Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Grid Connection and Synchronization Inverter Control for Solar Power

System Using Synchronously Rotating Reference Frame
By
Wondimagegn Minda

A Thesis submitted to Addis Ababa Institute of Technology in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in
Electrical and Computer Engineering (Control Engineering)

Advisor:
Mengesha Mamo (Associate Professor)

October, 2019

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

A Thesis submitted to Addis Ababa Institute of Technology in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Electrical and Computer
Engineering (Control Engineering)

By

Wondimagegn Minda

APPROVED BY BOARD OF EXAMINERS

________________________ ___________ ___________

Chairman, Department of Signature Date

Graduate Committee

________________________ ____________ ___________

Advisor Signature Date

________________________ ____________ __________

Internal Examiner Signature Date

________________________ ____________ __________

External Examiner Signature Date

 Declaration
I, the undersigned, declare that this thesis work is my original work, has not been presented for a
degree in this or any other universities, and all sources of materials used for this thesis work have
been fully acknowledged.
Wondimagegn Minda _____________________

Name Signature

Place: Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa

This thesis has been submitted for examination with my approval as a university advisor.

Dr. Mengesha Mamo ______________________

Advisor‟s Name Signature

 Acknowledgement
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the almighty God for helping me to
accomplish this thesis work.
I would also like to gratitude my thesis advisor, Dr.Mengesha Mamo (Associate Professor) for
his persistent support by sharing his knowledge and creative ideas until the completion of my
thesis work.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my family for encouraging and supporting me during the
period of my study.

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 Abstract
Grid connected solar PV systems are increasing dramatically from year to year due to the
increase of global interest in renewable energy sources and growth in energy demand. In thesis
work, the designing and modeling of grid connected PV system using synchronously rotating
reference frame (SRRF) has been carried out. In this thesis, the important points and literature
regarding the elements in a PV system, an inverter and grid connection system have been studied
and reviewed.
The photovoltaic model is used to simulate actual PV array characteristics, and an MPPT method
using incremental conductance method is proposed in order to control the DC-DC boost
converter to extract the maximum power from the PV array. The inverter used in this thesis work
is three-phase two-level voltage source inverter (VSI) which is controlled using synchronously d-
q reference frame with space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM). The control structure for
the inverter is designed by synchronous reference frame with phase locked loop (PLL). The
phase locked loop is used to acquire the available necessary information of grid voltage. An
LCL-filter is used to interconnect the output of inverter to the grid and used to attenuate the total
harmonics distortion (THD) present in the output current and voltage of the inverter. The system
model is developed using MATLAB/SIMULINK environment.
The efficiency of the overall system is around 97% which is improved more than the previous
related work whose efficiency is around 96%. The total harmonic distortion of the grid current is
0.88% which is less than the previous work that is 1.42%. For resistive load change, the THD of
the grid current and inverter current are 0.88%, 0.91% and 0.93%, and 0.86%, 0.87% and 0.87%
for a load of 1.5kW, 2.5kW and 3.5kW respectively. For a nonlinear load change, the THD of
the grid current and inverter current are 0.61%, 0.51% and 0.50%, and 0.12%, 0.12% and 0.12%
for a load of 100Ω, 125Ω and 320Ω and C = 3000µF respectively.

Keywords: DC-DC Converter, MPPT controller, Inverter control scheme, Grid synchronization,
Phase locked loop (PLL), Grid connected solar PV system.

