Design and Simulation of Grid Connected PV system Using Multilevel Inverters

Design and Simulation of Grid Connected PV

system Using Multilevel Inverters
MD.SAFIA
M-tech Student Scholar
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering,
GLOBAL institute of Engineering and Technology;
Hyderabad, A.P, India.

T V V PAVAN KUMAR
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering,
GLOBAL institute of Engineering and Technology;
Hyderabad, A.P, India.

Abstract Photovoltaic energy is a wide kind of green

energy. A high performance on these systems is needed
to make the most of energy produced by solar cells. Also,
there must be a constant adaptation due to the
continuous variation of power production. Control
techniques for Power Converters like the MPPT
algorithm (Maximum Power Point Tracking) present
very good results on photovoltaic chains. Nevertheless,
losses on power elements reduce global performance and
the voltage/current adaptation is not always possible.
This paper presents a single-phase 11-level (5 H-bridges)
cascade multilevel DC-AC grid-tied inverter. Each
inverter bridge is connected to a 200 W solar panel.
OPAL-RT lab was used as the hardware in the loop
(HIL) real-time control system platform where a
Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm was
implemented based on the inverter output power to
assure optimal operation of the inverter when connected
to the power grid as well as a Phase Locked Loop (PLL)
for phase and frequency match. A novel SPWM scheme
is proposed in this paper to be used with the solar panels
that can account for voltage profile fluctuations among
the panels during the day. Simulation and experimental
results are shown for voltage and current during
synchronization mode and power transferring mode to
validate the methodology for grid connection of
renewable resources.
Keywords- Multilevel Converter, Cascaded H-bridges,
Photovoltaic, MPPT, PWM Technique, Photo Voltaic
panels.

factor, as the price of the PV panels is being

decreased [1]. This has given rise to a big
diversity of innovative converter configurations
for interfacing the PV modules with the grid.
Currently, the state-of-the-art technology is the
two-level multi string converter. This converter
consists of several PV strings that are connected
with dcdc converters to a common dcac
converter [2], [3]. This topology features several
advantages such as the independent tracking of
the MPP of each string to the existing plant. This
converter topology can reach peak efficiencies up
to 96% [4]. In the last years, multilevel converter
topologies have been also considered in PV
applications [5]. These converter topologies can
generate high-quality voltage waveforms with
power semiconductor switches operating at a
frequency near the fundamental [6]. Although, in
low-power applications, the switching frequency
of the power switches is not restricted, a low
switching frequency can increase the efficiency of
the converter [7]. Additionally, multilevel
converters feature several dc links, making
possible the independent voltage control and the
tracking of the MPP in each string. This
characteristic can increase the efficiency of the
PV system in case of mismatch in the strings, due
to unequal solar radiation, aging of the PV panels,
and different type of the cells or accumulation of
dust in the surface of the panels [8]. and the
possibility to scale the system by plugging more
strings.
Traditional multilevel inverters include cascaded
H-bridge inverter, diode clamped inverter, and
flying capacitors inverter. This paper focuses on

I. INTRODUCTION

Grid-connected single-phase photovoltaic (PV)

systems are nowadays recognized for their
contribution to clean power generation. A primary
goal of these systems is to increase the energy
injected to the grid by keeping track of the
maximum power point (MPP) of the panel, by
reducing the switching frequency, and by
providing high reliability. In addition, the cost of
the power converter is also becoming a decisive

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Design and Simulation of Grid Connected PV system Using Multilevel Inverters

the single-phase 11-level (5 H bridges) cascade

multilevel inverter. Multilevel inverter structures
have been developed to overcome shortcomings
in solid-state switching device ratings so that they
can be applied to high-voltage electrical systems.
The multilevel voltage source inverters' unique
structure allows them to reach high voltages with
low harmonics without the use of transformers.
This makes these unique power electronics
topologies suitable for flexible ac transmission
systems (FACTS) and custom power applications
[6, 7]. The use of a multilevel converter to control
the frequency, voltage output (including phase
angle), and real and reactive power flow at a dc/ac
interface provides significant opportunities in the
control of distributed power systems. The general
function of the multilevel inverter is to synthesize
a desired ac voltage from several levels of dc
voltages. For this reason, multilevel inverters are
ideal for connecting either in series or in parallel an
ac grid with renewable energy sources such as
photo-voltaic or fuel cells or with energy storage
devices such as capacitors or batteries. Additional
applications of multilevel converters include such
uses as medium voltage adjustable speed motor
drives, static var compensation, dynamic voltage
restoration, harmonic filtering, or for a high
voltage dc back-to-back intertie. Because
distributed power sources are expected to become
increasingly prevalent in the near future, the use
of a multilevel converter to control the frequency
and voltage output (including phase angle) from
renewable energy sources will provide significant
advantages because of its fast response and
autonomous control. Additionally, multilevel
converters can also control the real and reactive
power flow from a utility connected renewable
energy source. These power electronic topologies
are attractive for continuous control of system
dynamic behavior and to reduce power quality
problems such as voltage harmonics, voltage
imbalance, or sags [8-10] With a capacitance
connected in parallel with the renewable energy
source, a multilevel converter can provide static
var compensation even when there is no output
power from the photovoltaic or fuel cell energy

