1942 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO.

3, MAY/JUNE 2014

Low-Voltage Ride-Through of Single-Phase

Transformerless Photovoltaic Inverters
Yongheng Yang, Student Member, IEEE, Frede Blaabjerg, Fellow, IEEE, and Huai Wang, Member, IEEE

Abstract—Transformerless photovoltaic (PV) inverters are go- the distributed grid [10]–[20]. Since PV systems are typically
ing to be more widely adopted in order to achieve high efficiency, connected to low- and/or medium-voltage distributed networks,
as the penetration level of PV systems is continuously booming. the grid standards are mainly focused on power quality issues,
However, problems may arise in highly PV-integrated distribution
systems. For example, a sudden stoppage of all PV systems due frequency stability, and voltage stability [13]. It is required
to anti-islanding protection may contribute to grid disturbances. that PV systems should cease to energize local loads in the
Thus, standards featuring with ancillary services for the next- presence of a grid fault, e.g., a voltage sag and a frequency
generation PV systems are under a revision in some countries. The disturbance [13], [17], which is known as an anti-islanding
future PV systems have to provide a full range of services as what protection.
the conventional power plants do, e.g., low-voltage ride-through
(LVRT) under grid faults and grid support service. In order to Due to the still declined PV cell price and the advanced
map future challenges, the LVRT capability of three mainstream power electronics technology, the penetration degree is going to
single-phase transformerless PV inverters under grid faults is be much higher. In view of this, the impact of highly penetrated
explored in this paper. Control strategies with reactive power in- PV systems, even serving low-voltage networks, on the grid
jection are also discussed. The selected inverters are the full-bridge can no longer be neglected. A sudden stoppage of all grid-
(FB) inverter with bipolar modulation, the FB inverter with dc
bypass, and the Highly Efficient and Reliable Inverter Concept connected PV systems in an unintentional islanding operation
(HERIC). A 1-kW single-phase grid-connected PV system is an- mode could trigger much more severe grid problems than the
alyzed to verify the discussions. The tests confirmed that, although initial event, e.g., power outages and voltage flickers [2], [10],
the HERIC inverter is the best candidate in terms of efficiency, it [21]. In order to solve the potential issues, several European
is not very particularly feasible in case of a voltage sag. The other countries have updated the grid codes for low- or medium-
two topologies are capable of providing reactive current during
LVRT. A benchmarking of those inverters is also provided in this voltage systems. The next-generation PV systems have to pro-
paper, which offers the possibility to select appropriate devices and vide a full range of services as what the conventional power
to further optimize the transformerless system. plants do. For instance, the German grid code requires that the
Index Terms—Efficiency, grid support, leakage current elim- generation systems connected to the medium- or high-voltage
ination, low-voltage ride-through (LVRT), photovoltaic (PV), networks should have low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) capa-
reactive power injection, single-phase systems, transformerless bility under grid faults [12], [17]. In the new Italian grid code,
inverters. the generation units connected to low-voltage grid with the
nominal power exceeding 6 kW have to ride through grid volt-
I. I NTRODUCTION age faults [18]. Other countries like Japan [19]–[22] are under-
taking a revision of their current active grid standards in order

