This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been
fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TEC.2016.2633365, IEEE
Transactions on Energy Conversion
A Single Stage Grid Connected High Gain
Buck-Boost Inverter with Maximum Power Point
Tracking
T. Sreekanth, Student Member, IEEE, N. Lakshminarasamma, Member, IEEE, and
Mahesh K. Mishra, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—Converter system which does both dc-dc conversion
and dc-ac conversion in a single stage is called as single stage
converter system (SSCS). Compared to two stage converter, SSCS
is more efficient and compact in size. In this paper, a grid
connected SSCS system for photovoltaic (PV) applications is
presented. This grid connected SSCS (GCSS) transfers power
from PV to grid while tracking maximum power point (MPP)
continuously. The proposed system has several desirable features
such as low switching loss, high gain and compact size which
makes this GCSS suitable for the PV systems, where PV system
output voltage is low and varies with time. Design of the presented
GCSS components with necessary equations and derivation of
both current control loop and voltage control loop required
for operation are given. Proposed GCSS is simulated using
MATLAB/SIMULINK. Detailed simulation and experimental
results are given to verify the efficacy of the proposed GCSS.
Keywords: Buck-boost inverter, grid connected inverter,
high gain inverter, single-stage.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Fossil fuels are concentrated at a particular location which
may or may not be closer to the load centers. Therefore, an
efficient electrical power transmission system is required to
deliver power to the loads which are far away from generating
stations. The rate of rise in power demand overloads the
available transmission system and may cause blackouts. Dis-
tribution power generation using Photovoltaics (PVs) becomes
an alternate solution to the above problems [1]. PV output
voltage depends on environmental conditions like insolation,
temperature etc. This output voltage varies from time to time
depending upon the earlier mentioned conditions. In order
to deliver power from PV to loads/grid a suitable power
conversion system (PCS) is essential. Especially, for delivering
power to the grid, PCS has to step up/down the output voltage
from PV and then transform it into ac. This kind of delivering
power involves two stages and is therefore known as two stage
conversion system (TSCS).
Several two stage grid connected PCS are presented in [2].
TSCS has drawbacks such as less reliability (owing to more
Manuscript received June 05, 2015; revised August 24, 2016; revised
October 27, 2016; accepted November 14, 2016.
Copyright (c) 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted.
However, permission to use this material for any other purposes must be
obtained from the IEEE by sending a request to pubs-permissions@ieee.org.
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian
Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai-600036, India. (e-mail: yahoos-
reekanth@gmail.com; lakshmin@ee.iitm.ac.in; mahesh@ee.iitm.ac.in).
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1
number of components), more losses, large size and high
cost [3]. In this scenario, a PCS which can buck/boost the
output voltage from PV and performs dc-ac power conversion
simultaneously with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is
required. Single stage conversion system (SSCS), which can do
two stages operation in a single stage along with MPPT, is well
suitable to this scenario. SSCS is more reliable (owing to less
number of components), operates at higher efficiencies and
less costly [4]. A typical grid connected single-stage (GCSS)
PV system configuration is shown in Fig. 1.
Grid
PV Array
Fig. 1. Grid connected single-stage PV system configuration.
A. A Brief Survey of GCSS
A single stage boost dc-ac topology is proposed in [5], as
shown in Fig. 2(a). In this topology, load/grid is connected dif-
ferentially across the two boost converters which are operating
at 180 degrees out of phase with respect to each other. In this
scheme, all the switches have to be operated at high frequency
in every half cycle of output voltage, leading to high switching
losses and electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems. A
half-bridge buck-boost inverter configuration based topology
is proposed by Kasa et al. in [6]. In this topology, two switches
operate in each half cycle of output voltage, resulting in
less conduction loss. Switches operating at high frequency
are minimum in this scheme, therefore switching losses and
EMI problems are less. Partial utilization of PV sources (each
source acts only for half time of operation) is the main
drawback of this scheme.
A single stage topology with MPPT is proposed in [7],
which uses an impedance network and shoot through states
of inverter to get boost operation. Though, this scheme has
minimum number of switches, size of converter is large due
to the usage of impedance network. This has some drawbacks
like more switching losses and control complexity.
Hiren et al., proposed a doubly grounded GCSS in [8],
as shown in Fig. 2(b). This scheme uses less number of
components and compact in size, but it gives low gain. A
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Transactions on Energy Conversion
2

Vg Lf
S1
D1 S5 L Lf
S2 S2 D1
S1 L1 S4 S1
L1 L2 Cp Cf Vg
C1 C2 ipv
Vin D2 Cf Vg
S5
S3 Vin S2 S3
S4 S4 D2

S3 D3
(a) (c)
(b)
D1
N2 D2
Lf Lf
S1 S2 D2 Lf Vin Sp2
Dp Sn1
ipv Cf Vg ipv Cp P1
Cp Cf Vg
Cf Vg Sp1
S4 D3 N1 Sn2
S3
Dn D1
D4
P2

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 2. Existing grid connected single stage topologies.