source. With banks of batteries or large capacitors

on the dc bus, the multilevel converter can
provide significant ride through capability for
voltage sags or load swings experienced at the
utility interface connection.
II. MULTILEVEL INVERTER AND PV

INTERFACE
An overview of the system is shown in Figure1.
The core component of this inverter design is the
four-switch combination shown in Figure 1. By
connecting the DC source to the AC output by
different combinations of the four switches, Q11,
Q12, Q13, and Q14, three different voltage output
levels can be generated for each DC source,
+Vdc, 0, and -Vdc. A cascaded inverter with N
input sources will provide (2N+1) levels to
synthesize the AC output waveform. The DC
source in the inverter comes from the PV arrays,
and the switching signals come from the
multicarrier sinusoidal pulse width modulation
(SPWM) controller. The 11-level inverter
connects five H-bridges in series and is controlled
by five sets of different SPWM signals to generate
a near sinusoidal waveform [9-11]. The
connection to the grid is done through a variable
transformer to assure that at any time the number
of H Bridges used can be controlled, the grid
voltage generated by the inverter is met and also
to give more flexibility to the experiment since
irradiance levels might not be enough. For that
reason, an additional fixed 10mH inductance was
added as the connection inductance for power
transferring mode. The individual solar panel
output power is proportional to solar irradiance
variations that occur during the day. The MPPT
algorithm will work sensing the output power so
no feedback from the individual panels is
provided to reduce the number of sensors [12].
As can be seen in Figure. 1, the lower panels, in
terms of control signals, will deliver more energy
than the upper panels. In order to avoid uneven
power to be drawn from the panels by the
inverter, a different inverter control approach for
the SPWM scheme is proposed here to be used
with the solar panels that can account for the
voltage profile variation of the panels that occurs

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Design and Simulation of Grid Connected PV system Using Multilevel Inverters

during the day. The MPPT and grid

synchronization algorithm are fed by output and
voltage current signals to generate the gate driver
signals as shown in Figure 2. In Figure 3 are
shown the inverter and its cycle by cycle SPWM
control methodology. The irradiance profile over
a day changes a few orders of magnitude than a
60 Hz system [13]. That means that a control
change action over the modulation index can be
taken over a few cycles of the 50 Hz control
system. It is desired to get the same amount of
power from each string, which cannot be achieved
using a conventional SPWM approach. For
example, the lower panels in Fig. 1 would send
more power than the upper panels as they are
switching for a longer time.

frequency are needed to have each panel switch

position with the other four. The energy stored in
the capacitor will come to help in this process in a
cycle-by-cycle basis to avoid a considerable
voltage drop due to its considerable large
capacitance (1000 uF).

Figure 2: Control Block Diagram

SYNCHRONIZATION AND
TRACKING CONTROL SYSTEM
Synchronization between inverter and grid
means that both will have the same phase angle,
frequency and amplitude. This can be done noise
proof with respect to the grid by sensing the grid
voltage in a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) [14- 17].
Typical PLL algorithms include inverse Parkbased PLL, Hilbert transformer-based PLL, and
transport delay-based PLL. The one to be
included in this design is the transport delay-based
PLL. Fig. 4(a) shows the block diagram of the
PLL algorithm. Notice that the delayed angle can
be directly controlled at the computer station
during the experiment to provide the signal in
quadrature with the grid, which is the input to the
Park transform block. The PLL output is the
actual angle position of the grid voltage. This
signal is used to generate the sine wave that is
used as the reference signal to the control system,
which will generate the SPWM signals to drive
the switches.
The
time required
for
synchronization will be dependent on the PI block
parameters. Fig. 4(b) shows the PLL
synchronization simulation. In that figure, the
PLL starts its synchronization at 0.03 second, and
it is in synchronization after about 0.13 second.
Since the angle is now known, it is possible to
control
III.

