1292 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO.

5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

A Review of Single-Phase Grid-Connected Inverters

for Photovoltaic Modules
Soeren Baekhoej Kjaer, Member, IEEE, John K. Pedersen, Senior Member, IEEE, and Frede Blaabjerg, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract—This review focuses on inverter technologies for these demands were achieved in the past, how they are reached
connecting photovoltaic (PV) modules to a single-phase grid. The today, and perhaps how they will be realized in the future. Next
inverters are categorized into four classifications: 1) the number follows an overview of some existing power inverter topologies
of power processing stages in cascade; 2) the type of power de-
coupling between the PV module(s) and the single-phase grid; 3) for interfacing PV modules to the grid. The approaches are fur-
whether they utilizes a transformer (either line or high frequency) ther discussed and evaluated in order to recognize the most suit-
or not; and 4) the type of grid-connected power stage. Various in- able topologies for future PV inverters, and, finally, a conclusion
verter topologies are presented, compared, and evaluated against is given.
demands, lifetime, component ratings, and cost. Finally, some of
the topologies are pointed out as the best candidates for either
single PV module or multiple PV module applications. II. SPECIFICATIONS, DEMANDS, AND STANDARDS

Index Terms—AC module, photovoltaic (PV) power systems, Inverter interfacing PV module(s) with the grid involves two
single-phase grid-connected inverters. major tasks. One is to ensure that the PV module(s) is operated
at the maximum power point (MPP). The other is to inject a
sinusoidal current into the grid. These tasks are further reviewed
I. INTRODUCTION
in this section.

P HOTOVOLTAIC (PV) power supplied to the utility grid

is gaining more and more visibility, while the world’s
power demand is increasing [1]. Not many PV systems have
A. Demands Defined by the Grid
Since the inverter is connected to the grid, the standards given
so far been placed into the grid due to the relatively high by the utility companies must be obeyed. In particular, the fu-
cost, compared with more traditional energy sources such as ture international standard (still a Committee Draft for Vote-
oil, gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, and wind. Solid-state inverters CDV) IEC61727 [3] and the present standards EN61000-3-2
have been shown to be the enabling technology for putting [4], IEEE1547 [5] and the U.S. National Electrical Code (NEC)
PV systems into the grid. 690 [6] are worth considering. These standards deal with issues
The price of the PV modules were in the past the major like power quality, detection of islanding operation, grounding,
contribution to the cost of these systems. A downward tendency etc. Summaries are listed in Table I.
is now seen in the price for the PV modules due to a massive As seen in Table I, the present EN standard (applied in Eu-
increase in the production capacity of PV modules. For example, rope) is easier to cope with, regarding current harmonics, than
the price per watt for a PV module was between 4.4 7.9 the corresponding IEEE and IEC standards. This is also reflected
USD in 1992 and has now decreased to 2.6 3.5 USD [2]. in the chosen inverter topologies, which have changed from
The cost of the grid-connected inverter is, therefore, becoming large thyristor-equipped grid-connected inverters to smaller
more visible in the total system price. A cost reduction per insulated-gate-bipolar-transistor (IGBT)/MOSFET-equipped
inverter watt is, therefore, important to make PV-generated ones.
power more attractive [4]. Focus has, therefore, been placed The inverters must also be able to detect an islanding situ-
on new, cheap, and innovative inverter solutions, which has ation, and take appropriate measures in order to protect per-
resulted in a high diversity within the inverters, and new system sons and equipment [7]. Islanding is the continued operation
configurations. of the inverter when the grid has been removed on purpose, by
This paper starts with an examination of the demands for the accident, or by damage. In other words, the grid has been re-
inverters, set up by utility grid companies, the PV modules, and moved from the inverter, which then only supplies local loads.
the operators. This is followed by a historical review to see how The available detection schemes are normally divided into two
groups: active and passive. The passive methods do not have any
influence on the power quality, since they just monitor grid pa-
Paper IPCSD-05-002, presented at the 2002 Industry Applications Society
Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 13–18, and approved for publication rameters. The active schemes introduce a disturbance into the
in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS by the Industrial Power grid and monitor the effect. This may affect the power quality,
Converter Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. Manuscript and problems with multiple inverters in parallel with the grid
submitted for review March 1, 2004 and released for publication June 16, 2005.
S. B. Kjaer is with PowerLynx A/S, DK-6400 Sønderborg, Denmark (e-mail: are also known to exist [7], [8].
[email protected]; [email protected]). The IEEE [5] and the IEC [3] standards put limitations on
J. K. Pedersen and F. Blaabjerg are with the Institute of Energy Technology, the maximum allowable amount of injected dc current into
Aalborg University, DK-9220 Aalborg East, Denmark (e-mail: [email protected];
[email protected]). the grid. The purpose of limiting the injection is to avoid
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2005.853371 saturation of the distribution transformers [7]. However, the
0093-9994/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE

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KJAER et al.: REVIEW OF SINGLE-PHASE GRID-CONNECTED INVERTERS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES 1293