GCSS, which can work in buck, boost or buck-boost mode to vSp -

+
(SPWM)

give ac output voltage is proposed in [9], as shown in Fig.

Sp rL1
2(c). This scheme has several advantages like compactness, iL1
+
modularity and low cost. However, this topology is suitable ipv vL1k L1k
- S1 S2 io ig p Sg
for low voltage gain conditions only. A buck-boost principle
+

Lm icf
based topology with four active switches is proposed in [10], L1 Lf L
+

Cp Vcf
o
a
AC
as shown in Fig. 2(d). Drawbacks of this scheme are usage of vLm d
Vg
rc
vpv 1
more number of passive switches and limited gain. - iLm S4 S3 Cf Grid
A Z-source inverter principle based high gain topology is - + vL2 - - vD2 +
proposed in [11]. This topology has more control complexity
L2 n iL2 L2k D2
and more passive components. Few high gain GCSS schemes
presented in [12], [13] are shown in Fig. 2(e) and Fig. 2(f) D iD1
vD11 + -
respectively. Coupled inductor is used in these schemes in Fig. 3. High gain GCSS presented in this paper.
order to get high gain. In these schemes, there is no provision
for suppressing harmful effects due to leakage inductance
associated with coupled inductor. Hence, these are suitable of GCSS are presented in Section IV. Simulation studies in
for low power applications only. Leakage inductance causes Section V and experimental results in Section VI are presented
energy loss and severe voltage stress across the switches [14], followed by conclusion in Section VII.
[15]. Several other schemes are proposed in [16], [17] which
can suppress the harmful effects due to the leakage inductance.
II. S INGLE S TAGE H IGH G AIN DC-AC I NVERTER
The scheme presented in [18] has several advantages like less
number of components, high gain and it does not need addi- Presented GCSS contains five active switches (Sp , S1 -
tional capacitors to trap leakage energy. Therefore, this scheme S4 ) and two passive switches (D1 & D2 ). Coupled induc-
is considered as a part of grid connected system presented in tor (L1 & L2 ) is used to achieve high gain. Filtering circuits
this paper, and is shown in Fig. 3. The contributions of this are added at both output (Cf & Lf ) and input (Cp ) sides.
paper are: Diode (D1 ) is used to avoid the harmful effects due to the
• Proposing a high gain single stage inverter system for leakage inductance of the coupled inductor.
the interconnection of low voltage PV systems with grid The presented GCSS has following advantages.
without any undesirable effects of the leakage inductance. 1) The GCSS gives high gain by using coupled inductor,
• Control of the proposed system such that it can extract which makes this topology to work well even for low
MPP power from PV and deliver the MPP power to the input voltage conditions.
grid. 2) Only one active switch out of five operates at high
The paper is organized as follows. Section II gives brief frequency and remaining active switches operate at
introduction of operation of GCSS. Section III deals with low (output voltage) frequency, therefore, its operation
design of components for GCSS. Tracking of MPP and control results in less switching loss.

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3) In this GCSS, additional capacitors are not required A. Mode 1 (t0 to t1 )