Figure 1: Overview of the cascaded multilevel inverter interface with

Grid

The sinusoidal nature of the current comes as

another factor that makes the power drawn from
different panels uneven. The multilevel cascade
topology does not require any of the H-bridges to
be switched in a determined sequence as would be
the case for a diode clamped multilevel (DCM)
converter. This gives freedom to switch the Hbridges in the circuit in any order, which can be
used as strategy to equalize the power transferred
from individual panels. The control strategy
implemented shifts the carrier signal over N
cycles in the case of a (2N+1) level inverter to
make it possible to draw the same amount of
power from each string.
Shifting the carrier down for each cycle is the
same as physically changing the position of the Hbridges shown in Fig 3(a) for an 11-level inverter.
In that figure five cycles of the fundamental

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Design and Simulation of Grid Connected PV system Using Multilevel Inverters

ABOUT PHOTO VOLTAIC SYSTEMS

AND MPPT ALGORITHM
A Photovoltaic (PV) system directly converts
sunlight into electricity. The basic device of a PV
system is the PV cell. Cells may be grouped to
form panels or arrays. The voltage and current
available at the terminals of a PV device may
directly feed small loads such as lighting systems
and DC motors. [7] A photovoltaic cell is
basically a semiconductor diode whose pn
junction is exposed to light. Photovoltaic cells are
made of several types of semiconductors using
different manufacturing processes. The incidence
of light on the cell generates charge carriers that
originate an electric current if the cell is short
circuited.
IV.

Figure 3: Inverter Topology

Figure5: Equivalent Circuit of a PV Device including the series and

parallel Resistances.

Figure 4: Carrier Shifting Control Scheme

the phase difference between inverter and grid by

controlling . This allows the power flow to be
controlled according to (1).

The equivalent circuit of PV cell is shown in

figure 5 in the above diagram the PV cell is
represented by a current source in parallel with
diode. Rs and Rp represent series and parallel
resistance respectively. The output current and
voltage from PV cell are represented by I and V

(1)

where Vinv is the inverter voltage, Vgrid is the

grid voltage, XL is the connection impedance, and
is the angle between grid and inverter. Instead of
sensing the individual panel voltages, the
maximum power point tracking (MPPT)
algorithm determines the optimal point of
operation of the panel by calculating the output
power and phase angle variation [18]. It monitors
output voltage and current parameters by making
small changes on the phase angle and looking at
the power variation, as in a hill climbing
optimization method to track the maximum power
point.

Figure 6: V-I Characteristic of PV Cell

The I-V Characteristics of PV cell [7] is shown in

figure 6.. The net cell current I is composed of the
light- generated current Ipv and the diode current
Id
(1)

Where
Id Io exp qVakT
Io = leakage current of the diode
q= electron charge
k = Boltzmann constant
T= temperature of pn junction
a= diode ideality constant

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Design and Simulation of Grid Connected PV system Using Multilevel Inverters

The basic equation (1) of the pv cell does not

represent the I-V characteristic of a practical PV
array. Practical arrays are composed of several
connected PV cells and the observation of the
characteristic at the terminals of the PV array
requires the inclusion of additional parameters to
the basic equation.

(2)
Where

Is the thermal voltage of the array with Ns cells

connected in series. Cells connected in series
provide greater output voltages. The I-V
characteristic of a practical PV cell with
maximum power point(MPP), Short circuit
current(Isc) and Open circuit voltage (Voc) is
shown in figure 7. The MPP represents the point
at which maximum power is obtained.

same algorithm depending on how it is

implemented.
Hill-climbing
involves
a
perturbation on the duty cycle of the power
converter and P&O a perturbation in the operating
voltage of the DC link between the PV
array and the power converter. In the
case of the Hill-climbing, perturbing the duty
cycle of the power converter implies modifying
the voltage of the DC link between the PV array
and the power converter, so both names refer to
the same technique In this method, the sign of the
last perturbation and the sign of the last increment
in the power are used to decide what the next
perturbation should be. If there is an increment in
the power, the perturbation should be kept in the
same direction and if the power decreases, then
the next perturbation should be in the opposite
direction. Based on these facts, the algorithm is
implemented. The process is repeated until the
MPP is reached. Then the operating point
oscillates around the MPP. This problem is
common also to the In Cond method, as was
mention earlier. A scheme of the algorithm is
shown in Figure 8.

Figure 7 I-V Characteristic of Practical PV Module

Vmp and Imp are voltage and current at MPP

respectively. The output from PV cell is not the
same throughout the day; it varies with varying
temperature and insolation (amount of radiation).
Hence with varying temperature and insolation
maximum power should be tracked so as to
achieve the efficient operation of PV system.
MPPT Algorithm:
MPPT algorithms are necessary in PV
applications because the MPP of a solar panel
varies with the irradiation and temperature, so the
use of MPPT algorithms is required in order to
obtain the maximum power from a solar array.
There are many MPPT techniques in MPPT
Algorithm, Mostly we are using perturb and
observation method. The P&O algorithm is also
called hill-climbing, but both names refer to the
A.

