http://www.learnabout-electronics.org/PSU/psu32.

php

Boost Converter
A Boost converter is a switch mode DC to DC converter in which the output voltage is
greater than the input voltage. It is also called as step up converter. The name step up
converter comes from the fact that analogous to step up transformer the input voltage
is stepped up to a level greater than the input voltage. By law of conservation of energy
the input power has to be equal to output power (assuming no losses in the circuit).
Input power (P ) = output power (P )
in

out

SinceV < V in a boost converter, it follows then that the output current is less than the
in

out

input current. Therefore in boost converter

V < V and I >I
in

out

in

out

Principle of operation of Boost converter

The main working principle of boost converter is that the inductor in the input circuit
resists sudden variations in input current. When switch is OFF the inductor stores
energy in the form of magnetic energy and discharges it when switch is closed. The
capacitor in the output circuit is assumed large enough that the time constant of RC
circuit in the output stage is high. The large time constant compared to switching
period ensures a constant output voltage V (t) = V (constant)
o

Modes of operation of Boost converter

The boost converter can be operated in two modes
a) Continuous conduction mode in which the current through inductor never

goes to zero i.e. inductor partially discharges before the start of the switching cycle.
b) Discontinuous conduction mode in which the current through inductor goes to
zero i.e. inductor is completely discharged at the end of switching cycle.

Circuit analysis of Boost converter

Assume in the entire analysis that the current swing (maximum to minimum value)
through inductor and voltage swing through capacitor is very less so that they vary in a
linear fashion. This is to ease the analysis and the results we will get through this
analysis are quite accurate compared to real values.

The basic principle of a Boost converter consists of 2 distinct states (see figure 2):

in the On-state, the switch S (see figure 1) is closed, resulting in an increase in the inductor
current;

in the Off-state, the switch is open and the only path offered to inductor current is through
the flyback diode D, the capacitor C and the load R. This results in transferring the energy
accumulated during the On-state into the capacitor.

The input current is the same as the inductor current as can be seen in figure 2. So it is not
discontinuous as in the buck converter and the requirements on the input filter are relaxed compared
to a buck converter.

Continuous mode
When a boost converter operates in continuous mode, the current through the inductor never falls to
zero. Figure 3 shows the typical waveforms of currents and voltages in a converter operating in this
mode. The output voltage can be calculated as follows, in the case of an ideal converter (i.e. using
components with an ideal behaviour) operating in steady conditions.

Applications of Boost converter

They are used in regulated DC power supplies.
They are used in regenerative braking of DC motors
Low power boost converters are used in portable device
applications
As switching regulator circuit in highly efficient white LED
drives
Boost converters are used in battery powered applications
where there is space constraint to stack more number of
batteries in series to achieve higher voltages.
buck-boost converters

The buckboost converter is a type of DC-to-DCconverter that has an output voltage

magnitude that is either greater than or less than the input voltage magnitude. It is
equivalent to a flybackconverter using a single inductor instead of a transformer.

selection Of inverter

What are the different types of solar inverters?

Inverters are an important part of any solar installation; they are the brains of the
system. Although the inverters main job is to convert DC power produced by the solar
array into usable AC power, its role is only expanding. Inverters enable monitoring so
installers and owners can see how a system is performing. Inverters can also provide
diagnostic information to help O&M crews identify and fix system issues. These
important components are increasingly taking on decision-making and control functions
to help improve grid stability and efficiency. With the growth of solar+storage, inverters
are also taking on responsibility for battery management. Here is a look at some
different types of solar inverters.

String
inverters
Solar panels are installed in rows, each on a string. For example of you have 25
panels you may have 5 rows of 5 panels. Multiple strings are connected to one string
inverter. Each string carries the DC power the solar panels produce to the string
inverter where its converted into usable AC power consumed as electricity. Depending
on the size of the installation, you may have several string inverters each receiving DC
power from a few strings.

