DRPT2008 6-9 April 2008 Nanjing China

Novel Grid-connected Photovoltaic Generation System

Li-Shiang Lai, Wen-Chieh Hou, Ya-Tsung Feng, Yu-An Chen
Abstract--The interest in the renewable energy sources to relieve the problems of greenhouse emissions has been promoted. Photovoltaic is one of the important renewable energy sources. The grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is the most important among the photovoltaic applications. High efficiency power converter, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and islanding detection are the key technologies of the power converter interface for the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system. A novel grid-connect photovoltaic generation system with a new power converter control strategy, novel MPPT and islanding detection methods are proposed in this paper. A 5 kW prototype is developed and tested to verify the performance of the proposed grid-connected photovoltaic generation system. The experimental results show that the maximum power efficiency is 96.1 %, the MPPT can effectively track the change of the generated solar power and the islanding detection can meet the standards UL1741. Index Terms--grid-connect photovoltaic generation system, islanding detection, maximum power point tracking, renewable energy.

HE interest and importance in renewable energy has been aroused due to the Kyoto agreement on the global reduction of greenhouse emissions. Photovoltaic is one of the important renewable energy sources [1-3], and the cost of the photovoltaic is on falling trend and is expected to fall further as demand and production increases. Power conversion interface is very important for using the photovoltaic effectively. High efficiency power converter, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and islanding detection are the key technologies of the power converter interface for the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system. From the characteristic of solar cell, it can be found that the different operating voltage of the solar cell array will produce different output power, and the solar cell obviously shows a unique point where the solar cell produces a maximum power. For using the solar cell array effectively, the MPPT method is important. Many MPPT technologies have been proposed, such as voltage feedback method, the perturbation and observation method, linear line approximation method, fuzzy logic control method, neural network method and practical measure method [4]. Among them, perturbation and observation methods are the most popular because of their easy implementation. However, the conventional perturbation and observation method requires at least two
The work was financial support by the Ablerex Electronics Corporation, Ltd. Li-Shiang Lai, Wen-Chieh Hou, Ya-Tsung Feng, Yu-An Chen are with the Ablerex Electronics Co. Ltd. Taipei, 231, Taiwan, China. (e-mail: erick@ablerex.com.tw, bruce@ablerex.com.tw, leon@ablerex.com.tw, yu_an_chen@ablerex.com.tw)

I. INTRODUCTION

detected signals, a voltage and a current in tracing the maximum power point, and it will complicate the control circuit. An islanding operation denotes that electric power is still supplied by the small-capacity distributed power generation system to the load even when the utility is cut off due to power failure or maintenance of electrical equipment [5, 6], and it will result some problems. The methods for detecting islanding operation can be divided into active and passive detection methods. The passive detection methods are employed to detect the changes of electric parameters in a power system for determining whether the islanding operation occurs or not [7-9]. However, these passive detection methods cannot detect the islanding operation in some conditions, and it is named as the non-detection zone. As to the active detection methods, a small fluctuation is incorporated in the output current of the photovoltaic generation system [9-13]. When the utility is interrupted, the fluctuations of the photovoltaic generation system can cause a great change in frequency or amplitude of load voltage. In this case, an active detection method can detect such a change and judge it as an islanding operation. However, the fluctuations attributed to these active detection methods must be restricted by the islanding control standards, which leads to increase in detection time required and affects operation reliability. However, a non-detection zone still exists in some active detection methods [9, 13]. Furthermore, the control methods of these active detection methods are sophisticated. In this paper, a novel grid-connected photovoltaic generation system configured by a DC/DC power converter and a DC/AC power inverter is developed. For simplifying the control circuit of conventional perturbation and observation MPPT method, a novel MPPT method for the photovoltaic generation system is developed and incorporated in the control of DC/DC power converter. Moreover, a virtual resistor-based islanding detection method for the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is developed and incorporated in the control of DC/AC power inverter to detect the islanding operation immediately and effectively. To verify the performance of the proposed grid-connected photovoltaic generation system, a 5 KW prototype is developed and tested II. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC GENERATION SYSTEM Figure 1 shows the system configuration of a grid-connected photovoltaic generation system. The photovoltaic generation system is configured by a solar cell array, a DC/DC power converter and a DC/AC power inverter. The DC/DC power converter is a boost type power converter, and it is applied to trace the maximum power point of the solar cell array. The DC/AC power inverter is configured by a full-bridge

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structure. The DC/AC power inverter is controlled to regulate the output voltage of DC/DC converter and generate a fundamental real power injected into the utility. Moreover, the islanding detection method is incorporated in the control of DC/AC power inverter.

power converter. If the average voltage across the power electronic switch can be controlled to be proportional to the inductor current, the DC/DC power converter can be regarded as an active resistor (R). Consequently, the average voltage across the power electronic switch can be represented as:

t Vsw = RI L = off Vo Ts

Fig. 1 System configuration of a grid-connected photovoltaic generation system.