TABLE I
SUMMARY OF THE MOST INTERESTING STANDARDS DEALING WITH INTERCONNECTIONS OF PV SYSTEMS TO THE GRID

limits are rather small (0.5% and 1.0% of rated output current), Assuming that both the grid voltage and grid current only
and such small values can be difficult to measure precisely contain the fundamental component and that they are in phase,
with the exciting circuits inside the inverters. This can be the instantaneous power injected into the grid becomes equal to
mitigated with improved measuring circuits or by including a
line-frequency transformer between the inverter and the grid. (1)
Some inverters use a transformer embedded in a high-frequency
dc–dc converter for galvanic isolation between the PV modules where is the average injected power, is the angular
and the grid. This does not, however, solve the problem with frequency, and is time.
dc injection, but makes the grounding of the PV modules
easier. B. Demands Defined by the Photovoltaic Module(s)
The NEC 690 standard [6] demands that the PV modules A model of a PV cell is sketched in Fig. 1(a), and its
shall be system grounded and monitored for ground faults, electrical characteristic is illustrated in Fig. 1(b). The most
when the maximum output voltage of the PV modules reaches common PV technologies nowadays are the monocrystalline-
a certain level, e.g., 50 V [6], [7], [26]. System ground involves and the multicrystalline-silicon modules, which are based
the negative (positive) terminal of the PV array(s) being con- on traditional, and expensive, microelectronic manufacturing
nected to ground. This can be troublesome for many high-power processes [1]. The MPP voltage range for these PV modules is
transformerless systems, since a single-phase inverter with neu- normally defined in the range from 23 to 38 V at a power gen-
tral-to-line grid connection already is system grounded on the eration of approximate 160 W, and their open-circuit voltage is
grid side. Other Electricity Boards only demand equipment below 45 V. However, new technologies like thin-layer silicon,
ground of the PV modules in the case of absent galvanic iso- amorphous-silicon, and hoto Electro Chemical (PEC) are in
lation [7], [9]. Equipment ground is the case when frames and development [1], [10]. These types of PV modules can be made
other metallic parts are connected to ground. arbitrarily large by an inexpensive “roll-on–roll-off” process.

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1294 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

Fig. 1. Model and characteristics of a PV cell. (a) Electrical model with current and voltages defined. (b) Electrical characteristic of the PV cell, exposed to a
given amount of (sun)light at a given temperature. As indicated, ripple at the PV module’s terminals results in a somewhat lower power generation, compared with
the case where no ripple is present at the terminals.

This means that new modules with only one cell may see the C. Demands Defined by the Operator
light in the future. The voltage range for these cells/modules The operator (the owner) also has a few words to say. First of
is located around 0.5 1.0 V at several hundred amperes per all, the inverter must be cost effective, which is easily achieved
square meter cell [11]–[13]. with similar circuits as these used in today’s single-phase
The inverters must guarantee that the PV module(s) is oper- power-factor-correction (PFC) circuits and variable-speed
ated at the MPP, which is the operating condition where the most drives (VSDs). However, the user also demands a high effi-
energy is captured. This is accomplished with an MPP tracker ciency over a wide range of input voltage and input power since
(MPPT). It also involves the ripple at the terminals of the PV these variables are defined in very wide ranges as functions
module(s) being sufficiently small, in order to operate around of solar irradiation and ambient temperature. Fig. 2 shows
the MPP without too much fluctuation. Analyses of the circuit the average irradiation during a normal year in Denmark
in Fig. 1(a) show that there is a relationship between the ampli- (Northwestern Europe) [15]. The figure shows that most of the
tude of the voltage ripple and the utilization ratio , given potential energy is available in the range from 50 to 1000 W/m
as [14] of irradiation.
Further, the inverter must be highly reliable (long operational
lifetime) since most PV module manufacturer offer a warranty
(2) of 25 years on 80% of initial efficiency, and a materials and
workmanship warranty of five years [27].
The main limiting components inside the inverters are the
where is the amplitude of the voltage ripple, and electrolytic capacitors used for power decoupling between the
are the power and voltage at the MPP, and are the coef- PV module and the single-phase grid [16]–[19]. The operational
ficients describing a second-order Taylor approximation of the lifetime for electrolytic capacitors is given by [20]
current, and the utilization ratio is given as the average generated
power divided by the theoretical MPP power. The coefficients (8)
are computed as
where is the operational lifetime, is the lifetime at
(3) a hotspot temperature of , is the hotspot temperature, and
is the temperature increase which reduces the lifetime by
(4)
a factor of two. However, the equation assumes a constant tem-
(5) perature, which can be approximated when the inverter is placed
indoors and neglecting the power loss inside the capacitor, but
(6) certainly not when the inverter is integrated with the PV module,
as for the ac module. In the case of a varying temperature a mean
value of (8) must be applied to determine the lifetime [20].
(7)
III. EVOLUTION OF PV INVERTERS
Calculations show that the amplitude of the ripple voltage
should be below 8.5% of the MPP voltage in order to reach a A. The Past—Centralized Inverters
utilization ratio of 98%. For example, a PV module with an MPP The past technology, illustrated in Fig. 3(a), was based on
voltage of 35 V should not be exposed to a voltage ripple of centralized inverters that interfaced a large number of PV mod-
more than 3.0 V (amplitude), in order to have a utilization ratio ules to the grid [25]. The PV modules were divided into series
of 98%. As seen in the previous section, the power injected into connections (called a string), each generating a sufficiently high
the grid follows a sinusoidal wave, raised to the second power, voltage to avoid further amplification. These series connections
, for which reason the inverter must contain a power were then connected in parallel, through string diodes, in order
decoupling device. to reach high power levels. This centralized inverter includes

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KJAER et al.: REVIEW OF SINGLE-PHASE GRID-CONNECTED INVERTERS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES 1295

Fig. 2. Meteorological data. (a) Irradiation distribution for a Danish reference year. (b) Solar energy distribution for a Danish reference year. Total time of
irradiation equals 4686 h per year. Total potential energy is equal to 1150 kWh=(m 1 y)  130 W/m [15].