to capture leakage energy associated with the coupled By turning on switch (Sp ), inductor (Lm ) gets charged by
inductor, which makes GCSS compact in size. voltage (vpv ) through switch (Sp ). Diodes (D1 and D2 ) are
4) This GCSS operation needs simple sinusoidal pulse reverse biased during this mode. Current in the mutual in-
width modulation (SPWM), hence avoids complex mod- ductance (Lm ) rises with the slope of vpv /Lm . During this
ulation techniques. mode, output capacitor (Cf ) discharges through the load.
Assuming duty cycle as ‘d’ and switching period as ‘Ts ’ for
switch (Sp ). Operation of the proposed system over a switching B. Mode 2 (t1 to t2 )
cycle is explained as follows. This mode starts when switch (Sp ) is turned off. Both
diodes (D1 and D2) become forward biased. The energy
associated with the leakage inductance (L1k ) is delivered to the
Gate pulse
for Sp load through the diode (D1 ). The switch voltage (vSp ) rises to
vpv + vcf , as it is clamped between vpv and vcf . A voltage of
Gate pulse for (S1
(−vcf − vLm ) appears across leakage inductance (L1k ), which
& S3) or (S2 & S4)
resets its current. As a result of it, the current through leakage
vpv −vcf − vLm
vLm vcf inductance (L1k ) decreases with a slope of ( ). In
L1k
-vcf 1 n the same time, current (iL2 ) starts to increase. The difference
nkvpv of these currents will be taken by the diode (D1 ) during this
interval. At the end of this interval, D1 becomes reverse
vL2 0
 nvcf biased. This mode ends when currents in both inductors
1 n become equal.
‹iL1ref›dTs
‹iL2›(1-d)Ts
iL1
C. Mode 3 (t2 to t3 )
‹iL2›(1-d)Ts
In this mode, diode (D1 ) becomes reverse biased and both
iL2
inductors (L1 and L2 ) get connected in series and supply
‹iLmref›Ts
iLm power to the load. The current in both leakage inductors
is same and starts decreasing. This mode ends when the
iD1
switch (Sp ) is turned on again. In this mode, the output voltage
vcf appears across each inductor as per number of turns of each
icf inductor.
‹ig›Ts ‹-ig›Ts ‹iL2›(1-d)Ts-‹-ig›Ts
ig
vpv+vcf D. Mode 4 (t3 to t0 )
vsp t0 t1 t2 t3 t0 When switch (Sp ) is turned on, diode (D1 ) is still in reverse
Mode 1 Mode 3
Mode 2 biased condition. Diode (D2 ) continues to conduct due to the
Sp on time (ton) Sp off time (toff) non-zero current in the leakage inductor (L2k ). Negative volt-
dTs (1-d)Ts
Fig. 4. GCSS operation over a switching cycle. age across leakage inductor (L2k ) resets the current through it.
This mode ends when the current in inductor (L2k ) becomes
zero and diode (D2 ) becomes reverse biased. The topology
starts working again from mode 1.
Analytical waveforms of currents through inductors (iL1
S2 S4 and iL2 ), voltages across inductors (vLm and vL2 ), current
through diode D1 (iD1 ), voltage (vcf ) and current (icf ) through
S1 S3
capacitor (Cf ) and gating pulses over a switching cycle are as
shown in Fig. 4. In the same scheme, when the switch (Sp ) is
operated with SPWM with twice the output voltage frequency,
Sp a sinusoidal output voltage will be developed across the ca-
pacitor (Cf ). Analytical waveforms of the proposed converter
iL1 for a full cycle of output voltage are shown in Fig. 5. The
0
iL2 voltage gain of the topology (g(t)) is given by
0
vcf (t) (1 + n)d(t)
g(t) = = (1)
vcf vpv 1 − d(t)
0
In this paper, n is calculated using (1) by considering maxi-
Positive Half Negative Half Positive Half Negative Half mum values of d(t) and g(t). To simplify the design calcula-
cycle cycle cycle cycle
Time (s) tions, mode 2 and mode 4 are neglected as they are very small
Fig. 5. GCSS operation over two full cycles of output voltage. compared to switching time period.

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III. D ESIGN OF C OMPONENTS FOR T HE GCSS Similarly, switch (Sp ) turn off time (tof f ) can be calculated as
A. Design of Coupled Inductor ∆IL1 (1 + n)L1
tof f = . (8)
During the operation of the presented system, it acts as Vg + IL1ref sin(2ωtn )(1 + n)ωL1
a current source inverter that pumps sinusoidal current into Ts =ton + tof f
the filter capacitor (Cf ) across the grid. Determination of 1
reference current waveform through inductor (L1 ) for the =∆IL1 L1 (
Vpv + IL1ref sin(2ωtn )ωL1 (9)
system to operate in CCM is calculated as follows [4]. 1+n
Assuming 100 % efficiency and unity power factor operation, + ).
Vg + IL1ref sin(2ωtn )(1 + n)ωL1
it implies the following.
PV output power = Power delivered to the grid At the peak of the output voltage where sin(ωtn ) ≈ 1
and sin(2ωtn ) ≈ 0, equation (9) can be simplified as fol-
Vpv Iref = Vg Ig sin2 (wt) (2) lowing
   