T HE YEAR 2012 has been another year for an extraor-

dinary growth of photovoltaic (PV) systems with total
global operating capacity reaching the 100-GW milestone [1].
to accept more PV energy in the line. However, some standard
committees, e.g., IEEE Standard Committee, still have some
catching up to do [23].
However, this high penetration level of PV systems may also Aside from the ancillary services, achieving high efficiency
introduce negative impacts on the grid. Concerns like power and high reliability is always required in PV systems in order
quality issues, efficiency, and emerging reliability are becoming to reduce energy losses and extend service time [3], [7], [8],
of high interest and intense importance [2]–[9]. Thus, many grid [24]. Compared to conventional PV systems, transformerless
codes have been released to regulate PV system integration with systems are increasing in popularity, particularly in European
markets, because of the high efficiency [13], [25]–[35]. Many
transformerless topologies are derived by adding extra power
Manuscript received July 3, 2013; revised September 2, 2013; accepted devices into the full-bridge (FB) inverter. For example, the FB
September 6, 2013. Date of publication September 20, 2013; date of cur- inverter with dc bypass (FB-DCBP) adds two power devices at
rent version May 15, 2014. Paper 2013-IPCC-572.R1, presented at the
2013 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, Denver, CO, USA, the dc side [26], [27], while the Highly Efficient and Reliable
September 16–20, and approved for publication in the IEEE T RANSACTIONS Inverter Concept (HERIC) topology provides an ac bypass
ON I NDUSTRY A PPLICATIONS by the Industrial Power Converter Committee leg [29]. Considering the fast growth of grid-connected PV
of the IEEE Industry Applications Society.
The authors are with the Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg Uni- systems, it is better for the next-generation transformerless PV
versity, 9220 Aalborg East, Denmark (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; inverters to equip with LVRT capability in order to fulfill the
[email protected]). upcoming requirements efficiently and reliably.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Current stresses, power losses on the switching devices, and
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2013.2282966 dynamic responses of transformerless inverters are dependent

0093-9994 © 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
YANG et al.: LOW-VOLTAGE RIDE-THROUGH OF SINGLE-PHASE TRANSFORMERLESS PHOTOVOLTAIC INVERTERS 1943

generation of a varying instantaneous common-mode voltage

(CMV, vCMV ), since the CMV will induce a common-mode
current (leakage current). The relationships can simply be de-
scribed as
vAO + vBO
vCMV = (1)
2
dvCMV
iCMV = Cp (2)
dt
where vAO and vBO are the voltages of the two midpoints of
Fig. 1. Single-phase FB grid-connected PV system with an LCL-filter. an FB inverter shown in Fig. 1, iCMV is the common-mode
current, and CP is the stray capacitor between PV panels and
on the topology configuration in both normal operation and the ground.
LVRT operation mode. Thus, it is necessary to explore the Aside from those solutions to limit the leakage current by
performance of these PV systems under different conditions. In adding passive damping components and by modifying the
this paper, three transformerless PV inverters—the FB inverter modulation techniques, the elimination can also be achieved
with bipolar modulation (FB-Bipolar), the FB-DCBP inverter, either by disconnecting the PV panels from the inverter or
and the HERIC inverter—are studied in terms of current by providing a bypass leg at the ac side. For instance, the
stresses, efficiency, and LVRT capability with reactive power FB-DCBP inverter patented by Ingeteam [26], [27] shown in
injection. First, a brief introduction of the selected inverters Fig. 2(a) disconnects the PV panels from the inverter using four
is given. Then, the focus is shifted to the control of trans- extra devices (two switching devices SD5 and SD6 and two
formerless PV systems under grid faults. Control strategies and diodes D7 and D8 ), while the HERIC inverter [Fig. 2(b)] by
reactive power injection possibilities for single-phase PV sys- Sunways [29] provides an ac bypass using two extra switching
tems are discussed in Section III. Simulation results of LVRT devices (SD5 and SD6 ). There have been other transformer-
operation examples are demonstrated in Section IV, as well as less topologies reported in the literature. Some are based on
experimental tests of an FB inverter system. A benchmarking the multilevel topologies [31]–[33], and some are derived by
of the selected inverters mainly in terms of leakage current optimizing traditional transformerless inverters [34], [35].
elimination, LVRT capability, and efficiency is presented before In respect to the modulation of a transformerless inverter, it
the conclusions. should not generate a varying CMV. With a dedicated modu-
lation scheme for those inverters, there is no reactive power
exchange between the LCL-filter and the capacitor CPV at
II. S INGLE -P HASE T RANSFORMERLESS PV I NVERTERS
zero-voltage states, and thus, higher efficiency is achieved.
Underpinned by the advanced and dedicated control meth- However, extra power losses, including switching losses and
ods, the PV inverters are responsible for converting dc source conduction losses, will appear on the required additional
generated from PV panels to ac source efficiently and reliably. switching devices in these inverters, as shown in Fig. 2. More-
A widely adopted single-phase PV inverter is the FB topology, over, the power losses of an individual switching device are
as shown in Fig. 1, where it is connected to the grid through an dependent on its commutation frequency, which differs with
LCL-filter in order to ensure the injected current quality. There inverter topologies, and its electrical stress. For example, the
are two main modulation strategies available for this inverter: extra devices S5 and S6 in the FB-DCBP inverter are com-
1) unipolar modulation scheme and 2) bipolar modulation mutated at a high switching frequency (e.g., 10 kHz), while
scheme. those in the HERIC inverter commutate at the line fundamental
When the transformer is removed from a grid-connected PV frequency (e.g., 50 Hz). Since the total power losses will further
system, safety concerns (e.g., leakage current) will arise since introduce redistributions of both current and thermal stresses
the lack of galvanic isolations. Thus, transformerless inverters on the devices among these inverters, the efficiency and the
should eliminate or at least reduce the leakage current, e.g., by lifetime will be affected [3], [7].
including passive damping components and/or by modifying Concerning LVRT operation, the control systems and the
the modulations [26]. In the light of this, the FB-Bipolar is dynamic response of the aforementioned inverters possibly
more feasible in single-phase transformerless PV applications. differ with the configurations and the modulation schemes.
However, in every switching period, there are reactive power They may have a significant impact on the capability of reactive
exchange between the LCL-filter and the capacitor CPV and power injection to support the grid voltage recovery under grid
also core losses in the output LCL-filter, leading to a low faults. Moreover, the overstresses on the switching devices may
efficiency of up to 96.5% [13]. also cause failures during LVRT and thus increase the mainte-
In order to further improve the efficiency and reduce the leak- nance cost. Those aspects should be taken into consideration
age current, a tremendous number of transformerless topologies for the design and operation of transformerless PV systems.
have been developed [13], [25]–[35], most of which are based Thus, essentially, this paper explores the performance of the
on the FB inverter, as it is shown in Fig. 1. As aforementioned, mainstream transformerless inverters with the consideration of
the first priority of a transformerless inverter is to avoid the such operation conditions.
1944 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MAY/JUNE 2014