Fig. 3. Historical overview of PV inverters. (a) Past centralized technology. (b) Present string technology. (c) Present and future multi-string technology. (d)
Present and future ac-module and ac cell technologies.

some severe limitations, such as high-voltage dc cables between nected stage was usually line commutated by means of thyris-
the PV modules and the inverter, power losses due to a central- tors, involving many current harmonics and poor power quality.
ized MPPT, mismatch losses between the PV modules, losses The large amount of harmonics was the occasion of new in-
in the string diodes, and a nonflexible design where the ben- verter topologies and system layouts, in order to cope with the
efits of mass production could not be reached. The grid-con- emerging standards which also covered power quality.

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1296 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

Fig. 4. Three types of PV inverters. Please note that the sign for the PV module shall be interpreted as either a single PV module, or as multiple PV modules in
series/parallel connections. (a) A single power processing stage that handles the MPPT, voltage amplification, and grid current control. (b) Dual power processing
inverter where the dc–dc converter is responsible for the MPPT and the dc–ac inverter controls the grid current. Voltage amplification can be included in both
stages. (c) Dual-stage inverter, where each PV module or string is connected to a dedicated dc–dc converter that is connected to a common dc–ac inverter.

B. The Present—String Inverters and AC Modules string with dc–dc converter can be plugged into the existing plat-
The present technology consists of the string inverters and the form. A flexible design with high efficiency is hereby achieved.
ac module [25]. The string inverter, shown in Fig. 3(b), is a re- Finally, the ac cell inverter system is the case where one large
duced version of the centralized inverter, where a single string PV cell is connected to a dc–ac inverter [11]–[13]. The main
of PV modules is connected to the inverter [7]. The input voltage challenge for the designers is to develop an inverter that can
may be high enough to avoid voltage amplification. This re- amplify the very low voltage, 0.5 1.0 V and 100 W per square
quires roughly 16 PV modules in series for European systems. meter, up to an appropriate level for the grid, and at the same
The total open-circuit voltage for 16 PV modules may reach as time reach a high efficiency. For the same reason, entirely new
much as 720 V, which calls for a 1000-V MOSFET/IGBT in converter concepts are required.
order to allow for a 75% voltage de-rating of the semiconduc-
tors. The normal operation voltage is, however, as low as 450 IV. Classifications of Inverter Topologies
510 V. The possibility of using fewer PV modules in series
also exists, if a dc–dc converter or line-frequency transformer Next follows a classification of different inverter technolo-
is used for voltage amplification. There are no losses associated gies. The topologies are categorized on the basis of number of
with string diodes and separate MPPTs can be applied to each power processing stages, location of power decoupling capaci-
string. This increases the overall efficiency compared to the cen- tors, if they employ transformers or not, and types of grid inter-
tralized inverter, and reduces the price, due to mass production. face.
The ac module depicted in Fig. 3(d) is the integration of the
inverter and PV module into one electrical device [7]. It removes A. Number of Power Processing Stages
the mismatch losses between PV modules since there is only one The number of power processing stages, in cascade, is the first
PV module, as well as supports optimal adjustment between the grouping here. Fig. 4 shows three cases of single- and multiple-
PV module and the inverter and, hence, the individual MPPT. It stage inverters.
includes the possibility of an easy enlarging of the system, due The inverter of Fig. 4(a) is a single-stage inverter, which must
to the modular structure. The opportunity to become a “plug- handle all tasks itself, i.e., MPPT, grid current control and, per-
and-play” device, which can be used by persons without any haps, voltage amplification. This is the typical configuration for
knowledge of electrical installations, is also an inherent feature. a centralized inverter, with all the drawbacks associated with it.
On the other hand, the necessary high voltage-amplification may The inverter must be designed to handle a peak power of twice
reduce the overall efficiency and increase the price per watt, the nominal power, according to (1).
because of more complex circuit topologies. On the other hand, Fig. 4(b) depicts a dual-stage inverter. The dc–dc converter is
the ac module is intended to be mass produced, which leads to now performing the MPPT (and perhaps voltage amplification).
low manufacturing cost and low retail prices. Dependent on the control of the dc–ac inverter, the output from
The present solutions use self-commutated dc–ac inverters, the dc–dc converters is either a pure dc voltage (and the dc–dc
by means of IGBTs or MOSFETs, involving high power quality converter is only designed to handle the nominal power), or the
in compliance with the standards. output current of the dc–dc converter is modulated to follow a
rectified sine wave (the dc–dc converter should now handle a
C. The Future—Multi-String Inverters, AC Modules, and AC peak power of twice the nominal power). The dc–ac inverter
Cells is in the former solution controlling the grid current by means
The multi-string inverter depicted in Fig. 3(c) is the further of pulsewidth modulation (PWM) or bang-bang operation. In
development of the string inverter, where several strings are in- the latter, the dc–ac inverter is switching at line frequency, “un-
terfaced with their own dc–dc converter to a common dc–ac in- folding” the rectified current to a full-wave sine, and the dc–dc
verter [7], [28]. This is beneficial, compared with the centralized converter takes care of the current control. A high efficiency can
system, since every string can be controlled individually. Thus, be reached for the latter solution if the nominal power is low. On
the operator may start his/her own PV power plant with a few the other hand, it is advisable to operate the grid-connected in-
modules. Further enlargements are easily achieved since a new verter in PWM mode if the nominal power is high.