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 Table of Contents

Contents Page
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................... i
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii
List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... x
Chapter One:Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Background of the Thesis ..................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Statement of problem ........................................................................................................... 2
1.3. Objective of the thesis .......................................................................................................... 2
1.3.1. General Objective .......................................................................................................... 2
1.4. Scope of the thesis ................................................................................................................ 3
1.5. Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 3
1.6. Thesis Organization.............................................................................................................. 5
Chapter Two:Literature Review ................................................................................................. 6
2.1. Overview of Photovoltaic Cell ............................................................................................. 7
2.1.1. Types of PV Cells .......................................................................................................... 7
2.2. Types of Solar PV System ................................................................................................... 8
2.2.1. Grid connected PV system ............................................................................................ 8
2.2.2. Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems ............................................................................... 8
2.3. Maximum Power Point Tracking ......................................................................................... 9
2.3.1. Perturb and Observe Algorithm ..................................................................................... 9
2.3.2. Incremental Conductance Algorithm........................................................................... 10
2.4. DC-DC Boost converter ..................................................................................................... 12
2.5. DC-AC Inverter in PV System ........................................................................................... 12
2.5.1. Current Source Inverter ............................................................................................... 12
2.5.2. Voltage Source Inverter ............................................................................................... 13
2.6. Active and Reactive Powers and DC-Link Voltage Controller ......................................... 13

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 2.6.1. Clarke‟s and Park‟s Transformation ............................................................................ 13
2.7. Grid Synchronization ......................................................................................................... 14
2.7.1. Phase Locked Loop (PLL) ........................................................................................... 14
2.8. Power Decoupling .............................................................................................................. 15
2.9. Modulation Techniques for Inverter .................................................................................. 16
2.10. Filter as Grid Interface ..................................................................................................... 16
Chapter Three:System Modeling of Photovoltaic Inverter .................................................... 18
3.1. Photovoltaic Cell ................................................................................................................ 18
3.2. Modelling of PV Modules .................................................................................................. 18
3.3. Modeling of Boost converter.............................................................................................. 25
3.3.1. Design of DC-DC converter ........................................................................................ 26
3.3.2. Incremental Conductance MPPT ................................................................................. 28
3.4. DC-AC Inverter .................................................................................................................. 29
3.4.1. Design of LCL-Filter ................................................................................................... 30
3.5. Space Vector PWM Strategy Control ................................................................................ 33
3.5.1. Principle of Space Vector PWM ................................................................................. 33
Chapter Four:Grid Connected PV System............................................................................... 38
4.1. Control Structure of Grid Connected Inverter.................................................................... 38
4.2. Control Structure of the Inverter ........................................................................................ 40
4.2.1. Representation of Three Phase Variables in Stationary RF ........................................ 41
4.2.2. Representation of Three Phase Variables in SRRF ..................................................... 42
4.2.3. Grid Synchronization ................................................................................................... 43
4.2.4. Control Loops for Inverter Control ............................................................................. 44
4.3. Grid with Load ................................................................................................................... 47
4.4. Block Diagram of Overall System ..................................................................................... 48
Chapter Five:Simulation Results and Discussion .................................................................... 50
5.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 50
5.2. PV Array ............................................................................................................................ 50
5.3. DC-DC Converter .............................................................................................................. 54
5.4. DC-Link Voltage ................................................................................................................ 55
5.5. DC-AC Inverter .................................................................................................................. 57

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 5.6. Three Phase Voltage and Current Waveforms ................................................................... 60
5.7. Active and Reactive Reference Currents ........................................................................... 62
5.8. Output Power of the System .............................................................................................. 63
5.9. Effect of Resistive Load Change ........................................................................................ 64
5.10. Effect of Non-Linear Load Change .................................................................................. 67
Chapter Six:Conclusion and Future Work .............................................................................. 71
6.1. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................... 71
6.2. Future Work ....................................................................................................................... 72
References ..................................................................................................................................... 73
Appendices .................................................................................................................................... 78
Appendix A: MATLAB CODES to obtain I-V and P-V Curve ............................................... 78
Appendix B: MATLAB code to design inverter filter .............................................................. 80