Fig. 2. Two main grid-connected transformerless PV systems with LCL-filter (SD-insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module, S-IGBT, and D-Diode).
(a) FB with dc bypass topology [26], [27]. (b) HERIC [29].

Fig. 3. Hardware schematic and control diagram of single-phase transformerless grid-connected PV systems with LVRT capability.

III. C ONTROL OF T RANSFORMERLESS PV I NVERTERS A. Current Control Loop

U NDER G RID FAULTS
For the current control loop, as detailed in Fig. 4, the existing
According to the grid requirements, the design of next- control methods, such as proportional resonant (PR), resonant
generation transformerless PV systems should take into account control (RSC), repetitive controller (RC), and deadbeat con-
not only the shape of grid current (power quality issues) but also troller (DB) can be adopted directly, since they are capable
the behavior of reactive power injection under grid faults. Fig. 3 of tracking sinusoidal signals without steady-state errors [14],
shows the hardware schematic and overall control structure [17], [36]–[39]. Furthermore, applying the Park transformation
of a single-phase single-stage transformerless PV system with (αβ → dq) leads to the possibility of proportional–integral (PI)
LVRT capability. controllers to regulate the injected current, and afterward, the
Typically, the control strategy applied to a single-phase grid- ∗
modulation reference vinv can be obtained by means of the
connected system includes two cascaded loops [13], [14]: inverse Park transformation (dq → αβ) [37], [40]. However,
1) an inner current control loop, which has the responsibili- as it is shown in Fig. 4, the implementation of a PI-based
ties of power quality issues and current protection of the current control loop in the synchronous rotating reference
inverter; frame requires a signal generation system, which can produce
2) an outer voltage control (or power control) loop, in which a quadrature component corresponding to the input, and thus,
the voltage or power is controlled to generate desired the complexity increases [37]. Since the current control loop is
current references for the inner control loop. responsible for the power quality, this responsibility should also
YANG et al.: LOW-VOLTAGE RIDE-THROUGH OF SINGLE-PHASE TRANSFORMERLESS PHOTOVOLTAIC INVERTERS 1945