String inverters have been around for a long time and are good for installations without
shading issues and in which panels are positioned on a single plane so do not face
different directions. If an installation uses string inverters and even one panel is shaded
for a portion of the day reducing its performance, the output of every panel on the
string is reduced to the struggling panels level. Though string inverters arent able to
deal with shading issues, the technology is trusted and proven and they are less
expensive than systems with microinverters. String inverters are commonly used in
residential and commercial applications. Also, as technology improves allowing string

inverters to have greater power density in smaller sizes,string inverters are becoming a
popular alternative over central inverters in small utility installations smaller than 1 MW.

String inverters can also be paired with power optimizers, an option which is gaining
popularity. Power optimizers are module-level power electronics meaning they are
installed at the module level, so each solar panel has one. Some panel manufacturers
integrate their products with power optimizers and sell them as one solution known as
a Smart Module. This can make installation easier. Power optimizers are able to
mitigate affects of shading that string inverters alone cannot. They condition the DC
electricity before sending it to the inverter, which results in a higher overall efficiency
than using a string inverter alone. Power optimizers offer similar benefits as micro
inverters, but tend to be less expensive and so can be a good option between using
strictly string inverters or micro inverters.

Central inverters
Central inverters are similar to string inverters but they are much larger and can
support more strings of panels. Instead of strings running directly to the inverter, as
with string models, the strings are connected together in a common combiner box that
runs the DC power to the central inverter where it is converted to AC power. Central
inverters require fewer component connections, but require a pad and combiner box.
They are best suited for large installations with consistent production across the array.
Microinverters
Microinverters are also becoming a popular choice for residential and commercial
installations. Like power optimizers, microinverters are module-level electronics so one
is installed on each panel. However, unlike power optimizers which do no conversion,
microinverters convert DC power to AC right at the panel and so dont require a string
inverter. Also, because of the panel-level conversion, if one or more panels are shaded
or are performing on a lower level than the others, the performance of the remaining
panels wont be jeopardized. Microinverters are also monitor the performance of each
individual panel, while string inverters show the performance of each string. This
makes microinverters good for installations with shading issues or with panels on
multiple planes facing various directions. Systems with microinverters can be more
efficient, but these often cost more than string inverters.

Microinverters can also be sold through panels manufacturers already integrated into
the panel, similar to Smart Modules but instead known as an AC Module. This makes
installation easier and cheaper.
Battery based inverter/chargers
With the growth of solar storage, battery-based inverter/chargers are becoming
increasingly important. Battery based inverter/chargers are bi-directional in nature,
including both a battery charger and an inverter. They require a battery to operate.
Battery-based inverter/chargers may be grid-interactive, standalone grid-tied or offgrid, depending on their UL rating and design. The primary benefit of inverter/chargers
is that they provide for continuous operation of critical loads irrespective of the
presence or condition of the grid. UL1741 requires the grid-tied generation source to
stop generating power in the event of a grid outage. This de-powering is known as
anti-islanding, as opposed to islanding which is defined as generating power to power
a location in the event of a grid outage. Therefore, UL1741 grid-tie inverters will not
generate power in the event of a grid outage, so a user will experience an outage
irrespective of the availability solar harvest. Battery-based inverter/chargers will power
the critical loads in the event of a grid outage, but will do so in a manner to not create
the islanding condition. Further, UL1741 inverter/chargers may be rated as either
interactive or standalone. The former export excess power to the grid, while the latter
do notby rating and by definition. In all instances, the battery based inverter/charger
manages energy between the array and the grid while keeping the batteries charged.
They monitor battery status and regulate how the batteries are charged.

What is an inverter?
An inverters basic function is to invert the direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic (PV) system into
alternating current (AC). AC is the standard used by all commercial appliances, which is why many view
solar inverters as the gateway between the PV system and the energy off-taker.

Why do you need a solar inverter?