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 List of Tables
Table 3.1. Design parameters for PV array[30] ............................................................................ 21
Table 3.2. Design parameters for boost converter ........................................................................ 27
Table 3.3. Boost converter calculated parameters ........................................................................ 27
Table 3.4. Inverter and grid parameters ........................................................................................ 33
Table 3.5. Sector Identification ..................................................................................................... 35
Table 3.6. Seven segment switching sequence [43] ..................................................................... 37
Table 4.1. Grid and controller parameters used for simulation .................................................... 49
Table 5.1. A summary for different values of resistive load ....................................................... 67
Table 5.2. A summary for different values of nonlinear load ...................................................... 70

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 List of Figures
Figure 1.1 General Block diagram of Grid Connected PV system ................................................. 4
Figure 2.1 Block diagram of Grid connected solar PV system....................................................... 8
Figure 2.2 Block diagram of Standalone PV system with Battery storage ..................................... 9
Figure 2.3 Flowchart of Perturb and Observe Algorithm [13] ..................................................... 10
Figure 2.4 Flowchart of Incremental Conductance Algorithm [13] ............................................. 11
Figure 2.5 Incremental Conductance Method for MPPT.............................................................. 12
Figure 2.6 Clarke‟s Transformation .............................................................................................. 13
Figure 2.7 Park‟s Transformation ................................................................................................. 14
Figure 2.8 PLL loop [18] .............................................................................................................. 15
Figure 2.9 Capacitor location in single stage ................................................................................ 16
Figure 2.10 Capacitor location in multistage system .................................................................... 16
Figure 2.11 L, LC and LCL filters [22] ........................................................................................ 17
Figure 3.1 PV Cell, Module and Array [23] ................................................................................ 18
Figure 3.2 The Equivalent Circuit of Photovoltaic cell [25] ........................................................ 19
Figure 3.3 Block diagram of temperature conversion .................................................................. 21
Figure 3.4 Block diagram of photo current ................................................................................... 22
Figure 3.5 Block diagram of diode saturation current .................................................................. 22
Figure 3.6 Block diagram of reverse saturation current ............................................................... 23
Figure 3.7 Block diagram of shunt current ................................................................................... 23
Figure 3.8 Block diagram of output current.................................................................................. 24
Figure 3.9 Block diagram of Solar PV System for a single PV module ...................................... 24
Figure 3.10 Block diagram of Solar PV System for a PV array ................................................... 25
Figure 3.11 Circuit diagram of Boost converter ........................................................................... 26
Figure 3.12 Block Diagram of Incremental Conductance ............................................................ 29
Figure 3. 13 Three phase two-level inverter ................................................................................. 30
Figure 3. 14 Circuit diagram of LCL-filter [38] ........................................................................... 30
Figure 3. 15 Bode Plot of LCL filter: (a) without Damping Resistor (b) with Damping Resistor 32
Figure 3. 16 Representation of space vector in complex plane [44] ............................................. 34
Figure 3.17 Principle of space vector time calculation ................................................................. 36
Figure 4.1 Control Structure in Natural reference Frame [18] ..................................................... 39

