UNIT-3

Solar PV cell equivalent Circuit and current equation:

Solar cell I-V and P-V curve:

STC (Standard Test Conditions) and NOCT (Normal Operating Cell Temperature).

TYPES OF PV SYSTEM

Photovoltaic power systems can be classified as:

• Stand-alone PV systems.
• Hybrid PV systems.
• Grid-connected PV systems.

Stand-alone PV systems, are used in remote areas with no access to a utility grid. Conventional
power systems used in remote areas often based on manually controlled diesel generators operating
continuously or for a few hours.

Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems

Stand-alone photovoltaic systems are usually a utility power alternate. They generally include solar
charging modules, storage batteries, and controls or regulators as shown in Fig. 27.15.
Ground or roof-mounted systems will require a mounting structure, and if ac power is desired, an inverter
is also required. In many stand-alone PV systems, batteries are used for energy storage as they may
account for up to 40% of the overall stand-alone PV system cost over its lifetime

These batteries cause losses in the PV system due to limited availability of time and energy to recharge
the battery in addition to the insufficient battery maintenance. Hence, a charge controller is then used to
control the system and prevent the battery from overcharging and overdischarging. Overcharging
shortens the battery life and may cause gassing while undercharging may lead to sulphation and
stratification, which result in the reduction in battery effectiveness and lifetime.

Batteries are often used in PV systems for storing energy produced by the PV array during daytime and
supplying it to electrical loads as needed (during night time or cloudy weather).

Nearly, most of the batteries used in PV systems are deep cycle lead-acid batteries [38]. These batteries
have thicker lead plates that make them tolerate deep discharges. The thicker the lead plates, the longer
the life span of the batteries.

Grid-Connected Photovoltaic System

Grid-connected photovoltaic systems are composed of PV arrays connected to the grid through a power
conditioning unit and are designed to operate in parallel with the electric utility grid as shown in Fig.
27.13. The power conditioning unit may include the MPPT, the inverter, the grid interface as well as the
control system needed for efficient system performance .There are two general types of electrical designs
for PV power systems: systems that interact with the utility power grid as shown in Fig. 27.13a and have
no battery backup capability, and systems that interact and include battery backup as well
as shown in Fig. 27.13b. The latter type of system incorporates energy storage in the form of a battery to
keep “critical load” circuits operating during utility outage. When an outage occurs, the unit disconnects
from the utility and powers specific circuits of the load. If the outage occurs in daylight, the
PV array is able to assist the load in supplying the loads .The major component in both systems is the
DC-AC inverter or also called the power conditioning unit (PCU). The inverter is the key to the successful
operation of the system, but it is also the most complex hardware. The inverter requirements include
operation over a wide range of voltages and currents and regulated output voltage and frequency while
providing AC power with good power quality which includes low total harmonic distortion and high power
factor, in addition to highest possible efficiency for all solar irradiance levels.

GRID CONNECTED SOLAR Inverter Types (Grid Interactive Inverters)

Different types are being in use for the grid-connected PV
applications such as:

• Line-commutated inverter.
• Self-commutated inverter.
• Inverter with high-frequency transformer.
Line-commutated Inverter The line-commutated inverters are generally used for the electric motor
applications. The power stage is equipped with thyristors. The maximum power tracking control is
required in the control algorithm for solar application. The basic diagram for a single-phase line
commutated inverter is shown in the Fig. 28.33 [3]. The driver circuit has to be changed to shift the firing
angle from the rectifier operation (0 < φ < 90) to inverter operation (90 < φ < 180). Six-pulse or 12-
pulse inverter are used for the grid interfacing but 12-pulse inverters produce less harmonics. The
thysistor type inverters require a low impedance grid interface connection for commutation purpose. If the
maximum power available from the grid connection is less than twice the rated PV inverter power, then
the line-commutated inverter should not be used [3]. The line-commutated inverters are cheaper but
inhibits poor power quality. The harmonics injected into the grid can be large unless taken care of by
employing adequate filters. These line-commutated inverters also have poor power factor, poor power
quality, and need additional control to improve the power factor. Transformer can be used to provide the
electrical isolation. To suppress the harmonics generated by these inverters, tuned filters are employed
and reactive power compensation is required to improve the lagging power factor.