Inverters have evolved from providing just the one important function of inverting the electrical current to a
number of other capabilities and services. Every inverter should provide options for extra tools and
services such as data monitoring, advanced utility controls, applications, system design engineering and a
host of other servicesall to ensure the inverter can operate at an optimal performance level. This is

crucial for project investors, EPCs, off-takers and utilities to get the most production from their investment
in a solar energy system.
Furthermore, while solar inverters constitute a small percentage of the systems cost, keeping them
running as efficiently and reliably as possible is critical. Maximized inverter performance leads to more
energy production, yielding better returns for project stakeholders. It is imperative that inverters are highly
reliable, with ongoing data monitoring, preventative maintenance (PM), operations and maintenance
(O&M) services, a quick mean time to repair (MTTR) and a proven and bankable warranty. All of these
factors should be considered by anyone making a purchasing decision for a solar energy system.

What are the different types of solar inverters?

Microinverters are not a new concept. Since the earliest days of the PV industry,
solar engineers and entrepreneurs have sought to create grid-compatible AC power direct from a solar
panel. Some of the first commercial microinverters appeared in the mid-1990s, including the SunSine AC
Module developed by Ascension Technologies. In fact, one of the first ACPV systems, delivered to the
U.S. Pentagon in 1994, is still functioning today.
Microinverters all but disappeared from the market in the early 2000s, due to their high cost and relatively
low efficiency. But over the last five years, rapid advances in semiconductor technology and
improvements in efficiency and reliability have made microinverters a viable alternative to central
inverters.
Manufacturers say the advantages of solar microinverters include a simplified design, installation, and
most compellingly, improved uptime over other systems as there is no single point of failure in the PV
system. System owners easily comprehend the bottom-line benefits of module-level monitoring and
maximum power point tracking. Its actually hard to understand how the rooftop PV industry has grown to
the point it is today without system owners having regular awareness of how their own systems are
performing.

Off-Grid inverters are already multitaskers: combination inverter/chargers with bi-directional energy
capabilities to convert DC to AC and AC to DC. This allows the inverter to manage PV or other energy
sources while also maintaining battery storage. Until recently, the rather clean-cut separation between offgrid systems (mainly for providing power in remote or stand-alone applications without grid access) and

grid-tied systems (mainly to supplement utility power for economic reasons) made it easy to segregate
solar inverters into two related classes, with little or no overlap between them.
Features previously considered the exclusive territory of off-grid inverters will become increasingly
common in grid-tied systems. As more people realize the benefits of combining off-grid independence with
grid-tied economics, multi-talented hybrid inverters capable of operating in multiple modes will become
more standard at the center of energy systems, relegating single-purpose off-grid and one-trick-pony gridtied inverters to niche applications and cost-driven installations.

String Inverters have a proven trajectory. Because of their established reliability, accessibility and high
efficiency, they remain well-suited for most residential and small commercial systems under performance
incentives. With added competition from micro-inverters and two-stage inverter systems, solar string
inverter designers continue to make advancements in efficiency and power density using new and better
components and topology innovation. In addition, they also face the demand to provide improved grid
management and safety functions. Enhancing power control features, providing environmental data
analytics, and addressing serial arc fault circuit interruption are challenges facing every solar string
inverter designer.
Central Inverters are typically floor or ground mounted, as opposed to string inverters, which are typically
installed on a wall or other vertical structure. They range in power from around 50kW to over 1MW and
can be designed for indoor or outdoor use. The simplest architecture of a central inverter consists of a
single DC-AC conversion stage. Some inverters have a DC-DC boost stage to increase the MPP voltage
range. In some cases, a low frequency transformer is provided at the output to boost the AC voltage and
provide isolation. However, this decreases the efficiency and increases the size, weight and cost of the
inverter. The trend is to use transformerless inverters in commercial installations with a front-end boost
stage if required.

battery sizing

How to Size Your Off-Grid Solar Batteries

If you are designing a solar electricity system and don't have access to the grid, you
are going to have to deal with batteries. When you start looking at solar batteries
you are going to encounter a little math. Fortunately, Solar Town is here to guide
you through the calculations
The general goal when designing an off-grid battery bank is to get a system that is
big enough to supply all your needs for a few cloudy days, but is also small enough
to be charged by your panels. Before you get started here you may want to check

out this article. It serves as a good introduction to the solar batteries I'll be talking
about:
Alright let's get started! Here are the steps to sizing your off-grid system.