∆IL1 ∆IL1 (1 + n)
Vg Ig sin2 (wt) Ts = L1 + L1 . (10)
Iref = (3) Vpv Vg(max)
Vpv
From (10), L1 can be written as
where Vg is grid voltage amplitude, Ig is grid current ampli- Ts Vpv vg(max)
tude and Vpv is PV array voltage which is assumed to be ripple L1 = . (11)
∆IL1 [Vpv (1 + n) + vg(max) ]
free. Iref is the current that has to be tracked by inductor
(L1 ) i.e. IL1ref = Iref . Let ∆IL1 /2 be the allowable cur- L2 can be calculated from L1 as
rent rise from nominal current through inductor (L1 ). During L2 = n2 L1 . (12)
switch (Sp ) turn on time (ton ), voltage across inductor (L1 ) can
be written as below [4]. B. Design of Capacitor (Cf )
The maximum energy that can be transferred through cou-
I L1
( I L1ref  sin 2 ( wt )) ( I L1ref  sin 2 ( wt ))  pled inductor decides the value of output capacitance (Cf ).
2
In this design, as unity power factor operation is assumed,
I L1
( I L1ref  sin 2 ( wt ))  the energy transferred from input to output is maximum at
2
the peak of the grid voltage. By equating the changes in
iL1 energies of both coupled inductor and output capacitor over
I L1
the switching cycle in which maximum energy is transferred,
( I L1ref  sin 2 ( wt )) 
( I L1ref  sin 2 ( wt ))
2 result will be as following.
1 n
1 n 1 (1 + n2 + 2n) ∆IL1 2
I L1
( I L1ref  sin 2 ( wt ))  × L1 [(IL1ref (max) + )
1 n
2 2 1+n 2
tn tn+1 tn+2 ∆IL1 2
ton toff − (IL1ref (max) − ) ]
2
Fig. 6. A section of primary inductor (L1 ) current waveform. 1 ∆v 2 ∆v 2
= × Cf [(Vg(max) + ) − (Vg(max) − ) ].
2 2 2
∆IL1
! (13)
Vpv {IL1ref sin2 (wtn+1 )} + 2
= Simplification of above equation gives the capacitance value
L1 tn+1 − tn as following.
! (4)
∆IL1
{IL1ref sin2 (wtn )} − 2
L1 (1 + n)IL1ref (max) ∆IL1
− Cf = . (14)
tn+1 − tn Vg(max) ∆v
  Where IL1ref (max) is the maximum amplitude of the reference
Vpv IL1ref {sin2 (wtn+1 ) − sin2 (wtn )} + ∆IL1 primary inductor current corresponding to rated output power
= . (5)
L1 tn+1 − tn and ∆v is the maximum allowable ripple voltage of maximum
Where Vpv is the average input PV voltage which appears output voltage across the capacitor (Cf ).
across the inductor (L1 ) during switch on time. Time intervals
C. Design of Inductor (Lf )
tn , tn+1 are switching instants as shown in Fig. 6. Assuming
tn+1 − tn = ton ; sin(ω(tn+1 − tn )) ≈ (ωton ); tn + tn+1 ≈ Inductor (Lf ) is used to attenuate high frequency component
2tn and simplifying equation (5) gives in the current which is going to be pumped to the grid. Design
of inductor (Lf ) requires the cut off frequency (fc ), which
Vpv {−IL1ref sin(2wtn ) ωton } + ∆IL1 should be less than the switching frequency (fs ). In this paper
= . (6)
L1 ton for both simulation and experimental conditions, fc is taken as
one tenth of switching frequency (fs ) [3]. Thus, after selecting
From (6), ton can be written as fc value, inductor (Lf ) value is given by
∆IL1 L1 1
ton = . (7) Lf = . (15)
Vpv + IL1ref sin(2ωtn ) ωL1 (2πfc )2 Cf

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D. Design of Capacitor (Cp ) From [18], gain of converter is given by