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KJAER et al.: REVIEW OF SINGLE-PHASE GRID-CONNECTED INVERTERS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES 1297

Fig. 5. Different locations for the power decoupling capacitor. (a) Capacitor is placed in parallel with the PV modules, in the case of a single-stage inverter. (b)
Capacitor is either placed in parallel with the PV modules or in the dc link, in the case of a multi-stage inverter.

Fig. 6. Examples of transformer-included inverter solutions. (a) Line-frequency transformer (LFT) is placed between the grid and the inverter (solves problems
with injection of dc currents into the grid). (b) High-frequency transformer (HFT) is embedded in an HF-link grid-connected ac/ac inverter. (c) HFT is embedded
in a dc-link PV-module-connected dc–dc converter.

Fig. 7. Transformerless high-input-voltage PV inverter with single-phase common-mode (CM) and differential mode (DM) EMI filters.

Finally, Fig. 4(c) is the solution for the multi-string inverter. sufficient to use 33 F at 380 V with a ripple amplitude of 20 V
The only task for each dc–dc converter is MPPT and perhaps for the same PV module.
voltage amplification. The dc–dc converters are connected to the
dc link of a common dc–ac inverter, which takes care of the grid C. Transformers and Types of Interconnections
current control. This is beneficial since better control of each As stated earlier, some inverters use a transformer embedded
PV module/string is achieved and that common dc–ac inverter in a high-frequency dc–dc converter or dc–ac inverter, others
may be based on standard VSD technology. use a line-frequency transformer toward the grid and, finally,
some inverters do not include a transformer at all (see Fig. 6).
B. Power Decoupling The line-frequency transformer is regarded as a poor component
Power decoupling is normally achieved by means of an elec- due to increased size, weight, and price.
trolytic capacitor. As stated earlier, this component is the main Modern inverters tend to use a high-frequency transformer.
limiting factor of the lifetime. Thus, it should be kept as small as This results in entirely new designs, such as the printed circuit
possible and preferably substituted with film capacitors. The ca- board (PCB) integrated magnetic components [36].
pacitor is either placed in parallel with the PV modules or in the The transformer is a paradox within PV inverters. As stated
dc link between the inverter stages; this is illustrated in Fig. 5. previously, system grounding of the PV modules is not required
The size of the decoupling capacitor can be expressed as as long as the maximum output voltage is below 50 V. On the
other hand, it is hard to achieve high-efficiency voltage amplifi-
cation without a transformer, when the input voltage is in the
(9) range from 23 to 45 V. Third, the transformer is superfluous
when the input voltage becomes sufficiently high. A normal
where is the nominal power of the PV modules, is the full-bridge inverter cannot be used as grid interface, when both
mean voltage across the capacitor, and is the amplitude of the input and the output of the inverter are be grounded.In ad-
the ripple. Equation (9) is based on the fact that the current from dition, the large area of PV modules includes a capacitance of
the PV modules is a pure dc, and that the current drawn from 0.1 nF 10 nF per module to ground [25]. This can also cause
the grid-connected inverter follows a waveform, severe oscillations between the PV modules and (stray) induc-
assuming that is constant. If the result from (2) ( tances in the circuit.
V, V, W) is used in (9), a capacitor Only a few high-input-voltage transformerless topologies that
of 2.4 mF is required in parallel with the PV module. On the can be grounded both at the input and at the output are yet
other hand, if the capacitor is placed in the dc link, it becomes known; one configuration is illustrated in Fig. 7.

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1298 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

Fig. 8. Grid-connected inverter stages. (a), (b) Line-commutated CSI switching at twice the line frequency. (c), (d) Self-commutated voltage-source inverter (VSI)
switching with high frequency in PWM or bang-bang mode.

D. Types of Grid Interfaces of each transistor can be reduced and, in the mean time, good
power quality is ensured.
Only inverters operating in current-source mode are included The command signals for the transistors in the CSI and the
in the classification, since one of the aims of the PV inverter is reference for the grid-current waveform are mostly based on
to inject a sinusoidal current into the grid. measured grid voltage or zero-crossing detection. This may re-
Fig. 8 shows four, out of many, possible grid-connected sult in severe problems with power quality and unnecessary fault
inverters. The topologies of Fig. 8(a) and (b) are line-fre- situations. According to [8], the main reasons for these prob-
quency-commutated current-source inverters (CSIs). The lems are the background (voltage) harmonics and poor design.
current into the stage is already modulated/controlled to follow The harmonics may initiate series resonance with the capaci-
a rectified sinusoidal waveform and the task for the circuit is tors placed around in the grid (e.g., in refrigerators), due to pos-
simply to re-create the sine wave and inject it into the grid. The itive feedback of the inverter current or a noisy signal from the
circuits apply zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-current zero-crossing detection. A solution for this problem is to use a
switching (ZCS), thus, only conduction losses of the semicon- phase-locked loop (PLL) for establishing a current waveform
ductors remain. reference of high quality.
Since the current is modulated by another stage, the other
stage must be designed for a peak power of twice the nominal V. AC MODULES
power, according to (1) and power decoupling must be achieved The ac Module is the combination of one PV module with a
with a capacitor in parallel with the PV module(s). The con- grid-connected inverter [see Fig. 3(d)]. According to the above
verter feeding the circuit of Fig. 8(a) can be a push–pull with a discussion, the inverters should be of the dual-stage type with
single secondary transformer winding, and a flyback with two an embedded HF transformer. Reviews of ac module inverters
secondary windings for the circuit of Fig. 8(b). are given in [25]–[35]. Next follow some classical solutions for
The topology in Fig. 8(c) is a standard full-bridge three-level the ac module inverters. The results from the literature survey
VSI, which can create a sinusoidal grid current by applying are compiled in Table II.
the positive/negative dc-link or zero voltage, to the grid plus The topology shown in Fig. 9 is a 100-W flyback-type inverter
grid inductor. The voltage across the grid and inductor is often [37]. The circuit is made up around a single-transistor flyback
pulsewidth modulated, but hysteresis (bang-bang) current con- converter, with a center-tapped transformer. The two outputs
trol can also be applied. A variant of the topology in Fig. 8(c) is from the transformer are connected to the grid, one at a time,
the half-bridge two-level VSI, which can only create two distinct through two MOSFETs, two diodes, and a common filter cir-
voltages across and requires double dc-link voltage and double cuit [37]. The flyback converter can, in this way, produce both
switching frequency in order to obtain the same performance as a positive and a negative output current.
the full bridge. The next topology in Fig. 10 is a 105-W combined flyback
The topology in Fig. 8(d), which is the half-bridge diode- and buck–boost inverter [38]. The need for a large decoupling
clamped three-level VSI, is one of many different multilevel capacitor is avoided by adding a buck–boost converter to the
VSIs, which can create 3, 5, 7 distinct voltages across the grid flyback converter. The leakage inductance included in the trans-
and inductor. This is beneficial since the switching frequency former results in a voltage spike across the transistor denoted