Fig. 4. Implementation of current control loop for single-phase single-stage systems in different reference frames.

be effective and valid in the design of current controllers and (P ∗ and Q∗ ) can directly be set by the operators/control unit.
also the LCL-filter. By introducing harmonic compensators With the help of orthogonal signal generator systems, the grid
(HCs) for the controller [13], [14] and adding passive damping current reference i∗g can be expressed as
for the filter, an enhancement of the current controller tracking
 
performance can be achieved. 1 GP (s)(P ∗ − P )
i∗g = 2 2 [vgα vgβ ] (4)
Since the PR + HC controller presents a good performance in vgα + vgβ GQ (s)(Q∗ − Q)
terms of accurate tracking (harmonic rejection) [13], [14], [38],
[39], this controller is selected in this paper as the inner current
where vgα and vgβ are the orthogonal components of the grid
controller. Compared to the conventional PI-based current con-
voltage, P and Q are the averaged active power and reactive
troller in the synchronous rotating reference frame, the PR +
power, respectively, P ∗ and Q∗ are the power references, and
HC controller does not require quadrature signal generator and
GP (s) and GQ (s) are the PI-based controllers for the active
dq-current decoupling, as shown in Fig. 4. The transfer function
power and the reactive power, respectively.
of this current controller can be given as
In respect to the orthogonal signal generator systems,
s  krh s
Gi (s) = kp + kr 2 + (3) several methods have been reported to create the corre-
s + ω0 2 s2 + (hω0 )2
h=3,5,7
sponding quadrature signal of the grid voltage, such as the
Hilbert-transform-based method, the inverse Park-transform-
in which kp is the proportional gain, kr is the fundamental RSC based method, and the second-order generalized integrator
gain, krh is the control gain for h-order resonant controller (SOGI) method [9], [13], [14], [44]–[46]. Due to the advantages
(h = 3, 5, 7), and ω0 is the grid fundamental frequency. of simple implementation and delay-free property, the SOGI
generation system is adopted in this paper according to the
benchmarking results presented in [9] and [13].
B. Voltage Control Loop (Power Control Loop)
There are also other control possibilities available for the
For the outer voltage control loop, it provides the system outer control loop, such as the droop-based control and the in-
operation conditions (e.g. grid voltage amplitude and grid fre- stantaneous power control [37], [42], [43], [47]–[49]. The
quency), and then, it generates a current reference, which is droop-based power control method is implemented based on
subsequently utilized in the inner current control loop. Thus, the assumption that the distributed line is mainly inductive [47].
it offers the possibilities to add control methods into this loop However, in fact, the PV systems have been dominated by resi-
to shape the grid current in LVRT operation mode with the dential applications with low rated power and low voltage grid.
purpose of reactive power injection. For example, based on the In this case, such assumption is not valid. The instantaneous
single-phase P Q theory [9], [17], [40]–[44], the injected grid power control method acts directly on the instantaneous power,
current reference can be produced by regulating the averaged and subsequently, the reference current is produced. Thus, there
active power and reactive power, as it is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. is no need to calculate the averaged active power and reactive
This power control method is intuitive and simple, since the av- power for this control strategy [37]. It may be a good candidate
eraged active power and the averaged reactive power references for single-phase applications in LVRT operation mode.
1946 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MAY/JUNE 2014