Capacitor (Cp ) value decides the maximum amplitude of hvcf (t)iT s (1 + n)d(t)
ripple in the voltage of the PV array. Let δVpv be the maximum = . (19)
hvpv (t)iT s 1 − d(t)
value of the permissible ripple in the PV voltage and fg be
the grid voltage fundamental frequency, then the design value From the above equation 1/(1 − d(t)) can be written as
of capacitor (Cp ) is given by [3] 1 hvcf (t)iT s + hvpv (t)iT s (1 + n)
= . (20)
2P 1 − d(t) hvpv (t)iT s (1 + n)
Cp = (16)
4(2πfg ) Vpv δVpv Substituting (20) in (18) gives
where ‘P’ is the maximum power to be tracked.
hiL2 (t)i(1−d)T s =
hvcf (t)iT s + hvpv (t)iT s (1 + n)
vg t (hicf (t)iT s + hig (t)iT s )[ ].
hvpv (t)iT s (1 + n)
vpv t Unit amplitude (21)
rectified sine wave
impp t iLmref(t)
Sp From [18], hiL1ref (t)idT s can be written as
ipv t S1&S3
S2&S4 hiL1ref (t)idT s = (1 + n) hiL2 (t)i(1−d)T s (22)
From (21) and (22), iL1ref can be written as
iL1 t vcf t vpv t
hiL1ref (t)idT s =
Fig. 7. Reference current generation for mutual inductance current (iLm ). hvcf (t)iT s + hvpv (t)iT s (1 + n)
(hicf (t)iT s + hig (t)iT s )[ ].
hvpv (t)iT s
(23)
IV. M AXIMUM P OWER P OINT T RACKING AND C ONTROL
From the operation of GCSS, iL1ref is equal to iLmref during
T ECHNIQUE
switch (Sp ) on time. Therefore
MPPT is a technique for extracting maximum power from
PV at any insolation or temperature condition using a con- hiLmref (t)idT s = A =
verter topology. For GCSS to deliver MPP power to grid, hvcf (t)iT s + hvpv (t)iT s (1 + n)
(hicf (t)iT s + hig (t)iT s )[ ].
a coordinated operation of both MPP tracking and current hvpv (t)iT s
control is required. MPPT is implemented using “Perturb (24)
and Observe Method” [19]. The MPPT gives current (impp ) Here, ‘A’ is used to represent a block in Fig. 8. Double-loop
which is multiplied with rectified unit amplitude grid voltage control presented in [20] is used for controlling both vcf and
template. This is given as reference current to track the current iLm . By taking hicf iT s as control variable, voltage control
in the mutual inductance (Lm ) as shown in Fig. 7. This current loop block diagram of the topology can be written as shown
will be tracked using current controller shown in Fig. 9. For in Fig. 8. Here rc is the equivalent series resistance associated
practical implementation, before GCSS delivering power to with Cf and vcf ref (t) is calculated based on the available
grid, it has to be synchronized with grid. Therefore, initially nominal PV power.
it has to operate in voltage control mode before connecting
to grid. Thus, the outer loop voltage control loop shown in B. Design of Current Control Loop
Fig. 8 and the inner current control loop Fig. 9 are used to
From Fig. 4, during switch (Sp ) on time (dTs ) voltage across
synchronize GCSS with grid. Derivation of these control loops
Lm is input voltage (vpv ) and during switch (Sp ) off time ((1−
will be presented in the following subsections.
d)Ts ) the voltage across Lm is −vcf /(1 + n). Average voltage
across Lm over switching cycle is given by
A. Design of Voltage Control Loop
From Fig. 4, during switch (Sp ) on time (dTs ) current (1 − d(t))hvcf (t)iT s
hvLm iT s = hvpv iT s d(t) − . (25)
through capacitor (Cf ) equals to -ig and during switch (Sp ) 1+n
off time ((1-d)Ts ), the current through capacitor (Cf ) is From above equation ‘d(t)’ can be written as
(hiL2 (t)i(1−d)T s − hig (t)iT s ). Assuming negligible leakage
hvLm (t)iT s (1 + n) + hvcf (t)iT s
inductance and negligible current ripple in inductors, current d(t) = = B. (26)
through capacitor (Cf ) over a switching cycle is given by hvpv (t)iT s (1 + n) + hvcf (t)iT s
Here, ‘B’ is used to represent a block in Fig. 9. From Fig. 4,
hicf (t)iT s = (1 − d(t))hiL2 (t)i(1−d)T s − hig (t)iT s . (17)
calculation of iLm over a switching cycle is shown below.
Where hicf (t)iT s , hig (t)iT s and hiL2 (t)i(1−d)T s are average
hiL1 (t)iT s =hiL1ref (t)idT s d(t) + hiL2 (t)i(1−d)T s (1 − d(t))
current through Cf , average current sending to the grid over
a switching cycle (Ts ) and average current in L2 over (1 − hiLmref (t)idT s
=hiLmref (t)idT s d(t) + (1 − d(t))
d(t)T s) duration. From (17), hiL2 (t)i(1−d)T s can be written 1+n
as (1 + nd(t))
hicf (t)iT s + hig (t)iT s =hiLmref (t)iT s .
hiL2 (t)i(1−d)T s = . (18) 1+n
1 − d(t) (27)