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KJAER et al.: REVIEW OF SINGLE-PHASE GRID-CONNECTED INVERTERS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES 1299

TABLE II
SUMMARY OF THE AC MODULE INVERTERS. FOR THE EFFICIENCY, M REFERS TO THE MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY, E TO THE EUROPEAN EFFICIENCY,
AND N TO NOMINAL CONDITION EFFICIENCY

is blocking for the energy recovery, and no further information

is given in [40] about the type of applied clamp circuit.
The topology in Fig. 13 is a 150-W flyback dc–dc converter
together with a line-frequency dc–ac unfolding inverter [41]. In
[42], the same topology is applied for a 100-W inverter, except
that the grid filter is removed from the dc link to the grid side.
The line-frequency dc–ac inverter is in both cases equipped with
thyristors, which can be troublesome to turn on, since they re-
Fig. 9. 100-W single-transistor flyback-type HF-link inverter [37]. quire a current in their control terminal to turn on.
The inverter in Fig. 14 is a 100-W flyback dc–dc converter to-
gether with a PWM dc–ac inverter [43], [44]. The output stage is
now made up of four transistors, which are switched at high fre-
quency. The grid current is modulated by alternately connecting
the positive or the negative dc-link voltage (the constant voltage
across ) to the inductor in s, and zero voltage
in ( is the duty cycle and is the switching
period).
The inverter in Fig. 15 is based on a 110-W series-resonant
dc–dc converter with an HF inverter toward the grid [36], and
250 W in [45]. The series-resonant converter is the first resonant
converter visited here. The inverter toward the grid is modified
Fig. 10. Flyback-type inverter with high-power decoupling [38]. in such a way that is cannot operate as a rectifier, seen from the
grid side. Adding two additional diodes does this. The advantage
of this solution is that no in-rush current flows when the inverter
S in Fig. 10, during turn-off. A dissipative RCD clamp would
is attached to the grid for the first time.
normally be used to remove the overvoltage; see the previous
The commercially available Mastervolt Soladin 120 inverter
topology. However, the RCD clamp circuit interacts heavily with
[46] is a “plug-and-play” inverter, based on the topology in
the buck–boost circuit, causing the inverter to malfunction. The
Fig. 16. The nominal input power is 90 W at 20–40 V, but the
solution is the modified Shimizu topology presented in the next
opportunity to operate at peak 120 W exists. The Soladin 120
section [39]. Finally, the energy-storing capacitor must
inverter is a dual-stage topology without inherent power decou-
carry the entire load current, which increases the demands for
pling. The capacitor in parallel with the PV module is, therefore,
its current-ripple capabilities.
rather larger (2 1000 mF at 50 V), since it must work as an
The inverter in Fig. 11 is an enhanced version of the previous
energy buffer. According to the work in Section II-B, this results
topology, rated for 160 W. The main improvement within this
in a small-signal amplitude in the range from 1.8 to 3.0 V, which
inverter is the replacement of the single-transistor flyback con-
corresponds to a PV utilization factor from 0.984 to 0.993 at full
verter with a two-transistor flyback converter, to overcome prob-
generation.
lems with overvoltage.
The topology in Fig. 12 is a 160-W buck–boost inverter [40].
VI. STRING AND MULTI-STRING INVERTERS
Again, a small amount of energy is stored in the leakage in-
ductance. This energy is now recovered by the body diodes of The string and multi-string systems are the combination
transistors and . On the other hand, the diode of one or several PV strings with a grid-connected inverter

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1300 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

Fig. 11. Modified Shimizu inverter [39]. Note that the polarity of the PV module is reversed.

Fig. 12. Dual two-transistor flyback-type inverter [40].

Fig. 13. Flyback dc–dc converter with unfolding dc–ac inverter [41].

Fig. 14. Flyback dc–dc converter with PWM inverter [43], [44].

Fig. 15. Series-resonant dc–dc converter with bang-bang dc–ac inverter [36], [45].

