An Improved Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Power

Generation System with Low Harmonic Current in

Full Power Ranges

Xiangdong Sun, Member, IEEE, Tai Fan, Shaoliang An, Qi Zhang, and Bo Zhang
Department of Electrical Engineering
Xi’an University of Technology
Xi’an, China
sxd1030@163.com

Abstract—An improved grid-connected photovoltaic (PV)
power generation system is proposed to solve the problem that the
total harmonic distortion (THD) of grid-connected current
generally exceeds 5% under the condition of low output power of
PV array in this paper. The system includes a larger capacity
master inverter with an LCL filter and a smaller capacity slave
inverter with an L filter. Two inverters are connected in parallel
with the utility grid via an isolated line-frequency transformer.
Two inverters can operate in one of three working modes
according to output power of the PV array to reduce the
grid-connected harmonic current in full power ranges. Moreover,
an active harmonic compensation circuit and its control method
are presented to eliminate the harmonic current generated by the
inverter. Design process of the system is studied. Control strategies
of the different working modes are discussed. Simulation results
verify that the system and its control strategies are feasible.
Keywords—photovoltaic (PV) power generation
grid-connected; active power filter (APF)
I. INTRODUCTION
As the crisis of energy source and the environmental
problems are increasingly apparent, the renewable energy as a
green energy is paid more attention. The proportion of electric
energy produced by the grid-connected photovoltaic (PV)
power generation system is increasing in the whole power
system, the safe and stable influence on power quality of utility
grid is also growing. Although IEEE 1547 standard has strict
requirements on the single harmonic current and the total
harmonic current under the condition of rated power for the
gird-connected PV power generation system [1], when output
power of the PV array is small, the problem of the large
grid-connected harmonic current still exists.
Nowadays, there are three main solutions to the problem
mentioned above, those are given as follows: Firstly, the
original L or LC filter can be replaced by an LCL filter, owing
to the advantage of obvious filtering effect of an LCL filter
[2]-[6]. Secondly, one inverter with large capacity is replaced
by some parallel-connected inverters with small capacity [7].
The PV system determines the working number of these
inverters by monitoring output power of the PV array, therefore,
the grid-connected harmonic current can be reduced to some The detailed working modes are described as follows:
This work was supported by Special Found for the Key Disciplines of
Shaanxi Province (105-5X1201), Educational Committee Foundation of
Shaanxi Province (2012JC17, 2013JK0999), and Cooperative Innovation
Foundation of Shaanxi Province (2014XT-19)
extent. Thirdly, the active power filter is installed to make the
harmonic current only flow between the grid-connected
inverter and active power filter, and the total grid-connected
harmonic current can meet the requirement [8]. Obviously, the
first and second methods can only partly reduce the
grid-connected harmonic current. The third way can solve the
problem of large grid-connected harmonic current, but its
demerit is that the extra active power filter causes high cost of
the system.
To solve the above problems, three existing solutions are
combined and an improved grid-connected PV power
generation system is proposed in this paper. The system
includes a master inverter with an LCL filter and a slave
inverter with an L filter. Two inverters are connected in parallel
at the output side, and then they are connected with the utility
grid via an isolated line-frequency transformer. Meanwhile,
system;
two additional DC contactors are used to realize the function of
harmonic compensation.
II. SYSTEM STRUCTURE AND WORING MODES
The improved grid-connected PV power generation system
is shown in Fig.1, where VDm and VDs are the diodes
preventing the current flowing into the PV array. KMpv and
KMdc are the DC contactors for the purpose of harmonic
suppression. KMacm and KMacs are the AC contactors for the
grid-connected operation.
As for two inverters, the master inverter capacity is larger
and it can only work in grid-connected power generation mode,
while the slave inverter capacity is relatively small and it can
work in the grid-connected power generation mode or active
harmonic compensation mode. To realize the optimal system
performance, the system determines the working mode of two
inverters by monitoring output power of the PV array.
Moreover, the hysteresis loop is used to avoid the working
mode changing frequently when output power of the PV array
fluctuates near the switching point. Supposed that the following
relationship is satisfied:
C % < B% < A% < 100%. (1)