Step 1: Calculating Your Amp-hour Needs

1.
Inverter
size
To
determine
the
inverter
size
we
must
find
the
load
or
maximum
wattage
of
that
your
could
home.
be
This
run
at
is
found
same
by
adding
time.
2.
Daily
Include
up
energy
everything
use
of
from
the
appliances
microwaves
and
devices
lights
computers
and
clocks.
sum
will
tell
you
which
inverter
size
you
need.
A
room
has
inverter
two
60
size
watt
is
light
60
bulb
xthe
2
+wattage
and
300
a
=
300
420
watt
watts
desktop
computer.
The
be
run
find
in
the
hours
energy
during
abattery
day.
inThe
a
Multiply
day.
Figure
the
wattage
out
how
of
long
each
each
device
electronic
by
its
run-time
device
will
toxto
for
get
your
the
home.
energy
This
in
watt-hours
estimate
is
per
likely
day.
too
Add
low
up
as
all
there
the
watt-hour
will
be
efficiency
values
to
loses.
get
aTo
total
get
aNext
very
rough
account
idea
for
ofthe
decreasing
real
value
3.
performance
Days
with
of
system
autonomy
when
loses,
temperature
multiply
by
increases.
1.5.
This
will
help
Example:
Light
bulbs
run
for
5
hours
aenergy
day.
Computer
runs
for
2
hours
aand
day.
120
5kwh
+
300
xrating
2used
=
1200
4.
watt-hours.
Battery
bank
1200
capacity
xpeak
1.5
=
1800
watt-hours
Now
decide
how
many
days
worth
of
want
to
store
in
your
battery
bank.
Generally
this
anywhere
from
two
to
five.
Finally
we
can
calculate
the
minimum
battery
AH
capacity.
Take
the
watt-hours
per
a
day
50%
and
depth
multiply
of
discharge
them
by
the
on
your
number
batteries.
you
decided
upon
multiply
in
3.
This
by
2
should
and
convert
represent
the
kwh
result
into
amp
hours
(AH).
This
is
done
by
dividing
by
the
battery
voltage.
you
use
1.8
You
want
per
the
day.
As
1.8
bank
x10
3
x800/48
to
2
=
last
10.8kwh,
three
days
this
without
is
the
energy
recharging
we
need
and
from
that
the
This
batteries.
can
be
12,
Converting
24
or
48
this
for
to
commercial
AH
we
have
application.
to
divide
by
If
we
the
choose
to
of
use
your
48V,
system.
the
minimum
battery's
AH
capacity
is
you
then
find
the
number
=Therefore
225
of
batteries
AH.
Now
you
ifvoltage
you
must
divide
use.
by
your

BATTERY SIZING TIPS for STAND ALONE PV SYSTEMS

Wind: three phase AC voltage controllers

PWM Inverters,

2.2.1 The output voltage

2.2.2 The input current Likewise to the output voltages, the input currents are
directly generated by the output currents, synthesized by sequential piecewise
sampling of the output current waveforms. If the switching frequency of the
matrix converter is set to a value that is much higher than the input.