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Figure 4.2 General Structure for Implementation of Control in Stationary RF [18] .................... 39
Figure 4.3 General Control Structure in Synchronous Reference Frame [18] ............................. 40
Figure 4.4 Current Control Loop; Cross coupling [47] ................................................................ 40
Figure 4.5 Internal Structure of Phase Locked Loop .................................................................... 44
Figure 4.6 DC-Link Voltage Controller........................................................................................ 45
Figure 4.7 Internal Current Controller .......................................................................................... 46
Figure 4.8 Overall Voltage and Current controller for Active and Reactive Power Control ....... 47
Figure 4.9 Model of Grid Connected Load ................................................................................... 47
Figure 4.10 The Complete Model of the Grid Connected PV System ......................................... 49
Figure 5.1 Effect of temperature changes on I-V and P-V Curve ................................................ 50
Figure 5.2 Effect of solar irradiance changes on I-V and P-V Curve ........................................... 51
Figure 5.3 I-V and P-V Curve at different temperature found from datasheet ............................. 51
Figure 5.4 I-V and P-V Curve at different irradiance found from datasheet ................................ 52
Figure 5.5 PV array characteristic curve for I-V and P-V under STC .......................................... 53
Figure 5.6 I-V and P-V Curve for PV Array Measured from MATLAB/Simulink ..................... 53
Figure 5.7 Temperature and Irradiance at different level ............................................................. 54
Figure 5.8 Output of PV array ...................................................................................................... 55
Figure 5.9 DC-link Voltage and Reference Voltage Signal ......................................................... 56
Figure 5.10 Error Signal Between DC-link Voltage and Reference Voltage ............................... 56
Figure 5.11 Inverter Output Voltage Vab ..................................................................................... 57
Figure 5.12 Output of Inverter before and after filter for Current waveform ............................... 58
Figure 5.13 Output of Inverter before and after filter for Voltage waveform .............................. 58
Figure 5.14 FFT Analysis of Inverter Output Current .................................................................. 59
Figure 5.15 FFT Analysis of Inverter Output Voltage ................................................................. 59
Figure 5.16 Output Waveform of Three Phase Voltage for Inverter and Grid ............................. 60
Figure 5.17 Output Waveform of Three Phase Current for Inverter and Grid ............................. 61
Figure 5.18 FFT Analysis of Grid Current ................................................................................... 61
Figure 5.19 FFT Analysis of Grid Voltage ................................................................................... 62
Figure 5.20 Direct and quadrature current component ................................................................. 63
Figure 5.21 Active and Reactive Power injected into Grid .......................................................... 64
Figure 5.22 DC-Link voltage at resistive load of 2.5kW and 3.5kW ........................................... 65

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Figure 5.23 FFT Analysis of Inverter Current at load of 2.5kW and 3.5kW................................ 65
Figure 5.24 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at load of 2.5kW ....................................................... 66
Figure 5.25 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at load of 3.5kW ....................................................... 66
Figure 5.26 Non-linear Load......................................................................................................... 67
Figure 5.27 DC-Link voltage at non-linear load of 125Ω and 320Ω and C = 3000µF ................ 68
Figure 5.28 FFT Analysis of Inverter Current at non-linear load of 100Ω, 125Ω and 320Ω and C
= 3000µF ....................................................................................................................................... 68
Figure 5.29 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at non-linear load of 100Ω and C = 3000µF ............ 69
Figure 5.30 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at non-linear load of 125Ω and C = 3000µF ............ 69
Figure 5.31 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at non-linear load of 320Ω and C = 3000µF ............ 70

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 List of Abbreviations

PLL Phase Locked Loop

PWM Pulse width modulation

PV Photovoltaic

DC Direct current

AC Alternating current

MPPT Maximum power point tracking

d-q Direct-quadrature

PCU Power conditioning unit

PI Proportional integral controller

CSI Current source inverter

VSI Voltage source inverter

SVPWM Space vector pulse width modulation

STC Standard test condition

THD Total harmonic distortion

FFT Fast Fourier transforms

SRRF Synchronously rotating reference frame

RF Reference frame

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Grid Connection and Synchronization Inverter Control for Solar Power using SRRF
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Chapter One
Introduction