III. DC/DC POWER CONVERTER Since the different operating voltage of solar cell array will generate different output power, the ripple voltage of solar cell array will degrade the efficiency of the photovoltaic system. Consequently, a DC capacitor is connected to the solar cell array in parallel to stabilize the operation voltage. As seen in Fig. 1, the controller of DC/DC power converter is used to generate a control signal to turn on or off the power electronic switch of DC/DC power converter. If the power electronic switch is turned on, the inductor can be energized by the power of the solar cell array. Conversely, if the power electronic switch is turned off, the energy stored in the inductor is transferred to the output capacitor via the diode. Accordingly, the unregulated DC voltage of the solar cell array can be converted into a higher DC voltage. If the power electronic switch is turned on, a voltage across the power electronic switch approximates zero. Conversely, when the power electronic switch is turned off, a voltage across the power electronic switch is almost equal to the output voltage of the DC/DC power converter due to the diode is conducted. A square waveform between zero and the output voltage of the DC/DC power converter appears across the power electronic switch while turning the power electronic switch on and off alternatively. If the inductor current is continuous, the average voltage across the power electronic switch can be derived as: 1 Ts vsw ( t )dt Vsw = Ts 0 1 t off = Vo = (1 D)Vo Ts where Ts, toff and D are the switching period, turn-off time and duty ratio of the power electronic switch respectively, and Vo is the output voltage of DC/DC

Because Ts and Vo are constant in (2), the DC/DC power converter can be operated as an active resistor while turn-off time (toff) is proportional to the inductor current. Moreover, the active resistor of DC/DC power converter is controllable due to turn-off time is a controllable parameter. This means that the equivalent active resistance of the DC/DC power converter can be adjusted via adjusting the turn-off time. Figure 2 shows the control block diagram of the DC/DC power converter. The output of the MPPT circuit is the active resistance control signal (Km). The inductor current is detected by the current detector. The output of the current detector and the active resistance control signal (Km) are sent to the multiplier. Subsequently, the result of the multiplier is the modulation signal and sent to the comparator to compare with a high frequency carrier. Because the turn-off time must be proportional to the inductor current to operate the DC/DC power converter as an active resistor, the modulation signal must be sent to the negative input of comparator. It is different from the conventional PWM technology. The output signal of driver circuit is used to control the power electronic switch.

Fig. 2 Control block diagram of the proposed MPPT method.

IV. MPPT ALGORITHM Figure 3 shows the flowchart of the proposed MPPT method. As seen in Fig. 3, an adjusting value Km(n) and an initial value Km(0) of the active resistance control signal are preset. The initial value Km(0) of the active resistance control signal is sent to the controller of the DC/DC power converter. Subsequently, after a time interval, an average current (identified as IL) of the inductor is calculated. Since the active resistance of DC/DC power converter is proportional to the active resistance control signal (Km), the output power of solar cell array can be obtained by multiplying the square of the average inductor current IL and the active resistance control signal. Consequently, the initial output power P(0) of the solar cell array can be obtained by multiplying the

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square of the average inductor current IL and the initial value Km(0) of the active resistance control signal. For obtaining the practical output power of solar cell array, the average inductor current must be calculated after a time interval (1.5 sec) for stabilizing the inductor current of the DC/DC power converter responding to a new active resistance control signal. The time interval depends on the response of DC/DC power converter.