978-1-4799-6768-1/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE

 VDm i pvm v pvm
icam
Cm
L1
Cf
KM pv
VDs i pvs v pvs
KM dc Cs
Fig.1. System structure of the improved grid-connected PV power generation system
A. Working Mode I—Power Generation Mode of Two
Inverters
As shown in Fig.2，when the output power of the master PV
array is more than A% of the master inverter capacity, it means
that the sunshine is strong enough, the contactor KMpv is off,
and the contactors KMdc, KMacm and KMacs turn on at the same
time. In this condition, both the master and slave inverters are
working in the grid-connected power generation mode with the
THD of the grid-connected current meeting the requirement
(less than 5%).
VDm
VDs
Fig.2. Simplified block diagram for working mode I
B. Working Mode II—Active Harmonic Compensation Mode
As shown in Fig.3, when the total output power of the
master and slave PV arrays is more than B% of the master
inverter capacity and the output power of the master PV array
is less than A% of the master inverter capacity, it implies that
the sunshine is not strong enough, the contactors KMpv, KMacm
and KMacs are all on, and the contactor KMdc is off. The master
and slave PV arrays are connected in parallel and taken as the
input of the master inverter. In this case, it is possible that the
grid-connected current of the master inverter does not meet the
requirement. Therefore, the slave inverter needs to work in
active harmonic compensation mode as an active power filter
to make the harmonic current flow between the master inverter
and the slave inverter, thus reducing the harmonic current
flowing into the grid. Its purpose is that the THD of the total
grid-connected current is less than 5%.
VDm
VDs
Fig.3. Simplified block diagram for working mode II
iamKM acm ea
ibm eb
icbm icm O
ec
iccm L2 Y , d11
ias KM acs
ibs
ics
L
C. Working Mode III—Power Generation Mode of Only the
Slave Inverter
As shown in Fig.4, when the total output power of the
master and slave PV arrays is more than C% and less than B%
of the master inverter capacity, it means that the sunshine is
weak, the contactors KMpv, KMdc and KMacs are all on, and the
contactor KMacm is off. The master and slave PV arrays are
connected in parallel and taken as the input of the slave inverter,
and the slave inverter works in grid-connected power
generation mode with the THD of the grid-connected current
meeting the requirement (less than 5%).
VDm
VDs
Fig.4. Simplified block diagram for working mode III
Moreover, when the total output power of the master and
slave PV arrays is less than C% of the master inverter capacity,
it means that the sunshine is weak enough, the system does not
work.
As a whole, it is seen from the analysis above that the
grid-connected PV power generation system can determine the
working mode according to the output power of the PV arrays
and reduce the grid-connected harmonic current produced by
the system to maximum degree.
III. THE ANALYSIS ON KEY PROBLEMS
A. Design Process of the System
The design of the LCL filter of the master inverter: it is
designed to meet the requirement of the traditional
gird-connected power generation system that the THD of
grid-connected current of the master inverter is less than 5%
when the output power of the PV array equals the rated
capacity of the master inverter, and to make the THD of
grid-connected current as small as possible within the
allowable range of the filter inductor.
In order to facilitate the analysis below, the grid-connected
current THD—the output power curve of the master inverter
one day are recorded and drawn firstly.
 The determination of A%: according to the curves, the
output power of the PV array may be obtained when the THD
of grid-connected current for the master inverter equals 5%,
and then A% equals the ratio of the output power of the PV
array to the rated capacity of master inverter.
The determination of B%: according to the curves, the
harmonic power curve of the PV array is drawn when the THD
of grid-connected current of the master inverter is more than
5%, and then the maximum harmonic power is got. When the
rated capacity of the slave inverter is equal to the maximum
harmonic power, B% equals the ratio of the rated capacity of
the slave inverter to the rated capacity of the master inverter.
The design of the L filter of the slave inverter: firstly, the
inductor should meet the requirement of harmonic
compensation for the master inverter. Secondly, the THD of
grid-connected current of the slave inverter is smallest within
the allowable range of the filter inductor when the slave
inverter works in the power generation mode.
The determination of C%: the output power of the PV array
is obtained when the salve inverter works in the power
generation mode and the THD of grid-connected current equals
5%, and then C% equals the ratio of the PV array output power
to the rated capacity of the master inverter.
B. Control Strategy of the Master Inverter
The use of the LCL filter increases the system order, and
reduces the system impedance, even zero impedance may occur
at a certain frequency, and then the system resonance is perhaps
caused, thus the inverter control strategy is strictly required.
The series connection of a filter capacitor and a smaller resistor
is proposed to suppress the resonance peak [2]. The effect is
favorable, but the passive damping leads to additional power
loss and reduces the system efficiency. The indirect current
control method using current feedback of an inverter is
proposed and the system stability is proved, the power factor is
improved by phase correction control technology [3]. The
capacitor in the LCL filter is parted into two parallel-connected
capacitors and the inverter is controlled by the feedback
currents of two capacitors [4]. A third-order system is lowered
as a first-order system by using the above control strategy. But
these two methods are indirect grid-connected current control,
and it is not easy to achieve the best unity power factor control.
A double-loop control including outer loop of the
grid-connected current and inner loop of the capacitor current
is adopted to control the grid-connected current directly in this
paper. Outer loop of the control strategy may not only control
the quality of grid-connected current directly to raise the power
factor effectively, but also improve the robustness of the system
under the condition of the grid voltage distortion. In addition,
inner loop of capacitive current can change the unstable system
structure which is controlled by one loop of the grid-connected
current generally to a conditional stability structure [5], [6].
The control method is shown in Fig.5 in detail. The
reference voltage of the PV array is obtained after the
maximum power point tracking control realized by sampling
output voltage and current of the PV array, output voltage of
PV array subtracts the reference voltage to get the voltage error,
and then the reference grid-connected current in the
synchronously rotating reference frame is obtained by the PI
controller. Finally, the double current control loops are used
when the reference grid-connected currents are transformed to
the two-phase static coordinate system.