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Freezing of integral ‹iLmref(t)›Ts

‹icfref(t)›Ts iL1(t) iCf(t)
vcfref(t) 1 + 1  rc C f s vcf(t)
+ - PI + +
A HI(s)
Current control 1  nd - Cf s
ig(t)
ig(t) 1 ‹ig(t)›Ts loop
1 GCSS
1 Tf s
1 Tf s vpv(t)
‹vpv(t)›Ts
‹vcf(t)›Ts 1
1 Tf s
Filter
Fig. 8. Control loop for vcf ref tracking. (v cf Vpv (1  n))(icfref  ig )

Freezing of integral
‹vLmref(t)›Ts vLm(t)
iLmref(t) + + d(t) vpv(t)(1+n) + 1 1 1  nd iL1(t)
rectifier
-
PI 1+n B +vcf(t) - 1n sLm 1 n
+
‹iLm(t)›Ts vcf(t)
‹vpv(t)›Ts
vcf(t) 1 1+n 1 vpv(t) GCSS
rectifier 1Tf s
1 Tf s

‹vcf(t)›Ts
1 n 1
1 Tf s
1  nd (t ) Filter
Fig. 9. Block diagram for mutual inductance current (iLm ) control (current control loop (HI(s))).

Where hiL1 (t)iT s is the average of iL1 over a switching TABLE I

cycle (Ts ). From eqn (27), hiLm (t)iT s can be written as S IMULATION PARAMETERS
Parameter Value
(1 + n) Voltage (Vmpp at 1000 W/m2 ) 21.5 V
hiLm (t)iT s = hiL1 (t)iT s . (28) Current (Impp at 1000 W/m2 ) 2.7 A
1 + nd(t) Grid voltage (Vg ) 110 V(RMS), 50 Hz
Switching frequency (fs ) 50 kHz
By taking hvLm iT s as control variable, using the control Inductors (L1 &L2 ) 0.95 mH & 1.9 mH
method in [20], current control loop block diagram of the Coefficient of coupling (k) 0.95
topology is drawn as shown in Fig. 9. The gains of the Output capacitor (Cf ) 5 µF
PI controllers are chosen such that the current loop has a Filter inductor (Lf ) 0.2 mH
Input filter capacitor (CP ) 4 mF
bandwidth of 4 kHz and 60◦ phase margin and voltage control
loop has a bandwidth of 4 kHz and 60◦ phase margin. Gating
pulses for all active switches are generated as shown in Fig.
10. S 2

(a)
Lmref p MPP regions

ppv

(b)
cf L pv

vpv
Lmref

(c)

Lmref ipv

Fig. 10. Block diagram of pulses generation for active switches.

(d)
Fig. 11. Simulation results: (a) Insolation, (b) PV Power, (c) Voltage (vpv )
and (d) Current (ipv ).
V. S IMULATION S TUDIES
Presented GCSS is simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK
with the parameters mentioned in Table I. The system is tested 11 (a). PV side results are shown in Fig. 11(b), Fig. 11(c),
under different irradiation levels (S=1000 W/m2 , S=450 W/m2 and Fig. 11(d). From Fig. 11(b), it is observed that at each
and S=750 W/m2 ) at t=0 s, t=1 s and t=2 s respectively. The condition, the system is tracking MPP with minimum ripple
PV side and grid side results are shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. in the PV power. PV voltage (vpv ) and PV current (ipv ) are
12. Different tested insolation conditions are shown in Fig. shown in Fig. 11(c) and Fig. 11(d). From the waveforms, it is

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Transactions on Energy Conversion
7

that primary inductor current (iL1 ) is in continuous conduction

vcf mode (CCM) and is following grid voltage template.

VI. E XPERIMENTAL S ETUP AND R ESULTS

ig TABLE II
E XPERIMENTAL SETUP PARAMETERS
Parameter Value
Voltage (V mpp at 1000 W/m2 ) 26 V
Current (Impp at 1000 W/m2 ) 2.2 A
Grid voltage (Vg ) 110 V(RMS), 50 Hz
vg Switching frequency (fs ) 50 kHz
Inductors (L1 &L2 ) 0.95 mH & 1.9 mH
Coefficient of coupling (k) 0.95
Output capacitor (Cf ) 5 µF
Pg
Filter inductor (Lf ) 0.2 mH
Input filter capacitor (CP ) 4 mF
Qg