cell array is smaller than the old value P(n-1), Km(n) is equal to -Km(n-1). Finally, the output power P(n) of the solar cell array has replaced the old value P(n-1), and the new value Km(n) of the active resistance control signal has also replaced the old value Km(n-1) at the same time. Subsequently, a new series of steps is repeated and circulated continuously by the previous steps until a maximum power point of output power is tracked. Once detected an operation point of the maximum power point, the MPPT circuit controls the output power of the solar cell array continuously perturbation around the operation point of the maximum power point. From above, the proposed maximum power point tracking method only detects the inductor current of the DC/DC power converter for tracking the maximum power point. Consequently, it would be advantageous that this method and circuit can simplify the entire structure. V. DC/AC POWER INVERTER The DC/AC power inverter of the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is controlled to regulate the output voltage of DC/DC power converter and output a real power under the fundamental frequency. Besides, the DC/AC power inverter is also controlled to be operated as a virtual resistor under the frequency slightly higher than the fundamental frequency of the utility voltage. For outputting a real power, the output current of the power inverter is desired to be sinusoidal and in phase with the utility voltage. The harmonic components may generally exist in the utility voltage for the distribution power system, and their frequencies exist as the integral multiples of the fundamental frequency. The response frequency of the virtual resistor is selected to be slightly higher than the fundamental frequency and away from the dominant harmonic frequency of the utility to prevent the virtual resistor from responding to the fundamental and dominant harmonic frequencies of the utility, which would enlarge the THD% of the power inverters output current. When the utility is normal, the load voltage is equal to the utility voltage. Since the utility is strong enough, the effect due to the virtual resistor operation of the power inverter is very small. Hence, the power inverter of the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is almost used to output a real power, with its output current nearly sinusoidal and in phase with the utility voltage. Consequently, the THD% of the power inverters output current can be maintained at a lower level to satisfy the THD% specified in the islanding control standards. Conversely, if only the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system supplying power to the local load when the utility power is interrupted, the virtual resistor operation of the power inverter will be active and positive feedback response. Consequently, the effect of the virtual resistor on the power inverter becomes more and more significant, and it will result in the change of both frequency and amplitude of the load voltage. Owing to

Fig. 3 Flowchart of the proposed MPPT method.

Still referring to Fig. 3, the initial value Km(0) of the active resistance control signal is regarded as an old value Km(n-1) while the initial output power P(0) of the solar cell array is regarded as an old output power P(n-1). In addition to this, a new value Km(n) of the active resistance control signal is obtained by adding the old value Km(n-1) of the active resistance control signal and a new interval value Km(n), and then sent to controller of the DC/DC power converter to act as an active resistance control signal. In this circumstance, the new interval value Km(n) has replaced the old interval value Km(n-1). Subsequently, after a time interval, an average inductor current IL is calculated, and the square of the average inductor current IL and the new value Km(n) of the active resistance control signal are multiplied for obtaining a new output power P(n) of the solar cell array. To track the maximum power point, the new output power P(n) of the solar cell array is compared with its old value P(n-1). If the output power P(n) of the solar cell array is greater than its old value P(n-1), Km(n) is equal to Km(n-1). If the output power P(n) of the solar

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the above response of the virtual resistor operation, the operating frequency of the local load voltage is rapidly shifted toward the vicinity of the operating frequency of the virtual resistor and the amplitude of the local load voltage is greatly changed. Therefore, the islanding operation of the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is detected and thus the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is disconnected from the utility. Figure 4 shows the control block diagram of the DC/AC power inverter. The DC/AC power inverter is controlled by the current-mode control. The reference signal contains two components, a real power control signal S1 and a virtual resistor control signal S2. The real power control signal S1 can determine the amount of real power supplied from the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system. The DC bus voltage is detected and sent to compare with a predetermined value. The compared result is sent to a PI controller to obtain an amplitude signal. The load voltage is detected by the voltage detector and sent to the band-pass filter (I) with a center frequency, which is the same as the fundamental frequency of the utility. The output of the band-pass filter (I) is multiplied by the amplitude signal in a multiplier so as to obtain the real power control signal S1. The virtual resistor control signal S2 is employed to control the power inverter to generate a current proportional to the component of local load voltage whose frequency is slightly higher than the fundamental frequency of the utility. This means that the power inverter is operated as a virtual resistor connected to the local load voltage in parallel under a frequency slightly higher than the fundamental frequency of the utility to detect the islanding operation. The detected load voltage and the output of the band-pass filter (I) are sent to a subtractor, and the result from the subtractor is the component of local load voltage whose frequency is different from the fundamental frequency of the utility. Subsequently, the subtracted result is sent to the band-pass filter (II). The center frequency of band-pass filter (II) is slightly higher than the fundamental frequency of the utility to extract the component of local load voltage whose frequency is slightly higher than the fundamental frequency of the utility. The output of the band-pass filter (II) is sent to the amplifier with gain K for generating the virtual resistor control signal S2. The real power control signal S1 and the virtual resistor control signal S2 are sent to an adder so as to obtain the reference signal for the power inverter. The output current of the power inverter is detected. The reference signal and the detected output current of the power inverter are sent to the current controller. Finally, an output of the current controller is sent to the PWM circuit to generate PWM signals for the power inverter. As mentioned previously, the dominated part of the reference signal is the real power control signal S1 with the normal utility, and it is the virtual resistor control signal S2 with the interrupted utility. The real power control signal S1 is sinusoidal and in phase with the utility. Compared with the conventional active detection

methods, the proposed islanding detection method has the advantage of decreasing the THD% of the power inverters output current. The virtual resistor control signal S2 will result in the change of amplitude and frequency of the local load voltage. Consequently, the islanding operation can be detected while the utility interruption occurs. Moreover, the proposed islanding detection method is relatively simple as compared with the conventional active islanding detection method.