v pvm 2 K R ωc s icα m _ ref

v pvm _ ref iα m _ ref KP +
K i
i pvm MPPT K P + I dm _ ref dq s 2 + 2ωc s + ω0 2 Kc
v pvm s iqm _ ref iβ m _ ref icβ m _ ref SVM
αβ 2 K R ωc s Kc
KP + 2
s + 2ωc s + ω0 2
θ
iam icam ea
abc iα m abc icα m abc eα
ibm icbm eb
iβ m icβ m eβ
icm αβ iccm αβ ec αβ
Fig.5. The master inverter works in grid-connected power generation mode

generation mode, it is controlled by the traditional PI

C. Control Strategy of the Slave Inverter decoupling control strategy, the specific control method is
When the slave inverter operates in grid-connected power shown in Fig.6.
v pvs
v pvs _ ref K I ids _ ref KI
i pvs MPPT KP + KP +
v pvs s s
ias
abc ids dq
ibs ωL
iqs SVM
ics dq ωL αβ
θ θ
iqs _ ref K
KP + I
ea s
abc ed
eb
eq
ec dq
θ
Fig.6. The slave inverter works in grid-connected power generation mode
 When the slave inverter operates in active harmonic
compensation mode, it is controlled by the traditional PI
control strategy based on the triangle carrier, which is
classical control strategy and is not shown.
IV. SIMULATION VERIFICATION
To validate the feasibility of the proposed system in this
paper, a model of a two-level master inverter of 5kW and a
two-level slave inverter of 1kW has been designed to
compose the grid-connected PV power generation system.
The specifications are listed as follows:
Parameters of the master PV array, voltage and current at
When the output power of the master PV array is equal to
A% of the master inverter capacity, we can get the waveform
spectrum of each grid-connected current (Fig.8, Fig.9 and
Fig10) through the FFT analysis tool in the Powergui from the
MATLAB command prompt in SimPowerSystems. From
Fig.8, Fig.9 and Fig.10, we can get: The THDs of the
grid-connected current of the master inverter, the slave
inverter are 4.66% and 2.50%, respectively. The total
grid-connected current of two inverters is 4.03%.
Fundamental (50Hz) = 7.299 , THD= 4.66%
4

Mag (% of Fundamental)
the maximum power point: 800V, 6.25A. Parameters of the
3
slave PV array, voltage and current at the maximum power
point: 800V, 1.25A. Isolated transformer: Y,d11, 270V/380V.
2
The dead-time of power semiconductors: 2μs. A%=50%,
B%=20%, C%=5%.
1
Some variables are defined for the simulation results: Pm
is output power of the master PV array, Ps is output power of 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
the slave PV array, P denotes the total output power of the Frequency (Hz)
master and slave PV arrays, ea is the grid voltage of phase a, Fig.8. The waveform spectrum of the grid-connected current of the master
iam is the phase-a output current of the master inverter, ias is inverter
the phase-a output current of the slave inverter, ia means the
phase-a grid-connected current. Fundamental (50Hz) = 1.411 , THD= 2.50%
1
A. Working Mode I
Mag (% of Fundamental)

The output power of the master PV array is more than A% 0.8

of the master inverter capacity. In order to analyze the
0.6
dynamic performance of the system, the sunshine intensity
suddenly changes from 1000W/m2 to 584W/m2 at 0.1s, the 0.4
corresponding output power of the master PV array suddenly
changes from 5kW to about 2.5kW, and that of the slave PV 0.2
array suddenly changes from 1kW to 500W.
0
Simulation results are shown in Fig.7. It is clear from 0 100 200 300
Frequency (Hz)
400 500 600