1.1. Background of the Thesis

In the past decade, the focus has shifted towards obtaining energy from renewable resources
rather than from fossil fuels. This has led to the commencement of wide scale research in the
fields of wind and solar energy as these never-ending resources provide clean and sustainable
energy with minimal pollution. Many countries want to shift completely on renewable energy by
the next few years. Wind power systems are generally employed for large scale power
production in the form of wind farms, which are usually situated far from civilization as they
produce noise [1] which may decline the quality of life for people residing nearby [2].
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) system is a system that employs solar cells to convert solar energy into
electrical power. The solar cell, or the PV cell, is an electrical device that produces electricity
directly from the sunlight. Solar PV system is one of the renewable and clean energy sources.
The tremendous increase in energy demand, the growth of global interest in renewable and clean
energy sources, and the advances in research and technology in solar PV, all led to significant
advances in PV industry [3].
The necessity for having available sustainable energy systems for substituting gradually
conventional ones requires changing the paradigm of energy supply by utilizing clean and
renewable resources of energy. Among all renewables energy, solar energy characterizes as a
clean, pollution free and inexhaustible energy source, which is also abundantly available
anywhere in the world. These factors have contributed to make solar energy the fastest growing
renewable technology in the world [4].
The input to the solar panel is temperature and solar irradiance as a DC input. Solar panel is
provided to the DC-DC converter as an input. The function of this converter is to boost the
voltage level and passes it to the type of inverter which is going to be used.
Distributed energy sources are connected to the grid through power electronic converters which
besides transferring the generated dc power to the ac grid should also be able to exhibit advanced
functions like dynamic control of active and reactive power, stationary operation within a range
of voltage and frequency, voltage ride-through, reactive current injection during faults,
participation in grid balancing act like primary frequency control, and so on [5].

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1.2. Statement of problem

Utilization of renewable energy sources have been the most important and prospective field to
acquire new energy sources to meet up the increasing demand in power all over the world
especially in developing country like Ethiopia. The total harmonic distortion is the main concern
and problem in a grid connected solar power system which degrades the power quality of the
system. There are a lot of things which have to be considered such as high power density, high
efficiency and reliability of the system along with the control objectives. The grid connected
solar PV system is not like any other conventional distribution power generation system. It was
very difficult to control the active and reactive power flow of the system effectively. Some
different mechanisms are required to bring the system back to operate synchronously.
Synchronously rotating reference frame technique plays a vital role to control the active and
reactive power of the grid connected solar power system. This transformation technique works
on the voltage and current of grid and it is very necessary to maintain and improve the efficiency,
reliability, stability and power quality of the system by controlling active and reactive power of
the system independently. Furthermore, the active power can be dissipated to the grid through
inverter after reaching at the optimum point and similarly the reactive power can be reduced to
the required level.

1.3. Objective of the thesis

This thesis work comprises of the following general and specific objectives.

1.3.1. General Objective

The general objective of the thesis is to model and control the grid connected solar power system
using synchronously rotating reference frame technique in order to control the active and
reactive power flow.
1.3.2. Specific objectives
The specific objectives of the thesis are:
 To study the mathematical model of the solar PV system.
 To study the maximum power point tracking to control the output of PV array.
 To control the flow of active and reactive power.
 To maintain synchronism for both voltage and current of inverter and grid.

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1.4. Scope of the thesis

The scope of the thesis that the system is developed to control the flow of active and reactive
power by applying rotating reference frame synchronously which includes the following points:
 Modelling and simulation of a PV array for grid connected system.
 Modelling and simulation of DC-DC boost converter with MPPT controller.
 Modelling and simulation of DC-AC inverter as well as its control.
 Modelling of active and reactive power control.
 Simulation of the overall system for grid connected PV system.
 The simulation model was done on MATLAB/SIMULINK.
1.5. Methodology
The proposed method is implemented based on the modeling and controlling of active power and
reactive power injected into the grid. The total system consists of a solar/PV panel, boost
converter with MPPT using incremental conductance method, three-phase voltage source
inverter and the inverter control scheme applying the dq-reference frame which is used to
transform the three phase quantities to the two phase quantities in rotating voltage and current
synchronously to control active and reactive power flow from the PV inverter to the utility grid.
The power control is implemented using synchronously rotating reference frame technique. The
grid voltage and currents are transformed from three phase component (abc-frame) to two phase
component (dq-frame) and (αβ-frame) using Park‟s and Clarke‟s transformation respectively.
After the components are started rotating synchronously with the reference frame, the control
variables become DC quantities. The active and reactive power flow depends on the direct and
quadrature axis component of voltage and current. This facilitates individual control of active
and reactive power flow.
The modeling and control is carried out using synchronously rotating reference frame technique.
To achieve this system, MATLAB/SIMULINK is required to do all design on it.