operation mode. Then, it is controlled and injected into the grid

to support the voltage recovery.
Although the LVRT demand (by the German grid code)
shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is initially set for medium- and/or
high-voltage applications—wind turbine power systems, it is
worth mentioning that low-voltage PV systems are already on
an upward track to dominate in the electricity generation [1],
[2]. In this case, the LVRT demands are expected to be extended
to all the PV systems, even including the PV modules [9]–[11],
[19]–[22]. Through reactive power injection during LVRT, the
grid voltage can be stabilized, and also, an avoidance of PV
power generation can be achieved [2], [9], [21]. Thus, the
following presents the reactive injection strategies for single-
Fig. 5. LVRT requirements defined in different countries covering a wide phase systems, starting with an overview of possible reactive
range of applications [9]–[12], [17]–[19]. power injection strategies for three-phase applications.
For three-phase applications, the reactive power injection
strategies can be summarized as follows: 1) unity power factor
control strategy; 2) positive- and negative-sequence control strat-
egies; 3) constant active power control strategy; and 4) constant
reactive power control strategy [13], [14], [21], [50]–[55]. Un-
balanced grid conditions are more common in three-phase sys-
tems. Since there is an interaction between voltage sequences
and current sequences under grid faults, either the controlled
active power or the controlled reactive power will present
oscillations [56]. Thus, in [56], the zero-sequence control path
has been introduced to further increase the control freedoms
Fig. 6. Reactive current injection requirements for medium- and/or high- and to eliminate the oscillations in the controlled power.
voltage wind turbine power systems defined in E.ON grid code [11], [12]. For single-phase systems, there are even less control free-
doms. By considering the overcurrent protection of PV invert-
Nevertheless, in regard to the aforementioned control meth-
ers and the reactive current injection requirements under grid
ods, e.g., the P Q control strategies, a fast voltage sag detection
faults, possibilities for reactive power injection of single-phase
and an accurate synchronization system will strongly contribute
PV systems are proposed as follows.
to the dynamic performance and the stability margin of the
1) Constant Peak Current Strategy: With this control strat-
whole control systems. Even for the instantaneous power con-
egy, there is no risk of inverter shutdown due to overcurrent
trol method, the syntheses of instantaneous power reference
protection, since the peak of the injected grid current (Ig max ) is
from the averaged active power and reactive power references
kept constant during LVRT. The injected reactive current level
are affected by the knowledge of grid conditions [37].
(Iq ) is calculated according to Fig. 6. The grid peak current
Ig max can be set as the rated current level IN of the PV system,
C. Reactive Power Injection Strategies
for example,
The “Power Profiles” unit in Fig. 3 is used to generate the av- 
Ig max = IN
erage active power and reactive power references for the power (5)
Iq = k(1 − vg )IN
controllers, and subsequently, the references are controlled to
produce the grid current reference, as discussed previously. In in which vg is the grid voltage, 0.5 per unit (p.u.) ≤ vg ≤
the normal operation mode, the average active power reference 0.9 p.u., and k ≥ 2 p.u.. According to Fig. 6, the PV inverter
P ∗ is the output of a maximum power point tracking system, as should generate full reactive power (Iq = IN ) when vg <
shown in Fig. 4, and the system is required to operate at unity 0.5 p.u.. The phasor diagram for this control strategy is shown
power factor (i.e., Q∗ = 0 var). in Fig. 7(b), from which it can be observed that the output active
When a voltage fault is detected by the “Sag Detection” unit, power decreases (Id < IN and Vg < Vgn ) during LVRT.
the PV system enters into the LVRT operation. It is required by 2) Constant Active Current Strategy: Another control pos-
the grid codes that the system should withstand the voltage drop sibility under LVRT operation is to keep the active current
for a specified short period, as it is shown in Fig. 5. At the same constant. For the purpose to extract as much energy from the
time, the PV system should inject reactive power (current) to PV panels as possible, for example, the level of active current
support the grid voltage recovery [9], [17]–[22]. Fig. 6 shows an can be controlled to be that of the rated current (Id = IN ), as
example of the required reactive power injection during LVRT it is shown in Fig. 7(c). The injected reactive current (Iq ) is
for medium- and high-voltage wind turbine power systems proportional to the voltage sag depth in a certain voltage range
specified in the German E.ON grid code. According to the (0.5 p.u. ≤ vg ≤ 0.9 p.u.), as it is shown in Fig. 6. With this
requirements defined in Fig. 6, the averaged reactive power reactive power injection strategy, the amplitude of the injected
reference Q∗ is a function of the grid voltage level in LVRT current may exceed the inverter limitation (Imax ). In order
YANG et al.: LOW-VOLTAGE RIDE-THROUGH OF SINGLE-PHASE TRANSFORMERLESS PHOTOVOLTAIC INVERTERS 1947

Fig. 7. Representations of the grid current and the grid voltage of a single-phase PV system with different reactive power injection strategies (vg ≥ 0.5 p.u.).
(a) Unity power factor operation. (b) Constant peak current strategy. (c) Constant active current strategy. (d) Constant average active power strategy.