Current MPPT + Current control

Synchronization control

ig vpv

ipv
Fig. 12. Grid side simulation results: (a) Capacitor voltage (vcf ), (b) Current vcf
pumping into grid (ig ), (c) Grid voltage (vg ), (d) Active and reactive power
delivered to grid (Pg & Qg ) and (e) THD of the current (ig ).

confirmed that the presented system is tracking MPP at each ig

insolation condition. Grid side results are shown in Fig. 12.

t=t0 t=t1 t=t2 t=t3 t=t4

(a)
Pg Current
Qg control MPPT +
Synchronization
Current control

Pg (W)
iL1

vg
Qg (VAR)
ig
S=100
0 W/ S=400 S=700
m2 W/m2 W/m2

t t0 t=t1 t=t2 t=t3 t=t4

Fig. 13. Steady state waveforms. (a) Real and reactive power, (b) current (iL1 )
and (c) voltage (vg ) and current (ig ).
Voltage across Cf (vCf ), grid current (ig ) and grid voltage (vg )
are shown in Fig. 12(a), Fig. 12(b) and Fig. 12(c) respectively.
From figures Fig. 12(a) and Fig. 12(b), it is observed that both
(vCf ) and (ig ) are varying according to the tested conditions.
From Fig. 12(d), it is confirmed that the system is delivering
maximum power obtained from PV to grid efficiently with
small ripple. Obtained THD result of grid current (ig ) is shown
in Fig. 12 (e). Zoomed version of above results are shown
in Fig. 13. Real and reactive power delivered to grid and
primary inductor current (iL1 ) are shown in Fig. 13(a) and
Fig. 13(b). Steady state waveforms of grid voltage (vg ) and
current (ig ) are shown in Fig. 13(c). From Fig. 13(b), it is clear
(b) t (s)
Fig. 14. Experimental results. (a) PV voltage (vpv ), PV current (ipv ),
voltage (vcf ), current (ig ) and (b) Active power (Pg ), reactive power (Qg )
supplied by GCSS.
In order to verify the GCSS, a 100 W prototype is developed
in the laboratory. Switch (Sp ) is implemented using power
MOSFET (K16E60W). Diodes (D1 and D2 ) are implemented
using power diodes (MSR1560). Switches (S1 ,S2 ,S3 and
S4 ) are implemented using power IGBTs (STGF7NB60SL).
DSPACE MicroLabBox is used to generate pulses for all
active switches. Grid is emulated using ELGAR programmable
power source. Large length waveforms are captured using
LECROY 44MXs-B Mixed Signal Oscilloscope, steady state
waveforms of vg and ig are captured using Agilent 3034A

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vg 50 V/div vg 50 V/div From t=t0 to t=t1 GCSS operates in voltage control mode
in order to bring output voltage of converter in synchronism
ig with vg as shown in Fig. 14. During the synchronization a
ig
resistive load is connected across the grid at point ‘p’ shown
in Fig. 3. When the voltage at ‘p’ equals to vg (both in
0.5 A/div 0.5 A/div
magnitude and phase), switch (Sg ) is closed. At t=t1 , GCSS is
synchronized with grid and operates in current control mode.
5 ms/div 5 ms/div At t=t2 , operation of GCSS shifts to MPPT in addition to
(a) (b) current control mode as discussed in this paper. Different
Fig. 15. Steady state waveforms of vg and ig (a) At S=1000 w/m2 and (b)
At S=400 w/m2 .
insolation conditions (S=400 w/m2 and S=700 w/m2 ) at 313 K
temperature are applied to GCSS at time instants t3 and t4 .
Obtained experimental results are presented in Fig. 14 and
Mixed Signal Oscilloscope and THD of ig is measured using Fig. 15. From vpv and ipv plots in Fig. 14(a), it is clear that
FLUKE Power Quality Analyzer. Circuit parameters shown in GCSS is tracking MPP at each insolation level. Voltage across
TABLE II are used in the experimental conditions. Before capacitor (vcf ) varies with insoltaion level as shown Fig. 14(a).
Variation in grid current (ig ) in Fig. 14(a) reflects the variation
120 120 in insolation. This in turn indicates the variable power transfer
100 100
THD = 4.1 % THD = 6.7 % from PV to the grid through GCSS. From active power plot in
80 80
Fig. 14(b), it is confirmed that extracted MPP power from PV
60
(%) 60
(%)
THDDC
40
(%)
40
is delivered to the grid efficiently. Steady state waveforms of
20 20 vg and ig at different insolation conditions are shown in Fig.
0 0 15. THD of ig at S=1000 w/m2 and at S=400 w/m2 insolation
THD 1 5 10 15 20 25 THD 1 5 10 15 20 25
Harmonic number Harmonic number
(a) (b)
conditions is shown to be 4.1% and 6.7% respectively in Fig.
Fig. 16. THD plots of ig . (a) At S=1000 w/m2 and (b) At S=400 w/m2 16. Gating pulses for all active switches are shown in Fig.
17(a). Variation of inductor current (iL1 ) w.r.t grid voltage (vg )
is shown in Fig. 17(b). From Fig. 17(b), it is clear that the cur-
p
rent (iL1 ) is follows grid voltage template and iL1 waveform
confirms the CCM operation of the GCSS. The efficiency of
the converter for several conversion ratios using fixed grid
voltages (without the converter being connected to the actual
grid) is shown in Fig. 18. From reactive power waveforms,
it is observed that, some reactive power is also fed into the
2 4
grid and its value depends on the value of Cf . As the value of
Cf is decreased, the reactive power decreases and vice versa.
However, by decreasing the value of capacitor (Cf ), the THD
of the current fed into the grid increases. Therefore, there is a
1 3
tradeoff between the reactive power injected into the grid and
the grid current THD. Rigorous simulations are carried to find
out the optimum value of Cf .

