode (DCM) [27, 28]. In this topology, inverters. It consists of full bridge and AC/AC units which
bidirectional switches are used at the secondary side of the share inductor and capacitor. It has the ability to buck –boost
the input voltage using active switches instead using
inverter instead of diode and switch in the conventional fly
transformers or passive components. A sinusoidal pulse width
back inverters [27] as shown in Fig. 9. This modification helps
modulation (SPWM) method is used to control the switches of
to charge the transformer from the grid side by small amount
full-bridge unit. The relationship between the ୧୬ and ˜୭ of his
of current which lead to have zero-voltage switching (ZVS) topology is given by [29]
for S1 as well switches on the secondary side of the ெǤ௦௜௡௪௧
transformer without using additional components. The amount ୭ ൌ ୧୬ Ǥ (9)
ଵିௗ
of the current transferred from the grid controlled by operating
the switches under a variable switching frequency. The where M is the modulation ratio, d is the duty ratio of switches
inverter goes through six different modes for one switching Q3 or Q4 which it depends on if the output is positive half-
cycle as shown in table VI. The capacitor C1 across S1 helps cycle or negative half-cycle. Q1and Q2 are operated in
opposite mode (1-d) of Q3and Q4. The inverter works in buck
to prevent the voltage across the s1 to jump to high value
mode when ୧୬ > ˜୭ and works in buck mode when ୧୬ < ˜୭ .
immediately when it is turned off .Also, it helps to force the
The different operating modes of the inverter are shown in
voltage across the s1 to be zero when s1 turned on. The duty
table VII.
cycle of S1 depends on the input (ܸௗ௖ ), output voltageሺ‫ݒ‬௔௖ )
and the turn ratio of transformer (N) and is given by [26]

௩ೌ೎ ሺ௪௧ሻ
†ሺ™–ሻ ൌ (8)
௩ೌ೎ ሺ௪௧ሻାே௏೏೎

Fig. 10 Topology#7

Fig. 9 Topology#6

440
 TABLE VII ୚౥ ଵା௡
The modes of Topology #7
‫ܯ‬௖௖௠ ൌ ൌ (10)
୚౟౤ ଵି஽

Buck mode
where n turns ratios of coupled inductor is and D is duty
d-1=1Î‫ ܗ܄‬ൌ ‫ ܖܑ܄‬Ǥ ‫ۻ‬Ǥ ‫ܜܟܖܑܛ‬
ratio of switch S1.
Cycle SPWM On state switches Switching at line From Eq. 10, high dc gain can be achieved without using
frequency large values of duty ratios and turns ratios like other
Positive S1 and S4 Q1 and Q2 Q4 topologies [14, 21. 20] which leads to reduces the losses and
Negative S2 and S3 Q1 and Q2 Q3
improve the efficiency.
Boost mode
࢙࢏࢔࢚࢝
M=1Î‫ܗ܄‬ ൌ ‫ ܖܑ܄‬Ǥ
૚ିࢊ

Cycle SPWM On state switches Switching at high

frequency
Positive S1 and S4 Q2 and Q4 Q1 and Q3
Negative S2 and S3 Q1 and Q3 Q2 and Q4

viii. Topology #8

Fig. 11 Topology#8
This topology is part of grid connected micro inverter which
is used to step up the input voltage from PV panel and transfer TABLEVIII
the voltage to DC/AC inverter. It uses a Zeta converter and a The modes of Topology# 8
coupled inductor [30]. In this topology, coupled inductor is Mode C1 C2 C3 On state Switches
components at high
used instead of input inductor in the conventional Zeta frequency
converter [31, 32] as shown in Fig. 11. This modification 1 - Charging Dis- D1 S1
helps to transfer the leakage inductor energy to the load which charging
improves the efficiency. Furthermore, it improves the voltage 2 Dis- Dis- Charging D3 S1
charging Charging
gain of boosting by using turns ratio of the coupled inductor. 3 Charging Dis- Charging D1and D3 Non
Active switch S1 is used to help to isolate the PV panels from Charging
the conversion system. This topology operates in continuous- 4 Charging Charging Dis- D1and D2 Non
conduction mode (CCM). The inverter goes through five charging
5 - Charging Dis- D2 Non
different operating modes for one switching cycle as shown in charging
table VIII. The dc voltage gainሺ‫ܯ‬௖௖௠ ) is given by [30]
Table IX presents General Review of Presented Topologies.
TABLE IX
General Review of Presented Topologies
Topolog Figure Type of Number of Vin Po Efficiency Switching Transforme Inductors/capacitor Switches
y connection stages frequency r
Top. 1 [5] Grid multiple 70 v 0.5 kw 94.8% 15.36KHz yes L=2 ,C=2 6
Top. 2 [6] Grid multiple 300 v 2 kw 97.1% 20 KHz no L=2,C=2 11
Top. 3 [7] - single 20-45 v 30- 96.1- 74.5KHz yes L=1, C=3 1
220w 97.3%
Top. 4 [8] Grid & single Wide - - 20KHz no L=2,C=2 6
stand alone range
Top. 5 [9] Grid single Wide - 94%- 7.2/8.5KHz no L=5,C=5 10
range 96.5%
Top. 6 [10] Grid single 35-75 v 250w 85%- 27/ 65KHz yes L=1,C=2 5
95%
Top. 7 [11] Grid & quasi-single 100-200 v - 92.5%- 60Hz - no L=1,C=1 8
stand alone stage 96.5% 20kHz
Top.8 [12] - single 25 v 250w 94.8%- 50KHz no L=1, C=3 1
97.3%