[see Fig. 3(b) and (c). According to the above discussion, negative voltage. Each of the two PV strings is connected to the
the inverters should be of the single- or dual-stage type with ground/neutral of the grid, thus, the capacitive earth currents are
or without an embedded HF transformer. Next follow some reduced, and the inverter can easily fulfill the NEC 690 standard.
classical solutions for the string and multi-string inverters. The inverter can be further extended to five levels by adding
The inverter in Fig. 17 is a transformerless half-bridge diode- more transistors, diodes, and PV strings. However, this requires
clamped three-level inverter [25], [47]. Turning and on that the outer strings (e.g., the strings placed at locations #0 and
can create a positive output voltage, turning and on cre- #4 in Fig. 17, not illustrated) must be carefully sized since they
ates zero voltage, and finally, turning and on creates a are loaded differently than strings #1 and #2. Another serious

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KJAER et al.: REVIEW OF SINGLE-PHASE GRID-CONNECTED INVERTERS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES 1301

Fig. 16. Soladin 120 commercial inverter [14].

Fig. 17 is their buck characteristic, for which reason the min-

imum input voltage always must be larger than the maximum
grid voltage. For example, the maximum grid voltage is equal
to V, and the minimum voltage across a PV
module is 23 V 3 V (MPP voltage minus the 100-Hz ripple
across the PV strings). Hence, two strings, each of minimum 18
modules, are required for the former topology and two strings
of minimum nine modules for the latter topology.
The commercially available inverter (SMA Sunny Boy
5000TL [33], [50]) in Fig. 19 is designed for three PV strings,
each of 2200 W at 125 750 V, and each with their own
Fig. 17. Grid-connected system with half-bridge diode-clamped three-level MPPT. The circuits interfacing the PV strings are standard
inverter (HBDC) [25], [47]. boost converters, which is beneficial since the HF current ripple
at the input terminals of the converters is easily filtered by a
film capacitor. The grid-connected dc–ac inverter is a two-level
VSI. When this is pointed out, it becomes obvious that the PV
strings cannot be system grounded, thus, this inverter is not
allowed in the U.S. due to the NEC 690 standard.
Finally, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) inverter
(PowerLynx Powerlink PV 4.5 kW [51], [52]) in Fig. 20 is also
designed for three PV strings, each with an input range from 200
to 500 V and 1500 W. The dc–dc converters are based on cur-
rent-source full-bridge inverters with embedded HF transformer
and rectifier. The PV strings are easily system grounded and no
problem with the NEC 690 standard exists, since this inverter
includes galvanic isolation between the PV string and the grid.
Fig. 18. Utility interactive photovoltaic inverter with GCC [48], [49]. Once again, the current-source input stage is beneficial since it
reduces the requirement for the filter capacitor in parallel with
drawback is that string #1 is only loaded during positive grid the PV strings. Furthermore, the diodes included in the rectifiers
voltage, and vise versa for string #2. This requires the decou- are current commutated which involves low reverse recovery of
pling capacitors to be enlarged with a factor of approximately the diodes and low voltage stress. The grid-connected dc–ac in-
, compared to Section IV-B. This is not an advantage for the verter is a three-level VSI.
cost or the lifetime.
The inverter in Fig. 18 is a two-level VSI, interfacing two PV VII. DISCUSSION
strings [48], [49]. This inverter can only produce a two-level
output voltage, thus, the switching frequency must be double the A. Methods
previous one in order to obtain the same size of the grid inductor. The presented ac module inverters have all been evaluated in
The main difference between this and the former topology is [14] for component ratings, relative cost, lifetime, and European
the generation control circuit (GCC), made by transistors efficiency. The results are shown in Table III.
and and inductor L , which can load each PV string in- The ratings of the semiconductors are based on the average
dependently. Actually, one of the PV strings can even be re- or rms currents and the peak voltages they have to withstand,
moved and sinusoidal current can still be injected into the grid. together with a de-rating factor of 0.23 (composed of a 0.75
The GCC is an advantage since an individual MPPT can be ap- de-rate factor for the peak voltage and a 0.30 de-rate factor for
plied to each string. Further enlargement is easily achieved by the rms value of the current), e.g., the PV side transistors in the
adding another PV string plus a transistor, a capacitor, and an inverter of Fig. 16 must withstand 90 V peak and 7.6-A rms,
inductor. The drawback of this topology and the topology in thus, their VA ratings are computed as 3.0 kVA each. The ratings

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1302 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

Fig. 19. Topology of the power electronics of the multi-string inverter in [33] and [50]: Sunny Boy 5000TL. Maximum power per string equals 2200 W at 125
 750 V.

Fig. 20. Topology of the power electronics of the three-string inverter in [21]–[23], [51], and [52]. Maximum power per string equals 1500 W at 200  500 V.
for the transformers are based on the geometrical core constant to a value that guarantees a maximum temperature difference
approach in [24] between the ambient and core surface of no more then 40 C.
The relative cost is computed on the basis of the calculated
ratings, a component survey at different vendors, and linear re-
(10) gression analysis. The following relationship is used to deter-
mine the relative cost:

where is the winding resistivity, is the applied volt-seconds for electrolytic capacitors
on the primary turns, is the total winding current, is (11)
the switching frequency, is the copper fill factor, is the
for magnetics (12)
total power loss in the transformer, and , , and are some
coefficients describing the core loss as functions of peak flux kVA for PV-side MOSFETs
density and frequency. The total power loss in the core is limited (13)

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KJAER et al.: REVIEW OF SINGLE-PHASE GRID-CONNECTED INVERTERS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES 1303