Self-commutated Inverter A switch mode inverter using pulse width modulated (PWM) switching
control, can be used for the grid connection of PV systems. The basic block diagram for this type of
inverter is shown in the Fig. 28.34. The inverter bridges may consist of bipolar transistors, MOSFET
transistors, IGBT’s, or gate turn-off thyristor’s (GTO’s), depending upon the type of application. GTO’s are
used for the higher power applications, whereas IGBT’s can be switched at higher frequencies i.e. 16
kHz, and are generally used for many grid-connected PV applications. Most of the present day inverters
are self-commutated sine-wave inverters.

Inverter with High-frequency Transformer The 50 Hz transformer for a standard PV inverter with PWM
switching scheme can be very heavy and costly. While using frequencies more than 20 kHz, a ferrite core
transformer can be a better option [3]. A circuit diagram of a grid-connected PV system using high
frequency transformer is shown in the Fig. 28.35. The capacitor on the input side of high frequency
inverter acts as the filter. The high frequency inverter with PWM is used to produce a high frequency AC
across the primary winding of the high frequency transformer. The secondary voltage of this transformer
is rectified using high frequency rectifier. The DC voltage is interfaced with a thyristor inverter through
low-pass inductor filter and hence connected to the grid. The line current is required to be sinusoidal and
in phase with the line voltage.
Three-Phase AC–AC Voltage Controllers
 The configurations in Fig. 1a and b can be realized by three 1-phase ac regulators
operating independently of each other and they are easy to analyze.
 In Fig. 1a, the SCR’s are to be rated to carry line currents and withstand phase voltages,
whereas
 In Fig. 1b they should be capable of carrying phase currents and withstand the line
voltages.
 Also, in Fig. 1b the line currents are free from triplen harmonics while these are present
in the closed delta.
 The power factor in Fig. 1b is slightly higher.
 The firing angle control range for both these circuits ( Fig a and b) is 0 to 180 for R-load.
 The circuits in Fig. 16.11c and d are 3-phase 3-wire circuits and are difficult to analyze.
 The firing control range is 0° to 150°. (Fig c and d)
The triplen harmonics are absent in both these configurations.
AC-DC-AC Converter

In this configuration, the synchronous generator is allowed to run at variable

speed, producing power of variable voltage and frequency. Control may be
facilitated by adjusting an externally supplied field current. The most common
type of power conversion uses a bridge rectifier (controlled/uncontrolled), a DC
link, and inverter as The disadvantage of this configuration include the relatively
high cost and maintenance requirements of synchronous generators and the
need for the power conversion system to take the full power generated (as
opposed to the wound rotor system
Matrix Converters

The converter in Fig. 18.31 connects any input phase (A, B,and C) to any output phase (a, b, and c) at
any instant. When connected, the voltages van, vbn, vcn at the output terminals are related to the input
voltages VAo, VBo, VCo as

For a balanced linear star-connected load at the output terminals, the input phase currents are related to
the output phase currents by

The matrix converter is controlled by venturini and SVM method. Space vector modulation method

Switiching table is given below, The switches should be controlled in such a way that, at any time, one
and only one of the three switches connected to an output phase must be closed to prevent “short
circuiting” of the supply lines or interrupting the load current flow in an inductive load. With these
9
constraints, it can be visualized that out of the possible 512 (= 2 ) states of the converter, only 27 switch
combinations are allowed as given in Table which includes the resulting output line voltages and input
phase currents. These combinations are divided into three groups. Group-I consists of six combinations
when each output phase is connected to a different input phase.

Advantages:

1. inherent bidirectional power flow,

2. sinusoidal input/output waveforms with moderate switching frequency,
3. possibility of a compact design due to the absence of dc link reactive components
4. controllable input power factor independent of the output load current.

The main disadvantages

1. inherent restriction of the voltage transfer ratio (0.866),

2. a more complex control,
3. commutation and protection strategy,
4. nonavailability of a fully controlled bidirectional high frequency switch