Fig. 8. Closed-loop control system of a single-phase transformerless system with LVRT capability based on the single-phase P Q theory and PR + HC current
controller.

to avoid inverter shutdown due to overcurrent protection, the During the design and the operation of the PV inverters, those
following condition should be fulfilled during the design and aforementioned constraints should be considered. In particular,
the operation of a PV inverter: for the next-generation PV systems, the provision of reactive
 power both in normal operation and under grid faults, and the
I max
1 + k 2 (1 − vg )2 ≤ (6) requirements of LVRT will come into force in the near future.
IN If those aforementioned aspects are not well considered, the
maintenance costs and energy losses may increase.
where vg is the grid voltage and k ≥ 2 p.u.
Considering a predesigned inverter with a robustness margin,
Imax = 1.25 IN , and k = 2 p.u., it is not possible to utilize IV. S IMULATION AND E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS
this control strategy to inject the required reactive power, since Fig. 8 presents the closed-loop control system for a single-
the minimum margin is 1.41 for k = 2 p.u. In such a case, phase transformerless PV system. It is observed in Fig. 8 that
the PV system should also derate the active power output in an effective power calculation method in terms of fast dynamic
order to generate enough reactive power. Otherwise, overrated response and accurate computation, together with an advanced
operations may introduce failures to the whole system and synchronization unit, can contribute to the LVRT performance
shorten the inverter serving time, and thus, the maintenance cost of the entire system. In this paper, the SOGI-based phase locked
increases. loop has been selected as the synchronization unit because of its
3) Constant Average Active Power Strategy: Similar to the robustness [9], [13], [14], [45]. The average power calculations
constant active current control strategy, a more intuitive way are based on the discrete Fourier transformation (DFT). Since
to maximize output energy (i.e., to deliver maximum active the DFT uses a running window to do the calculation, it
power) is to keep the average active power constant during naturally will introduce a delay [57]. The other parameters of
LVRT. However, the required injection of reactive power might the system are listed in Table I. A voltage fault (0.43 p.u.)
pose a risk of overcurrent protection with this control strategy. is generated by switching S1 and S2 of the sag generator
Under this situation, the currents can be expressed as shown in Fig. 3 and the experimental setup of an FB system
 shown in Fig. 9. The control system has been implemented in a
Id = v1g IN dSPACE DS 1103 system. A Danfoss VLT FC302 three-phase
(7)
Iq = k(1 − vg )IN FB inverter is used, and it is configured as a single-phase FB
system in the experiments. A Delta dc source is adopted, and
in which vg and k are defined previously. Thus, the following the dc voltage is 400 V.
constraint should be satisfied to avoid inverter shutdown due to
overcurrent protection: A. Simulation Results
  2
1 I max Simulations are first tested in MATLAB using PLECS block-
1 + k 2 vg − vg2 ≤ . (8)
vg IN set for the modeling. During LVRT operation, the control
1948 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MAY/JUNE 2014

TABLE I
S IMULATION AND E XPERIMENTAL PARAMETERS

Fig. 10. Average current stresses of IGBT devices in the three transformerless
PV inverters with different voltage levels: (I) Normal operation (0.9 p.u. ≤
vg < 1.1 p.u.), (II) LVRT with constant peak current control (0.5 p.u. ≤ vg <
0.9 p.u.), and (III) full reactive power injection (vg < 0.5 p.u.).