TABLE III
EVALUATION OF THE SEVEN INVERTER TOPOLOGIES FOR THE AC MODULE

TABLE IV
EVALUATION OF THE FOUR STRING AND MULTI-STRING INVERTER TOPOLOGIES. THE POWER DECOUPLING CAPACITORS ARE COMPUTED WITH (9). THE NUMBER
OF PV MODULES PER STRING IS COMPUTED ON THE BASIS OF RATED POWER AND VOLTAGE RANGE

kVA for grid-side MOSFETs ready stated, the electrolytic capacitor is the main limiting single
(14) component within the inverters.
Only two circuits are different from the others when exam-
kVA for rectifier diodes (15)
ining the European efficiency; these are the inverters in Figs. 11
and 16. The inverter in Fig. 11 has a low efficiency, which is
where is the energy stored in the capacitor, i.e., ,
caused by the high voltage ratings for the semiconductors on
and kVA is the computed ratings for the semiconductors.
the PV side, and in the mean time, high current also flows in the
The lifetime is evaluated by the size of the de-coupling ca-
circuit. The push–pull inverter in Fig. 16 has a higher efficiency
pacitors, and the amount of current they have to carry. A high
than the other inverters. This is mainly due to a low conduction
current involves high power loss in the capacitors, which results
loss in the PV-side converter, where only two transistors are car-
in hot spots inside the capacitors, and an increased temperature
rying the current. On the other hand, the voltage stress for the
is the main factor of the lifetime.
two transistors is double that of the other inverters (except the
The efficiency for each inverter has been computed at six dif-
one in Fig. 11). This is also seen in the ratings of the semicon-
ferent operating points, based on “average” components from
ductors for this inverter, which are higher than the others. If one
the component survey. According to the definition of the Eu-
should select an inverter topology based on this comparison, the
ropean efficiency, the individual efficiencies are weighted and
push–pull inverter in Fig. 16 would be a preferable choice, since
summed up according to
it offers high efficiency and relatively low price, but attention
should be paid to the decoupling capacitor, which is the weakest
point.
(16)
C. String and Multi-String Inverters
where the index value is equal to percent of rated power [32]. The string and multi-string inverters presented in this review
This is done in order to make a fair comparison of the inverters, represent the latest development within this area. The inverters
under partial load conditions. are summarized in Table IV.
The dual-grounded multilevel HBDC inverters can be a good
B. AC Module Inverters solution, but attention should be paid to the decoupling capaci-
Dual-stage CSIs like the circuits in Fig. 8(a) and (b) suffer tors, which in the case of the inverter in Fig. 17 must be rather
from a large electrolytic decoupling capacitor, whereas decou- large since they are only loaded in half of the grid period. A so-
pling for the VSI can be achieved with a small electrolytic ca- lution could be to include some kind of balancing circuit, like
pacitor. This is beneficial when lifetime is the issue, since, as al- the balancing GCC in Fig. 18.

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1304 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

Two of the reviewed topologies, (see Figs. 18 and 19) use for the inverter. On the other hand, in the case of the ac
bipolar PWM switching toward the grid. This is beneficial for module and the ac cell, the preferable location for the
the GCC inverter in Fig. 18, but not for the topology in Fig. 19 capacitor is in the dc link where the voltage is high and a
due to the requirement for a high dc-link voltage and two decou- large fluctuation can be allowed without compromising
pling capacitors in series to create a midpoint. Besides this, the the utilization factor. Electrolytic capacitors should be
inverter in Fig. 19 cannot be system grounded which is a require- replaced with film capacitors in order to increase the
ment from the NEC 690 standard, but common-mode electrical reliability, but this also involves a higher price, especially
noise at the terminals of the PV module can also generate large for high-power inverters, where a large capacitance is
ground currents, due to the capacitances from the PV modules required. On the other hand, a high reliability can be
to ground. a major sales parameter.
The last topology visited here is based on current-fed full- 3) HFTs should be applied for voltage amplification in the
bridge dc–dc converters with embedded HF transformers, for ac module and ac cell concepts. It is also beneficial
each PV string. This requires more components than the three to include an HFT in larger systems in order to avoid
previous inverters, but their ratings are lower and the benefits of resonance between the PV modules and inductances in
mass production could be easily achieved. Both commercially the current main paths. The resonance can, however,
available inverters show good efficiency and grid performance. also be mitigated with inverter topologies that support
grounding on both input and the output terminals. The
dual grounding scheme is also a requirement in the U.S.
VIII. CONCLUSION
for PV open-circuit voltages larger then 50 V, but not
This review has covered some of the standards that inverters in Europe and Japan.
for PV and grid applications must fulfill, which focus on power 4) Line-frequency CSIs are suitable for low power, e.g., for
quality,injectionof dccurrentsintothegrid,detectionofislanding ac module applications. On the other hand, a high-fre-
operation, and system grounding. The demands stated by the quency VSI is also suitable for both low- and high-power
PV modules have also been reviewed; in particular, the role systems, like the ac module, the string, and the multi-
of power decoupling between the modules and the grid has string inverters.
been investigated. An important result is that the amplitude The rules to judge the examined inverters were then estab-
of the ripple across a PV module should not exceed 3.0 V in lished, and seven ac module inverters and four multi-string in-
order to have a utilization efficiency of 98% at full generation. verters were reviewed. This concluded in a discussion of each
Finally, the basic demands defined by the operator have also of the topologies. Based on work in [14] the most suitable in-
been addressed, such as low cost, high efficiency, and long verter for a 160-W ac mmodule is recognized as being the one in
lifetime. Fig. 16. The work in [14] does not deal with inverters for string
The next part of the review was a historical summary of the and multi-string PV systems, but based on the review given here,
solutions used in the past, where large areas of PV modules were the best candidates seem to be the inverters of Figs. 18 and 20.
connected to the grid by means of centralized inverters. This in-
cluded many shortcomings for which reason the string inverters
emerged. A natural development was to add more strings, each
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for single-phase grid connected photovoltaic systems—A review,” in received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical
Proc. IEEE Bologna PowerTech Conf., vol. 2, 2003, pp. 430–437. engineering from Institute of Energy Technology,
[31] S. B. Kjaer, J. K. Pedersen, and F. Blaabjerg, “Power inverter topologies Aalborg University, Aalborg East, Denmark, in 2000
for photovoltaic modules—A review,” in Conf. Rec. IEEE-IAS Annu. and 2005, respectively.
Meeting, vol. 2, 2002, pp. 782–788. He is currently with PowerLynx A/S, Sønderborg,
[32] H. Haeberlin, “Evolution of inverters for grid connected PV-systems Denmark, where he works in the field of photovoltaic
from 1989 to 2000,” in Proc. 17th Eur. Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conf., power. He was with the Section of Power Electronics
Munich, Germany, Oct. 22–26, 2001, pp. 426–430. and Drives, Aalborg University, from 2000 to 2004,
[33] M. Meinhardt and G. Cramer, “Multi-string-converter: The next step in where he was a Research Assistant and Laboratory
evolution of string-converter technology,” in Proc. 9th Eur. Power Elec- Assistant. He also taught courses on photovoltaic sys-
tronics and Applications Conf., 2001, CD-ROM. tems for terrestrial and space applications (power system for the AAU student
[34] H. Oldenkamp and I. J. de Jong, “AC modules: past, present and future,” satellite: AAU CubeSat). His main interests are switching inverters, including
in Proc. Workshop Installing the Solar Solution, Hatfield, U.K., 1998. power quality and control and optimized design for fuel-cell and, in particular,
[35] B. Lindgren, “Topology for decentralised solar energy inverters with a photovoltaic applications.
low voltage ac-bus,” in Proc. EPE’99, 1999, CD-ROM. Mr. Kjaer is a Member of the Society of Danish Engineers (M.IDA).