2.2.3 The input power factor control

The input power factor control capability is another attractive
feature of matrix converters, which holds for most of the control
algorithms proposed in literature [2], [3], [8]-[11]. Despite of this
common capability it is worth noting that a basic difference exists
with respect to the load displacement angle dependency. For
instance, the algorithm proposed in [2] does not require the
knowledge of the load displacement angle in order to fully control

the input power factor. On the contrary, the algorithm in [3] do es

require the knowledge of the load displacement angle whenever

the

Grid Interactive Inverters

.A grid-tie inverter is a power inverter that converts direct current (DC) electricity into
alternating current (AC) with an ability to synchronize to interface with a utility line. Its
applications are converting DC sources such as solar panels or small wind turbines into
AC for tying with thegrid.

A grid-tie inverter is a power inverter that converts direct

crrent (DC) electricityinto alternating current (AC) with an ability to synchronize to interface
with a utility line. Its applications are converting DC sources such as solar panels or small wind
turbines into AC for tying with the grid.[1]
Residences and businesses that have a grid-tied electrical system are permitted in many
countries to sell their energy to the utility grid. Electricity delivered to the grid can be
compensated in several ways. "Net metering" is where the entity that owns the renewable
energy power source receives compensation from the utility for its net outflow of power. So for
example, if during a given month a power system feeds 500 kilowatt-hours into the grid and
uses 100 kilowatt-hours from the grid, it would receive compensation for 400 kilowatt-hours. In
the US, net metering policies vary by jurisdiction. Another policy is a feed-in tariff, where the
producer is paid for every kilowatt hour delivered to the grid by a special tariff based on a
contract with distribution company or other power authority.
In the United States, grid-interactive power systems are covered by specific provisions in
the National Electric Code, which also mandates certain requirements for grid-interactive
inverters.

Typical operation[edit]
Inverters take DC power and invert it to AC power so it can be fed into the electric utility
company grid. The grid tie inverter (GTI) must synchronize its frequency with that of the grid
(e.g. 50 or 60 Hz) using a local oscillator and limit the voltage to no higher than the grid
voltage. A high-quality modern GTI has a fixed unity power factor, which means its output
voltage and current are perfectly lined up, and its phase angle is within 1 degree of the AC
power grid. The inverter has an on-board computer which senses the current AC grid waveform,
and outputs a voltage to correspond with the grid. However, supplying reactive power to the

grid might be necessary to keep the voltage in the local grid inside allowed limitations.
Otherwise, in a grid segment with considerable power from renewable sources, voltage levels
might rise too much at times of high production, i.e. around noon.
Grid-tie inverters are also designed to quickly disconnect from the grid if the utility grid goes
down. This is an NECrequirement[2] that ensures that in the event of a blackout, the grid tie
inverter will shut down to prevent the energy it transfers from harming any line workers who
are sent to fix the power grid.
Properly configured, a grid tie inverter enables a home owner to use an alternative power
generation system like solar or wind power without extensive rewiring and without batteries. If
the alternative power being produced is insufficient, the deficit will be sourced from the
electricity grid.

Technology
Technologies available to grid-tie inverters include newer high-frequencytransformers,
conventional low-frequency transformers, or they may operate without transformers altogether.
Instead of converting direct current directly to 120 or 240 volts AC, high-frequency
transformers employ a computerized multi-step process that involves converting the power to
high-frequency AC and then back to DC and then to the final AC output voltage.
[3]
Transformerless inverters are both lighter and more efficient than their counterparts with
transformers, are popular in Europe. However, transformerless inverters have been slow to enter
the US market over concerns that transformerless electrical systems could feed into the public
utility grid without galvanic isolation between the DC and AC circuits that could allow the
passage of dangerous DC faults to be transmitted to the AC side.[4] However, since 2005, the
NFPA's NEC allows transformerless (or non-galvanically) inverters by removing the
requirement that all solar electric systems be negative grounded and specifying new safety
requirements. The VDE 0126-1-1 and IEC 6210 also have been amended to allow and define
the safety mechanisms needed for such systems. Primarily, residual or ground current detection
is used to detect possible fault conditions. Also isolation tests are performed to ensure DC to
AC