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MPPT
Controller
(IC)

PWM
Generation

DC-DC Three Phase

Solar Panel Filter Grid
Converter Inverter

PWM
Generation

Inverter
Phase Locked
Control Using
Loop(PLL)
SRRF

Figure 1.1 General Block diagram of Grid Connected PV system

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1.6. Thesis Organization

The thesis is organized into six chapters including the introduction section. The remaining part of
the thesis is organized in the following manner.
Chapter 2 describes the details of literature review of the grid connected solar PV systems.
Chapter 3 describes the details of mathematical modeling of the PV system, DC-DC boost
converter, the space vector PWM control strategy and DC-AC inverter.
Chapter 4 describes the grid connected PV inverter systems which includes Clarke‟s and Park‟s
transformations and their inverse transformation, the DC-link voltage controller, the current
controller and the whole block diagram of the system.
Chapter 5 presents the simulation results and discussion of the proposed grid connected PV
system and describes the results of the PV array and the overall system.
Chapter 6 describes the general conclusion and recommendation.

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Chapter Two
Literature Review
The recent work mainly focuses on the grid interfacing behaviour, control performance and
operation after connecting to renewable energy. The integration of renewable energy sources to
the utility grid depends on the scale of power which is being generated. Different researchers
have been worked on the grid connected PV system to improve the quality of power in different
ways as well as to enhance the stability and efficiency of the system by employing various types
of techniques and methods.

A. Angela Sheril and M. Ramesh Babu (Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 25 (4): 864-
870, 2017) have been demonstrated that the voltage, current and frequency of the grid connected
photovoltaic system could be synchronized and controlled by using phase locked loops and
stationary reference frame technique. But the active and reactive power flow from the output of
inverter to the grid has not been controlled. Since the two powers are not being controlled
independently, the stability and efficiency cannot be improved [6].

Manel Hammami, Rabeh Abbassi and Souad Chebbi (Conference Paper, January, 2014)
proposed that the efficiency of the photovoltaic system is the serious issue in the world, so the
rotating reference frame technique has been applied to control the active and reactive power
depending on the currents in the d-q rotating reference system in order to improve the efficiency
of the system [7]. However, the new proposed method which is going to apply depends on both
voltage and current in the rotating system for controlling purpose.

Bhavesh M. Jesadia and Prof. Indrajit N.Trivedi have been applied instantaneous reactive power
theory as a control strategy. According to this theory during the sunlight system send active
power to grid and same time compensate the reactive power of load and compensate the
harmonics. During no sunlight available system only compensate reactive power of load and
harmonics. In this method, the synchronization control would not be applied to control the phase
angle of the voltage of the grid [8]. So this leads the system to the faulty conditions. However,
the aim of the proposed system is to control the required power of the system in parallel way
using the technique depending on voltage and current.

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2.1. Overview of Photovoltaic Cell

Photovoltaic cell is also known as solar cell is used to convert energy from the sun directly into
electrical energy without any form of rotational parts. Photovoltaic cells represent the basic
fundamental power conversion unit of solar PV system. These cells are made from
semiconductors and like any other solid-state electronic devices e.g. diode, transistors and
integrated circuit, they have also similar behavior. Photovoltaic cells are usually arranged into
modules and array when applied practically [9].

2.1.1. Types of PV Cells

There are different types of photovoltaic cells available on the market and yet different other
types of cells are under development [10].