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1306 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

John K. Pedersen (M’91–SM’00) was born in Hol- Frede Blaabjerg (S’86–M’88–SM’97–F’03) was
stebro, Denmark, in 959. He received the B.Sc.E.E. born in Erslev, Denmark, in 1963. He received the
degree from Aalborg University, Aalborg East, Den- M.Sc.E.E. degree from Aalborg University, Aalborg
mark. East, Denmark, in 1987, and the Ph.D. degree
He was with the Institute of Energy Technology, from the Institute of Energy Technology, Aalborg
Aalborg University, as a Teaching Assistant from University, in 1995.
1983 to 1984, and as an Assistant Professor from He was with ABB-Scandia, Randers, Denmark,
1984 to 1989. He has been an Associate Professor from 1987 to 1988. During 1988–1992 he was a
since 1989. He is also the Head of the Institute of Ph.D. student at Aalborg University. He became an
Energy Technology. His research areas are power Assistant Professor in 1992, an Associate Professor
electronics, power converters, and electrical drive in 1996, and a Full Professor of power electronics
systems, including modeling, simulation, and design with a focus on optimized and drives in 1998 at Aalborg University. In 2000, he was a Visiting Professor
efficiency. at the University of Padova, Padova, Italy, as well as becoming a part-time
Mr. Pedersen received the 1992 Angelos Award for his contribution to the Programme Research Leader at the Research Center Risoe, working with wind
control of induction machines. In 1998, he received an IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON turbines. In 2002, he was a Visiting Professor at Curtin University of Tech-
POWEr ELECTRONICS Prize Paper Award for the best paper published in 1997. nology, Perth, Australia. His research areas are power electronics, static power
converters, ac drives, switched reluctance drives, modeling, characterization of
power semiconductor devices and simulation, wind turbines, and green power
inverters. He is involved in more than ten research projects with industry.
Among them is the Danfoss Professor Programme in Power Electronics
and Drives. He is the author or coauthor of more than 300 publications in
his research fields including the book including the book Control in Power
Electronics (New York: Academic, 2002).
Dr. Blaabjerg is a Member of the European Power Electronics and Drives
Association and of the Industrial Drives, Industrial Power Converter, and
Power Electronics Devices and Components Committee Committees of the
IEEE Industry Applications Society. He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE
TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER
ELECTRONICS, Journal of Power Electronics, and the Danish journal Elteknik.
He has been active in the Danish Research Policy for many years. He became
a member of the Danish Academy of Technical Science in 2001. He served as
a Member of the Danish Technical Research Council during 1997–2003, and
from 2001–2003 he was its Chairman. He received the 1995 Angelos Award
for his contribution to modulation technique and control of electric drives and
an Annual Teacher Prize from Aalborg University, also in 1995. In 1998, he
received the Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award from the
IEEE Power Electronics Society. He has received four IEEE Prize Paper Awards
during the last five years. In 2002, he received the C. Y. O’Connor Fellowship
from Perth, Australia, and in 2003, the Statoil Prize for his contributions to
power electronics. He also received the Grundfos Prize in 2004.

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