d. Advantage and disadvantage of topologies presented more components compared with single stage topologies.
High input voltages are preferred, because there are less Top.4 and 7 are preferred for a grid and standalone inverter
ohmic losses and may not necessarily require a transformer on group, because of the allowable relatively wide input voltage,
the output such as Top.2, and 7. Topologies with multiple high efficiency, and lower number of components. Top. 7 is
stages and high switching frequencies have higher efficiency quasi-single stages which combines the advantage of single
such as Top. 1, and 2. However, multistage inverters have and multi-stage inverter such as high efficiency and fewer

441
components. Top. 3 and 8 are DC-DC converter which have - No transformer input voltages
- Size of the capacitors and
boosting capability at high efficiency rate with lower inductors reduced
components. -Voltage stress of switches
Table X presents the advantages and disadvantages of the reduced
-DC link removed
topologies discussed. Top. 6 - Soft switching - Duty cycle increase, turn ratio
In general, PV inverter technology research aims to reduce - Single stage reduction, and input voltage
costs and increase the operational efficiencies of the power - Zero-voltage switching reduction, cause more losses
achieved without more - Large input capacitor
conversion process. PV inverter technology has made great components - Relatively large leakage
improvements in these areas in recent years. - Conduction losses for inductance of transformer
In particular, one focal point has been to seek a reduction in switches and diode are small
-Turn on/off loses for the
the number of components being used in PV inverters. switches are small
Advances in single-stage inverter topologies using fewer Top. 7 - Compact structure - Large number of switches
switching devices, capacitors, inductors, and filtering - No transformer - Large input inductor
components have been achieved. Reducing the number of - Number of capacitors and - Efficiency is low when
inductor reduced inverter works in boost
components, of course, leads to lower manufacturing costs and - Buck–boost ability mode
overall better efficiency by removing the potential for losses. Top. 8 - Duty ratio of switch - Voltage stress for switch and
Using fewer components also results in having a physically reduced output diodes are 50, 150,
- Turns ratio of coupled and 200 respectively, which
smaller product in addition to decreased probability of inductor reduced is considered high
component failure. There is a recent focus on PV systems - Number of switches - Efficiency reduced at full-
which employ topologies without the use of transformers. reduced load
- No transformer - Efficiency and voltage are
effected by parasitic
TABLE X resistances
Advantage and disadvantage of Presented Topologies

Topology Advantage Disadvantage V. CONCLUSIONS

Top. 1 - Filter inductor size reduced - Large capacitors and inductor
- Unity power factor in the converter In this paper, the various types of inverters and converters
- Fewer switches used - Efficiency decreases for low have been reviewed and explored. Although there are many
- One switch using PWM input voltages
-Switching and conducting - Topology uses transformer possible applications for PV systems ranging from small and
losses reduced isolated to large and grid connected, the conclusion reached is
Top. 2 - Leakage current is reduced - Larger number of switches that PV energy is a technology being utilized and relied on
- Efficiency is increased - Complex control system for
- Most of switches are Cfc capacitor more and more. Economies of scale have a large effect on the
switching at grid frequency - Total harmonic distortion of costs involved in producing such systems.
- No Transformer output current increased The emerging trends revolve around reducing costs of
when the ratio of ୡ୤ /ୢୡ
increased manufacturing by reducing the number of components and
- Total harmonic distortion of increasing the efficiency. Many of the topologies explored
output voltage increased
when the ratio of ୡ୤ /ୢୡ offer significant advantages and have relatively few
decreased drawbacks; although drawbacks still exist and hinder
-Restricted boosting capability
Top. 3 - High efficiency over wide - Voltage stress for switch and efficiency. The use of switches results in losses, and the use of
input range output diode are 60 and 350 capacitors and inductors make systems prone to short lifetime
- Capacitance of switched respectively, which is
capacitor reduced considered as being high and potential/eventual failure.
-Transformer conduction
losses reduced
- Input current ripple reduced ACKNOWLEDGMENT
- Voltage stress of switch is
independent of input This work was supported by The Killam Trusts Scholarship.
voltage
-When input voltage increase
efficiency increased due to
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