vg 100

96

92

88

84

80
iL1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
g
Fig. 18. Efficiency of the converter for various conversion ratios

Fig. 17. Experimental Results. (a) Pulses to all active switches. (b) Grid
voltage (vg ) and inductor current (iL1 )
delivering MPP power to grid, the GCSS needs to be syn-
chronized with the grid. The GCSS gets into synchronization
with the grid by operating the system in voltage control
mode with the help of control loops in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9.
VII. C ONCLUSION
In this work, a grid connected single stage system (GCSS)
for PV applications is presented. Design of components of the
system along with design of current control loop and voltage
control loop are given in detail. From the simulation results,
it is clear that the presented GCSS can deliver power from

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TEC.2016.2633365, IEEE
Transactions on Energy Conversion
PV to the grid effectively while continuously tracking the
MPP. The experimental results are in close agreement with
the simulation studies. Experimental results further confirm
the effective operation of presented GCSS under low insolation
conditions.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work is supported by ABB Global Industries and Ser-
vices Limited, INDIA, under research support program at IIT
Madras.
APPENDIX
TABLE III
E XPERIMENTAL C OUPLED I NDUCTOR PARAMETERS
Parameters Value
Core type E65/32/27
Area product of the core 213000 mm4
Type of conductor used for both inductors Enameled copper (SWG22)
Number of turns wounded for inductor (L1 ) 24
Number of turns wounded for inductor (L2 ) 48
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T. Sreekanth (S’13) received the Bachelors degree
in Electrical Engineering from Acharya Nagarjuna
University, Guntur, India, in 2010 and the Masters
degree in Power Electronics and Drives from Na-
tional Institute of Technology, Thiruchirapalli, India,
in 2013. He is currently working towards the Ph.D
degree in Electrical Engineering at Indian Institute
of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.
His research interests include power electronic
converters, control of renewable energy systems and
electric vehicles.
N. Lakshminarasamma (M’10) received the Ph.D.
degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
She has been a Faculty with the Department of
Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technol-
ogy Madras, Chennai, India, since 2009. Prior to
this, she has put in 4 years in academics; she has
worked as a Software Engineer with I2 Technologies
India Private Limited, Bangalore, India and as a Sys-
tems Specialist with GE Healthcare India Limited,
Bangalore, India. She has published several journal
and conference papers in peer-reviewed journals and premier conferences. Her
research interests include power electronics, renewable energy applications,
and switched mode power conversion.
Mahesh K. Mishra (S’00-M’02-SM’10) received
the B.Tech. degree from the College of Technology,
Pantnagar, India, in 1991, the M.E. degree from the
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India, in
1993, and the Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute
of Technology, Kanpur, India, in 2002, all in electri-
cal engineering. He has about 25 years of teaching
and research experience. For about ten years, he
was with the Department of Electrical Engineer-
ing, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology,
Nagpur, India. He is currently a Professor with the
Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Chennai, India. His research interests include the areas of power distribution
systems, power electronics, microgrids, and renewable energy systems. Prof.
Mahesh is a Life Member of the Indian Society of Technical Education. He
received the IETE Prof. Bimal Bose Award in 2015 for his contributions to
power electronics applications in power systems. He serves as an Editor for
the IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy.