Control of Three-Phase Cascaded Voltage Source Inverter for Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems Bailu Xiao, Lijun Hang, Leon M, Tolbert Department of Electrical Engineering and mputer Seience ‘The University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-2250, USA bxiao@utk.edu Abstract—A three-phase cascaded voltage source inverter (VSD for a grid-connceted photovoltaic (PV) system is proposed in this paper. ‘The topology consists of three traditional two-level six-switch VSls interconnected through inductors. Each VSI unit is fed by a string of PV panels. To realize the central control of the proposed system, the equivalent model and average model of the three-phase cascaded VSI are established. To harvest more solar energy control scheme with maximum power point tracking (MPT) proposed. Phase-shifted applied fo control the swi unit. Simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the proposed ideas 1. INTRODUCTION Photovoltaic (PV) systems are ideally distributed generation (DG) units, and they offer the advantages of being pollution free, litte maintenance and emitting no noise. Due to the increasing efficiency and decreasing cost of solar cells as well as the improvements of manufacturing technology in solar panels, grid-connected PV systems are gaining more attention (1-4). Utilities are adapting to solar as their fastest growing electricity source, In 2011, utilities in the US interconnected over 62,500 PV systems, and conservative forecasts indicate that this number will grow to more than 150,000 interconnections in 2015 [5]. To convert DC power from the solar panels into AC power to be fed into the grid, a PV inverter is a necessary and important element in the grid-connected PV system, Many different types of PV inverters have been proposed fand studied [6-9]. The modularity of cascaded T-bridge multilevel converters would position them as a candidate for the next generation of efficient, robust, and reliable grid- connected solar power electronics [10-13]. However, the three-phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter employs a large number of both clectrical and mechanical components, resulting in the inerease of systematic volume and labor cost. In addition, the size of the de-link capacitor is large due to the single-phase pulsating power, and this 978 4673-4355-8/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE. 291 capacitor is the main limiting factor of the inverter lifetime, Which should be kept as small as possible. Thus, a three-phase cascaded VSI composed of three conventional three-phase two-level VSIs is applied to the grid-connecied PV system. The topology was first proposed in [14] and applied in medium and high voltage variable speed motor drive systems. The inverter keeps many advantages of the cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter, and more importantly, it needs fewer switches and reduces the size of the de-link eapacitor [15], The proposed grid-connected PV system is first presented. The equivalent model and average model of the system is then established. Based on the model, a central controller with individual MPPT control is designed, and phase-shifted DPWM is applied to control the switching devices of each VSI unit AA three-phase cascaded VSI prototype has been built in the laboratory. Each VSI unit is fed by a short string of PV panels. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the proposed ideas. u The topology of the proposed three-phase grid- connected PV system is shown in Fig. 1. The three-phase cascaded VSI consists of three traditional three-phase two- level VSI units, which are interconnected in a delta to generate higher output voltage. The circulating current in the delta can be limited by placing inductors Ly which are small at the practical switching frequency. Each VSI unit is connected to a string of PV panels. The three-phase cascaded VSI is connected to the grid through filter Z, SYSTEM DESCRIPTION ‘As shown in Fig. 1, the output line voltage of the three- phase cascaded VSI consists of line voltages of two adjacent VSI units, and the voltage across the current-limiting inductor, By applying the cascaded topology, the thr phase cascaded VSI provides 7-level output line voltage, which reduces voltage stresses on the semiconductor switches in each VSI unit, and enables the reduction of2 —# Ak Be ot NM] hv | VSI falter t 4 a] le vo sont t NM] hue} vst | S& ee clue vst |! mI 4 co Rk & Ye Votage Source vere Fig. Topology for the proposed gid-conected PY stem, harmonics in the synthesized current, reducing the output filters In grid-connected PV applications, the three-phase cascaded VSI topology keeps the advantages of the cascaded multilevel inverter, and much fewer switches are used compared to the three-phase cascaded H-bridge ‘multilevel inverter. In addition, the number and size of the de-link capacitor are also reduced. ‘Compared to the conventional three-phase two-level PV inverter, the three-phase cascaded VSI topology helps to reduce the output filters and voltage stresses on. the semiconductor switches. Meanwhile, the three-phase two- level PV inverter, where PV strings are connected in parallel through string diodes to reach high power level, includes some severe limitations, such as mismatch losses between the PV strings, and losses in the string diodes [6]. The three- phase cascaded VSI PV system will not have these issues. m1, A. Modeling of Three-Phase Cascaded VSI Due to the structure of the three-phase cascaded VSI, the line currents of each VSI are unbalanced. The relationship of line currents is analyzed in [15], and the current vector diagram of the three-phase cascaded VSI is shown in Fig. 2. ContRoL System Tale VS | as an xan 1 la i where i, fs and fare the output currents of VSI unit 1 Val=li If each VSI unit is controlled independently, the coordination operation among three VSIs needs to be considered, and the whole control system is complicated, Therefore, the equivalent model of the system is needed to help design a central controller of the three-phase cascaded 292 VSI, and then phase-shifted SPWM modulation technique cean be applied to the three VSI units. According to Fig. 1, we have tay = ass Hes ta JOOL + Ryig) + Vay — (GOL + RYigs Mac = Myaea + Moog + Myaes = GOL + Rylga + Vine GOL + Ri, Hog = Mero +Morey +Maia) = UL + RYi.g + Voy ~ GOL + Ryiyy Q where 143, tacy and tc, are the output line-line voltages of | the three-phase cascaded VSI; tiie Mice ANd tay aFe the line-line voltages of VSI unit i (=, 2, 3); tars Meza, and ‘ue are the current-limiting inductor voltages; Vys, Yee, and ‘yea are the line-Line voltages of the grid, To get the equivalent model, a balanced system is considered. The three VSI units will have the same modulation index, and the vector aay (OF tic, Mey) in three VSI units will be the same. Thus, we can define Hye = Mines Mines 8) Fig. 2. Curent vector diagram.According to (2), (3), and the current vector diagram, the equivalent model of the three-phase cascaded VSI can be obtained ey = GOL + Ri, +44 —GOL"+ Rig (JOL!+ R)ig + Vgc ~(JOL'+ Ri cy lcsg = GOL'+ Ric + Vp aol’ + Ri, where L=L4+L,/3 6 ‘The equivalent circuit model can be drawn from (3) and. (4), as shown in Fig. 3. According to (3), the equivalent de- link voltage V x is two times of the average de-link voltage while the equivalent capacitance Cis half of the de-link capacitance C ‘The average model of the three-phase cascaded VSI in ae ve £e.| VSI at gl |, S @ fn Fig. 4 Average model of theese cascaded VSI in dy oordinates dg coordinates is obtained and shown in Fig. 4. Thus, the control method used in conventional VSIs can be easily introduced to the three-phase cascaded VSI B. Control Scheme According to the average model of the three-phase cascaded VSI, the control scheme used in the traditional three-phase system can be easily introduced, and central control of the whole system can be achieved. A control scheme with individual MPPT control for the three-phase cascaded VSI for the grid-connected PV system is proposed, as shown in Fig. 5, To maximize the solar energy extraction, an MPPT controller is added to generate the de-link voltage reference of each VSI unit. Each de-link voltage is compared to the corresponding voltage reference, and the sum of the three voltage errors is controlled through @ PI controller that determines the current reference Jing. As the classic control scheme in three-phase systems, the grid currents in abe coordinates are converted to dg coordinates and regulated through PI controllers to generate the modulation index in ‘dg coordinates, which is then converted back to three-phase. Phase-shifted DPWM is then applied to control the switching devices of the three-phase cascaded VSI. In the cascaded multilevel converter, phase-shifted PWM technique has been widely used. It only needs one cartier to generate all the switching signals, and helps to reduce harmonies in the produced multilevel voltage. Phase-shifted technique can also be applied in this case. Each VSI unit adopts a DPWM controller, and the carrier corresponding to each unit is shifted by 7/3 in sequence, where 7, is the switching period. Phase-shifted DPWM is easily implemented, and helps to reduce the switching loss of each unit (16). Many MPPT methods have been developed and implemented [17]. The incremental conductance method has been used in this paper. I lends itself well to digital control, which can easily keep track of previous values of voltage and current, and make all the decisions. i pape", i (ee sae (Cale en i ae salle Soin i “ial ; ate las d. ‘ oe a apeTE eo edge | oT 1G] erase. [NS ine Tass iy As} shifted [—*VSI2 \d, vA Jor 8, pry PWM Yee HET 293Vv. Simulation and experimental tests are carried out to validate the proposed ideas. A three-phase cascaded VSI prototype has been builtin the laboratory. Each VSI unit has 1 short string of PV panels connected as the isolated DC source. Fig. 6 shows the solar panels (185 W Astronergy CHSM-5612M) used in the experiment, RESULTS To verify the proposed control scheme, a three-phase ceaseaded VST for the grid-connected PV system is first simulated. Each VSI unit is fed by a short string of PV panels, which has four 185 W PV panels connected in series, PV panels are operated under the irradiance S=1000 ‘Wim’ and temperature T=25 °C. The de-link capacitor of each VSI unit is 2700 4, the connection inductor L is 3.5 mH, the current-limiting inductor Ly is 1.5 mH, and the grid resistor R is 0.1 ohm. The switching frequency is 4 Kllz, The three-phase cascaded VSI is connected to the grid, and the phase voltage of the grid is 120 Vrms. Due to the structure of the three-phase cescaded VSI, the output line currents of each VST are unbalanced, For instance, the unbalanced line current of VSI unit 1 is shown in Fig. 7, which verifies the relationship given in (1), However, with the proposed control scheme, the grid current is balanced, as shawn in Fig. 8. The THD of the grid current is 3.17%, as shown in Fig. 9, which is less than 5% and meets the power quality standard, Fig. 6 Sola panels Astonergy CHSM-5612M “ Line current of VSI uni 026 028 1s) Fig. 7, Line curtent o VST uit oF 032 294 td =a ee = WYYnyyyyy(~—>> edVVyyy yy yy = hy Aik BAAN AAA ai yh yyy 6 OV 10) v oie obs 0 ae ts) ig § Grid curentof the proposed PV’syster, | Fundernentl (80H) = @.19 FMS, THO= 3.17% a a) Frequency (Hz) Fig. 9: THD of the grid curren, Mag 1% ct Funtament) o 8 8 Line vaige (¥) 8 06 o% tts) Fig, 10, Output line volage wa oF te phase caseaded VSL os 032 ‘The output line voltage 4p of the three-phase cascaded VSI is shown in Fig. 10. The T-level voltage enables the reduction of harmonics in the synthesized current, reducing the output filters. The grid voltage and current waveforms of phase @ are shown in Fig. 11. The grid eurrent has the same phase as the voltage, which means unity displacement power factor has been achieved. Fig. 12 shows the dc-link voltage of VSI unit 1. It can be seen that four PV panels in that string are operated at the MPP voltage 36.4 V, To compare the three-phase cascaded VSI topology with the conventional three-phase two-level inverter, a three phase two-level grid-connected PV inverter is also simulated, Same output filters and switching frequency are chosen, The grid current waveforms are shown in Fig. 13, The THD of the grid current is 15.3%, which is far more than 5%, However, as shown in Fig. 9, the THD of the grid current in the three-phase cascaded VSI PV system is only 3.17%, Thus, the three-phase cascaded VST topology helps to reduce harmonics in the synthesized current,8 {Grd voltage (V) and curent (A) aa aae i) Fig 11, Grid voltage and eure of pase a 3 z 5 DOAink votage (v) = a 05085 0a 045 ts) Fig, 12. DCnk vltage of VST unit 5055 O86 vie Ta oho te Fig 13, Grid eurents of thre-phase two-level PV inverter A three-phase cascaded VSI prototype has been built. ‘The MOSFET IRFSL4127 is selected as inverter switches operating at 4 kI1z, The control signals to the inverters are sent by a dSPACE ds1103 controller. Each VSI unit has two PV panels connected in series as the DC source. The three- phase cascaded VSI is connected to the grid through a transformer, and the phase voltage of the secondary side is 60 Vrms. The connection inductor L is 2.5 mH, and the ccurrent-limiting inductor Lis 1.5 ml. ‘The experimental results are presented in Figs. 14-17. Fig. 14 shows the three-phase grid current. With the proposed control scheme, the grid current is balanced, and the THD is 4.9%, as shown in Fig. 15. The experimental setup was tested in winter, and the solar irradiance on PV panels was not high enough. Thus, the experimental grid current is only 3.8 Arms. With higher solar irradiance, the input PV power would be higher, which results in a larger avid current, and the THD of the grid current can be further reduced, 35 or—aae Fig. 16 shows the line currents of one VSI unit. As discussed before, they are not balanced. Fig, 17 shows the ‘grid voltage and current wavelorms of phase a. It can be seen that the grid current has the same phase as the grid voltage and has unity displacement power factor, v. In this paper, a three-phase cascaded voltage source inverter for a grid-connected PV system is proposed. The ConcLusions: amen onder Fig 15. THD ofthe grid cure. —— ieltad isn ies Fig 16. Line uments of VSI unit 295Ma Fig. 17. Grid voltage and cument waveforms of phase a ‘equivalent model and average model of the proposed system are given to realize the central controller. 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