[13], [28]. This is implied in Fig. 11(c), in which the grid

current is severely distorted at voltage zero-crossing points in
LVRT operation. Considering that large current distortions will
introduce more power losses, may trip the inverter overcurrent
protection, and further may cause failures of the power devices,
the HERIC transformerless inverter is not particularly suitable
for use in single-phase systems in LVRT operation with reactive
power injection, although the averaged powers are controlled.
However, it can achieve a high efficiency among these three
topologies operating at unity power factor under normal condi-
tions, which can be observed from Fig. 10, where the current
stress is shown and the benchmarking results in Table II. Due
to the lowest current stresses on the FB devices and the extra
Fig. 9. Experimental setup of a single-phase FB system. devices, a cost-effective design can be achieved for HERIC
inverter in the normal operation considering the efficiency and
system sets the reference power according to a detected voltage reliability [34].
sag depth, and the system will start to inject reactive power into
the grid once the fault is confirmed. In the cases, the voltage sag
B. Experimental Tests (FB System)
is 0.43 p.u., and thus, according to Figs. 6 and 7, the average
reactive power Q∗ should be 490.2 var during LVRT, and the Figs. 12 and 13 show the experimental results for a single-
active power P ∗ should be 290 W when the constant peak phase FB system. It can be seen from Fig. 12 that, by apply-
current control strategy is adopted. The simulation results are ing bipolar modulation strategy, the CMV of an FB inverter
shown in Figs. 10 and 11. has been kept constant. Thus, it would not generate leakage
As it is shown in Figs. 10 and 11, in a wide range of grid currents. Fig. 13 demonstrates that the FB inverter is capable
voltage level, the FB-Bipolar inverter can provide the required of riding through a low-voltage fault. It can inject the required
reactive power during LVRT operation. The FB-DCBP inverter reactive power into the grid, and at the same time, the average
is also capable of riding through the voltage sag within a voltage active power generation is limited. Since the constant peak
range of 0.5–0.9 p.u. However, it also presents a varying vCMV current control strategy is used in the tests, the amplitude of the
(high leakage current) under grid faults, as shown in Fig. 11(b). grid current is kept constant during LVRT [Fig. 13(c)], which
Moreover, the current stresses on the extra devices of FB-DCBP validates its effectiveness. When the voltage sag is cleared, the
are significantly higher than those on the four devices of an FB power control method based on the single-phase P Q theory
inverter, as it is shown in Fig. 10. The high stresses might induce can fast change the system to unity power factor operation, as
failures to the whole inverter. it is shown in Fig. 13. However, due to the power calculation
Since the HERIC inverter is disconnected from the grid delay and the frequency swing, the transient current presents
when the transformerless inverter is also short-circuited in order distortions, particularly during voltage recovery. Nevertheless,
to avoid leakage currents, the inverter can only operate at those tests demonstrate the effectiveness of the power control
unity power factor (i.e., no reactive power injection capability) method and the reactive power injection strategy used in this
YANG et al.: LOW-VOLTAGE RIDE-THROUGH OF SINGLE-PHASE TRANSFORMERLESS PHOTOVOLTAIC INVERTERS 1949

Fig. 11. Performance of the three grid-connected transformerless PV systems in LVRT operation (0.43 p.u. voltage sag): Grid voltage vg (in volts), grid current
ig (30 × A), active power P (in watts), reactive power Q (in vars), and CMV vCMV (in volts). (a) FB with Bipolar modulation. (b) FB with dc bypass inverter
(FB-DCBP). (c) FB with ac bypass inverter (HERIC).

TABLE II
B ENCHMARKING OF THE T HREE T RANSFORMERLESS I NVERTERS

Fig. 12. CMV of a 1-kW FB inverter (dc voltage: 400 V) with different modulation strategies: vCMV (500 V/div). (a) Common mode voltage with unipolar
modulation. (b) Common mode voltage with bipolar modulation.

paper in terms of fast response and feasible compliance to the With respect to the reactive power injection control, three
upcoming grid requirements. possibilities have been proposed and discussed. The constant
peak current control strategy has been verified by experiments.
The results show that the HERIC inverter can achieve a high
V. C ONCLUSION
efficiency, but it is not particularly suitable for use in the
The LVRT capability of three mainstream single-phase trans- next-generation PV systems with LVRT capability or reactive
formerless PV inverters has been explored in this paper. A power injection. For this inverter, a possible way to ride-through
benchmarking of those inverters has also been presented in voltage fault is to modify the modulation scheme during LVRT
terms of efficiency, LVRT capability with reactive power injec- but at the cost of reducing efficiency. The performance of
tion, current stresses, and leakage current rejection. the FB-DCBP inverter is satisfactory in LVRT operation. It
1950 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MAY/JUNE 2014

Fig. 13. LVRT operation of a 1-kW single-phase FB system with bipolar modulation and constant peak current control strategy (0.43 p.u. voltage sag): (a) Grid
voltage vg (100 V/div) and grid current ig (5 A/div), (b) average active power P (500 W/div) and average reactive power Q (500 var/div), and (c) transient
behavior of grid voltage vg (100 V/div) and grid current ig (5 A/div).