Figure 8: The flowchart of the P&O Algorithm.

V. MATLAB/SIMULINK MODELLING AND

SIMULATION RESULTS
Here the simulation is carried out by four cases
1. Single Phase Cascaded 11 level Inverter
connected to grid without PV Cells. 2. Single
Phase Cascaded 11 level Inverter connected to
grid with PV Cells 3. Three Phase Cascaded 11

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Design and Simulation of Grid Connected PV system Using Multilevel Inverters

level Inverter connected to grid without PV Cells.

4. Three Phase Cascaded 11 level Inverter
connected to grid with PV Cells. All these Cases
A carrier shifting PWM Technique is used.
Case 1: Single Phase Cascaded 11 level
Inverter connected to grid without PV Cells.

Figure 12 shows the Matlab/Simulink model

photo-voltaic system

Figure 13: 11 level Output Voltage of cascaded Multilevel Inverter

with PV cell

Figure 9: Matlab/Simulink model of Single Phase Cascaded 11

level Inverter connected to grid without PV Cells

Figure-9 shows the Matlab/Simulink model of Single Phase

Cascaded 11 level Inverter connected to grid without PV
Cells

Figure 14: Grid voltage

Case 3: Three Phase Cascaded 11 levels Inverter

connected to grid without PV Cells:

Figure 10: 11 level Output Voltage of cascaded Multilevel Inverter

Figure 11: Grid Voltage

Case 2:. Single Phase Cascaded 11 level Inverter

connected to grid with PV Cells:

Figure 12: Matlab/Simulink Model of PV Syatem

Figure 15: Matlab/Simulink Model of Three Phase Cascaded 11 level

Inverter connected to grid without PV Cells

The performance of the proposed Three Phase

Cascaded 11 level Inverter connected to grid
without PV Cells is evaluated through
Matlab/Simulink tools; Figure 15 shows the
Matlab/Simulink model Diagram.

Figure 16: 11 level Output voltage of Three phase Cascaded 11 level

inverter Grid connected without pv cells.

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Design and Simulation of Grid Connected PV system Using Multilevel Inverters

Figure 17 : Three phase grid Voltage

Case 4: Three Phase Cascaded 11 level Inverter

connected to grid with PV Cells

Figure 18: 11 level Output voltage of Three phase Cascaded 11 level

inverter Grid connected with pv cells

Figure 19: Three phase grid Voltage

Figures 18 and 19 show the 11 level output

voltage of three phase cascaded multilevel
inverter with grid interconnection with PV cells
and three phase grid voltage respectively.
V CONCLUSION
This paper presented a Single Phase and Three
phase eleven-level cascade H-bridge inverter,
which uses PLL and MPPT with separate solar
panels as DC sources to interact with the power
grid. A SPWM approach was presented to deal
with the uneven power transferring characteristics
of the conventional SPWM modulation technique.
This technique proved to be successful due to the
irradiance profile and the use of capacitors to
smooth the voltage fluctuation. The system was

driven at 2 kHz because of speed constrains of the

control platform, which required bulk filter
components. Grid connection results were shown
using the proposed MPPT algorithm. Future work
includes the use of a DSP platform to increase
switching
frequency
and
reduce
filter
requirements. The entire PV system structure and
its interaction with the grid through PLL and
MPPT algorithms were shown by the simulation
results.
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T.VV PAVAN KUMAR is from

Hyderabad,
Andhra
pradesh.
Completed M.Tech in EEE with
specialization
High
Voltage
Engineering from University College
of Engineering, Kakinada, affiliated to
JNTUK in 2009 and B.TECH in EEE
from Dr Paul Raj Engineering College
affiliated to JNTUH in 2003.Member
of AIEIE since 2009. Currently he is working as an Assoc.
professor in EEE department at Global Institute of
Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad from 2009. His
areas of interest Power Electronics

AUTHORS PROFILE
MD.SAFIA received B.Tech degree
from ADAMS ENGINEERING
COLLEGE in the year 2008 and
currently
pursing
M.Tech
in
Electrical power engineering at
GLOBAL
INSTITUTE
OF
ENGINEERING
AND
TECHNOLOGY, Hyderabad, and
Andhra Pradesh. His areas of interest
are Power Quality control, power
electronics in power systems.

International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IJEEE), ISSN (PRINT): 2231 5184, Volume-4, Issue-2, 2013
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