Fig.7 that the grid voltage and grid-connected current are at

Fig.9. The waveform spectrum of the grid-connected current of the slave
the same frequency and in phase. The current curves are good inverter
sinusoidal with THD<5%. Even if the sunshine intensity
suddenly changes, the system can reach a steady state again Fundamental (50Hz) = 8.71 , THD= 4.03%
after a line cycle.
3.5
Mag (% of Fundamental)

3
Power (102W)

50 2.5
Pm
2
Ps
0 1.5
0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Time (s) 1
Voltage (10V)

0.5
Ampere (A)

25 ea 25
iam
0
0 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Frequency (Hz)
-25 -25
0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2 Fig.10. The waveform spectrum of the total grid-connected current
Time (s)
B. Working Mode II
Voltage (10V)
Ampere (A)

25 ia ea 25

0 0 The total output power of the master and slave PV arrays

is more than B% of the master inverter capacity and less than
-25
0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16
-25
0.2 A% of the master inverter capacity.
Time (s) The sunshine intensity suddenly changes from 584W/m2
to 306W/m2 at 0.1s, the corresponding output power of the
Fig.7. Simulation waveforms in working mode I master PV array suddenly changes from 2.5kW to 833W, and
that of the slave PV array suddenly changes from 500W to Fundamental (50Hz) = 2.835 , THD= 1.72%
167W. 1

Mag (% of Fundamental)
Simulation waveforms of the system are shown in Fig.11. 0.8
It is seen from Fig.11 that the grid voltage and grid-connected
current has the unity power factor, the output current of the 0.6
master inverter distorts severely after 0.1s. After active
0.4
harmonic compensation of the slave inverter, the THD of the
total grid-connected current is less than 5%, meeting design 0.2
requirement. While the sunshine intensity suddenly changes,
the system can also reach a steady state again after a line 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
cycle. Frequency (Hz)

Fig.13. The waveform spectrum of the total grid-connected current

Power (102W)

The reference compensation current and the actual current

20
P of the slave inverter are shown in Fig.14. Where, iasref
0 denotes the phase-a reference current, ias means the actual
0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 phase-a current. It is clear from Fig.14 that the actual current
Time (s) and the reference current are coincident basically and the

Voltage (10V)
compensation effect is satisfying.
Ampere (A)

12 25
iam ea
0 0

-12 -25
0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2 1 iasref
Ampere (A)
Time (s)
Voltage (10V)

0
Ampere (A)

12 ea 25
ia
0 0 -1

-12 -25 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2

0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2
Time (s) Time (s)

Fig.11. Simulation waveforms in working mode II 1 ias

Ampere (A)

When the total output power of the master and slave PV 0

arrays is equal to B% of the master inverter capacity, we can
-1
get the waveform spectrum of each grid-connected current
(Fig.12 and Fig13) through the FFT analysis tool. From 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Fig.12 and Fig.13, we can get: the THDs of output current of Time (s)
the master inverter and the total grid-connected current of two
inverters are 8.61% and 1.72%, respectively.
Fig.14. Simulation waveforms of the reference compensation current
Fundamental (50Hz) = 2.913 , THD= 8.61% and the actual current of the slave inverter
8
C. Working Mode III
Mag (% of Fundamental)

6 The total output power of the master and slave PV arrays

is more than C% and less than B% of the master inverter
4 capacity.
The sunshine intensity suddenly changes from 306W/m2
2 to 202W/m2 at 0.1s, the corresponding output power of the
master PV array suddenly changes from 833W to 208W, and
0 that of the slave PV array suddenly changes from 167W to
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Frequency (Hz) 42W.
Fig.12. The waveform spectrum of the grid-connected current of the Simulation results are shown in Fig.15. It is seen from
master inverter Fig.15 that the grid voltage and grid-connected current are at
the same frequency and in phase. The current curve is good
sinusoidal with THD<5%. When the sunshine intensity
suddenly changes, the inverter can reach a steady state again
after a line cycle.
 V. CONCLUSION
The existing three solutions to THD problem of
10
grid-connected current under the condition of weaker
Power (102W)

sunshine intensity are considered, the improved

5 grid-connected PV power generation system is proposed. The
P system has three working modes including power generation
mode of two inverter, active harmonic compensation mode
0
0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 and power generation mode of only slave inverter. Simulation
Time (s) results show that the system can operate in one of three
working modes in accordance with the sunshine intensity so
4 25 that the THD of grid-connected current is always less than 5%
thus meeting the harmonic requirement. Meanwhile, the

Voltage (10V)
ias ea
Ampere (A)

system has good dynamic and static performances.

0 0

-4 -25 REFERENCES
0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2
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Mag (% of Fundamental)

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Fig.16. The waveform spectrum of the grid-connected current of the
slave inverter