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[39] X. Yuan, W. Merk, H. Stemmler, and J. Allmeling, “Stationary-frame Yongheng Yang (S’12) received the B.Eng. degree
generalized integrators for current control of active power filters with zero in electrical engineering and automation from North-
steady-state error for current harmonics of concern under unbalanced and western Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China, in
distorted operating conditions,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 38, no. 2, 2009. He is currently working toward the Ph.D.
pp. 523–532, Mar./Apr. 2002. degree in the Department of Energy Technology,
[40] H.-R. Seo, S.-J. Jang, G.-H. Kim, M. Park, and I.-K. Yu, “Hardware based Aalborg University, Aalborg East, Denmark.
performance analysis of a multi-function single-phase PV-AF system,” in During 2009–2011, he was enrolled in a master–
Proc. ECCE, Sep. 20–24, 2009, pp. 2213–2217. doctoral program in the School of Electrical Engi-
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2002, vol. 4, pp. 1815–1820. ing that period, he worked on the modeling and
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quality control strategy for single-phase inverters in distributed generation (PV) systems. From March to May 2013, he was a Visiting Scholar in the
systems,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 798–806, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University,
Mar. 2011. College Station, TX, USA. His research interests include grid detection,
[43] M. Prodanovic, K. De Brabandere, J. Van Den Keybus, T. Green, and synchronization, and control of single-phase grid-connected PV systems in
J. Driesen, “Harmonic and reactive power compensation as ancillary different operation modes, and reliability for next-generation PV inverters.
1952 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 3, MAY/JUNE 2014

Frede Blaabjerg (S’86–M’88–SM’97–F’03) re- Huai Wang (S’07–M’12) received the B.Eng. de-
ceived the Ph.D. degree from Aalborg University, gree in electrical and electronic engineering from
Aalborg, Denmark, in 1992. the Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
From 1987 to 1988, he was with ABB-Scandia, Wuhan, China, in 2007 and the Ph.D. degree in
Randers, Denmark. He is with Aalborg University, electronic engineering from the City University of
where he became an Assistant Professor in 1992, an Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, in 2012.
Associate Professor in 1996, and a Full Professor Since 2012, he has been with Aalborg University,
of power electronics and drives in 1998. His current Aalborg, Denmark, where he is currently an Assis-
research interests include power electronics and its tant Professor with the Department of Energy Tech-
applications in wind turbines, photovoltaic systems, nology. In 2013, he was a Visiting Scientist with the
reliability, harmonics, and adjustable speed drives. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
Dr. Blaabjerg received 15 IEEE Prize Paper Awards, the IEEE Power MA, USA. In 2009, he was with the ABB Corporate Research Center, Baden,
Electronics Society (PELS) Distinguished Service Award in 2009, the EPE- Switzerland. He has contributed to over 50 journal and conference papers
PEMC Council Award in 2010, the IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics and filed three patents. His current research interests include the reliability of
Award in 2014, and the Villum Kann Rasmussen Research Award in 2014. dc-link capacitors, reliability of power electronic systems, high-voltage dc-dc
From 2006 to 2012, he was an Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON power converters, time-domain control of converters, and passive-component
P OWER E LECTRONICS. He was a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE PELS reduction technologies.
from 2005 to 2007 and for the IEEE Industry Applications Society from 2010 Dr. Wang was a recipient of six paper awards and project awards from indus-
to 2011. try, the IEEE, and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. He serves as a Guest
Associate Editor for the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON P OWER E LECTRONICS
Special Issue on Robust Design and Reliability in Power Electronics and a
Session Chair for various conferences on power electronics.