Fig. 4 Control block diagram of the proposed islanding detection method.

VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS To verify the performance of the proposed grid-connected photovoltaic generation system, a prototype based on the DSP controller TMS320LF2407 is developed and tested. The solar cell array is configured by two strings, and every string contains twenty solar modules connected in series. Table 1 shows the main parameters of the prototype.
TABLE 1 MAJOR PARAMETERS USED IN THE EXPERIMENTS. Solar module Rate of maximum power Open voltage Short current DC/DC power converter Inductor L1 Input Capacitor C1 Switching Frequency DC/AC power inverter Utility Voltage Filter Inductor L1, L2 Filter Capacitor C3 DC Capacitor C2 DC Bus Voltage 240V, 60Hz 0.7mH 4.7F 4700F 380V 0.7mH 940F 18KHz 130W 21.9V 8.02A

The experimental condition is under a temperature around 55 (surface temperature of solar cell array). Figures 5 and 6 show the experimental result of the illumination, output power, output voltage of solar cell array and inductor current of DC/DC power converter under the condition that the solar cell array is shielded abruptly. As seen in Fig.5, the output power of solar cell

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array can track the variation of illumination effectively. This experimental result proves the proposed MPPT method can track the maximum power point fast and effectively.

photovoltaic generation system for the R-L-C local load under the islanding operation. The power inverter is tripped off after the islanding protection. The detection time of the islanding protection is 65.13 ms under this condition. This result shows that the islanding operation under the R-L-C local load can be detected effectively by the proposed method because of the significant frequency change in the local load voltage. Hence, the proposed islanding detection method can detect the islanding operation under this load condition, and its trip time can satisfy UL1741.

Fig. 5 Experimental result for the proposed photovoltaic generation system

Fig. 7 Experimental result of the DC/AC power inverter under normal utility, (a) utility voltage, (b) output current of power inverter. TABLE 2 RESPONSE TO ABNORMAL VOLTAGES [14]. Maximum trip time Voltageat PCC V < 50% 50% V < 88% 88% V 110% 110% < V < 137% 137% V 6cycles 120cycles Normal operation 120cycles 2cycles

Fig. 6 Experimental result for the proposed photovoltaic generation system.

Figure 7 shows the experimental result for the output current of the DC/AC power inverter under normal utility. As seen in Fig. 7, the output current of the DC/AC power inverter is almost sinusoidal and in phase with the utility voltage, and the power factor is 0.99. The THD% of power inverters output current, seen in Fig. 7(b), is only 2.5 %. Hence, the DC/AC power inverter of the proposed photovoltaic generation system can satisfy the THD% limitation in the standard UL1741 [14]. To verify the performance of the proposed islanding method, the following experiments are carried out. A local load R-L-C is used in the experimental system. The resistor load is 11.5 to consume the full power rating (5kW) of photovoltaic generation system. In order to satisfy the specification of UL1741 [14], the resonant frequency and the quality factor Q of local load are 60Hz, and 2.5 respectively. Consequently, the inductive and capacitive of load used in the experimental system are 12.22mH and 575F, respectively. The power inverter is controlled to generate a real power almost equal to that consumed by the local load, and the utility supplies almost no real and reactive power. The amplitude of local load voltage used to determine the islanding condition will follow the islanding control standard shown in Table 2. The allowed frequency range for the grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is 59.3 Hz to 60.5 Hz. Figure 8 shows the experimental results of proposed

Fig. 8 Experimental result of the proposed photovoltaic generation system for the R-L-C local load under the islanding operation, (a) utility voltage, (b) load voltage, (c) output current of power inverter, (d) load current.

Figure 9 shows the efficiency of the proposed photovoltaic generation system under the differential load condition. As seen Fig. 9, the experimental results show that the maximum power efficiency of the developed grid-connected photovoltaic generation system is 96.1 %. Figure 10 shows the photograph for the prototype of the proposed photovoltaic generation system which is produced by Ablerex Electronics Corporation, Ltd. Ablerex Electronics Corporation, Ltd. offers the financial

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support in this paper. VII. CONCLUSIONS This paper presents a grid-connected photovoltaic generation system using the novel MPPT and the islanding detection methods. In order to verify the performance of the proposed grid-connected photovoltaic generation system, a 5 kW prototype is developed and tested. The experimental results show that the MPPT method can effectively track the maximum power generated from solar cell array and follow the variation of illumination and the islanding detection method can meet the standards UL1741. Moreover, the maximum power efficiency of the developed photovoltaic generation system is 96.1 %.

[8]

[9] [10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

C. M. Affonso, W. Freitas, W. Xu, L. C. P. da Silva, Performance of ROCOF relays for embedded generation applications, IEE Proc. Generation, Transmission and Distribution, Vol. 152, No. 1, 2005, pp. 109-114. M. Ropp, W. Bower, Evaluation of islanding detection methods for utility-interactive inverters in photovoltaic systems, SANDIA REPORT, November 2002. M. E. Ropp, M. Begovic, A. Rohatgi, Analysis and performance assessment of the active frequency drift method of islanding prevention, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 14, No. 3, 1999, pp. 810-816. G. K. Hung, C. C. Chang, C. L. Chen, Automatic phase-shift method for islanding detection of grid-connected photovoltaic inverters, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2003, pp. 169-173. S. J. Huang, F. S Pai, Design and operation of grid-connected photovoltaic system with power-factor control and active islanding detection, IEE Proc. Generation, Transmission and Distribution, Vol. 148, No. 3, 2001, pp. 243-250. M. E. Ropp, M. Begovic, M., A. Rohatgi, G. A. Kern, R. H. Sr Bonn, S. Gonzalez, Determining the relative effectiveness of islanding detection methods using phase criteria and nondetection zones, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 15, No. 3, 2000, pp. 290-296. UL1741, Inverter, Converter, and Controllers for Use in Independent Power System.

BIOGRAPHIES
Li-Shiang Lai was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China, on 1977. He received the M.S.E.E. degree from Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Taiwan, China, in 2003. He worked for four years at the R&D Division of the Ablerex Electronics Company. His research interests are power electronics applications include Photovoltaic Inverter and digital controllers. Wen-Chieh Hou was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China, on 1980. He graduated from Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China, in 2002, and received his M.S.E.E. degree from Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, China, in 2004. He worked for three years at the R&D Division of the Ablerex Electronics Company. His research interests are power electronics applications include Photovoltaic Inverter and digital controllers. Feng Ya-Tsung was born in Taichung, Taiwan, China, on 1972. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences in 1999 and the M.S. degree in electrical from Chiao Tung University in 2001. He worked for six years at the R&D Division of the Ablerex Electronics Company. His research interests are Power electronics include UPS, active power filters, Photovoltaic Inverter and digital controllers. Yu-An Chen was born in Tainan, Taiwan, China, on 1955. He graduated from Chiao Tung University of communication engineering in 1977, and received his master degree of traffic & transportation from Chiao Tung University in 1979. Currently, he is the chairman of Ablerex Electronics Co., Ltd. His major interests are power quality and power-electronics applications and traffic control system.

Fig. 9 Efficiency of the proposed photovoltaic generation system under the differential load condition.

Fig.10 Photograph for the prototype of the proposed photovoltaic generation system.

REFERENCES
[1] B. Kroposki and R. DeBlasio, Technologies for the new millennium: photovoltaics as a distributed resource, in Proc. IEEE Power Engineering Society Summer Meeting, Vol. 3, July 2000, pp. 1798-1801. M. P. Choi and A. Tan, Photovoltaics Demonstration Projects, Proc. of EMPD 98, Vol. 2, 1998, pp.637-643. L. Castaner and S. Silvestre, Modeling Photovoltaic System, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2002. T. Esram and P. L. Chapman, Comparison of Photovoltaic Array Maximum Power Point Tracking Techniques, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 22, No. 2, June 2007, pp. 439-449. G. J. Vachtsevanos, H. Kang, Simulation studies of islanded behavior of grid-connected photovoltaic systems, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1989, pp. 177-183. M. A. Redfern, O. Usta, G. Fielding, Protection against loss of utility grid supply for a dispersed storage and generation unit, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1993, pp. 948-954. R. M. Rifaat, Critical considerations for utility / cogeneration inter-tie protection scheme configuration, IEEE Trans. on Industry Applications, Vol. 31, No. 5, 1995, pp. 973-977.

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