2.1.1.1. Monocrystalline Solar Cell

They also known as "single crystalline" cells are readily known by their coloring. These cells are
believed to be singular due to it is assumed constituted of very pure type of silicon. In the silicon
world, efficiency of material depends on the purity of aligned molecules and its efficiency is
around 20%. A solar cell is used to convert sunlight into electricity. They are constituted of what
are called "silicon ingots," which is of a cylindrical pattern that aids in optimizing execution. In
this way, panels are made up of monocrystalline cells with rounded edges instead of being
square, like other types of solar cells. This is due to the fact fewer cells per unit of electrical
output. Another advantage of these cells is that they also have highest longevity.

2.1.1.2. Polycrystalline Solar Cell

These cells do not require the cutting process as in the case of monocrystalline cells. Here, the
silicon is of square shaped as silicon is disintegrated and poured into a square mold. In this way,
these cells are very much economical as hardly any silicon is wasted during the manufacturing
process. Generally, efficiency of this system is around 13-16% efficiency - main reason is due to
lower purity of material.

2.1.1.3. Amorphous Solar Cell

This cell is made up of thin films. This thin films consist of amorphous silicon are generally
employed for low power applications. A new method known as "stacking" is used for developing

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multiple layers of amorphous silicon cells which leads to higher rates of efficiency (up to 8%) for
these technologies; even though it is quite costly.

2.2. Types of Solar PV System

From application point of view, photovoltaic power systems are categorized into two types grid
connected as well as off grid. They can be designed to produce DC and/or AC voltage, can
function independent of grid or with grid [11].

2.2.1. Grid connected PV system

For grid-connected PV systems inverter, or power conditioning unit (PCU) is the primary
component. The PV system produces very less DC power. Then this less DC power must be
converted to AC power up to the level or the need of grid by means of inverter. So PV inverter
plays very important role in grid connected PV system. In a grid connected system, all excess
power is fed to grid. Also, during absence or inadequate sunshine, supply of power is maintained
from the grid and thus battery is eliminated. As PV produce DC power is first converted to AC
power by inverter, harmonics are filtered and then only AC power is fed into grid after adjusting
the voltage level. Figure 2.1 describes about the block diagram of a grid connected PV system.

Figure 2.1 Block diagram of Grid connected solar PV system

2.2.2. Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Systems

Off-grid solar PV system can be used without power grid. Presently, such solar PV systems are
usually set up at isolated sites where the power grid is far away, such as off-shore islands or rural
areas. They can also be set up within the city when it is inconvenient or very expensive to tap
electricity from the power grid. An off-grid solar PV system employs deep cycle rechargeable
batteries such as nickel-cadmium, lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries used for accumulating
electricity for use under various circumstances when there is no or little output from the solar PV
system, essentially when it is dark. For low power applications, stand-alone PV systems are

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generally used to supply certain DC and/or AC electrical loads. In order to operate the load
during sunlight hours as well as night hours fed by PV power, electrical energy storing devices
(batteries) are required, which makes the system costlier. Figure 2.2 depicts about the block
diagram of standalone PV system where PV array is connected to DC and AC load through
charge controller.

Figure 2.2 Block diagram of Standalone PV system with Battery storage

2.3. Maximum Power Point Tracking

The maximum power point tracking is the main part of the solar PV system. It is the most
important part in solar PV system which is used to extract the maximum power from the PV
array. The output power of the PV array is influenced by solar irradiance and temperature.
The most commonly used MPPT algorithms are briefly explained below.

2.3.1. Perturb and Observe Algorithm

This algorithm is based on perturbation of a control variable, which is either the output voltage
of PV array, or duty cycle of the DC-DC converter switches. For the first case, a perturbation is
applied to output voltage of PV array and a PI controller, consequently, adjusts the duty ratio of
the converter. Tuning of PI controller in this case is done by using maximum power point value
of PV array voltage [12]. In the case of direct duty cycle control, as the name suggests that a
small perturbation is introduced in the duty ratio of DC-DC converter.
A major advantage of Perturb and Observe algorithm is that it is simple and easy to implement.
Flowchart of direct duty ratio control P and O algorithm is shown in figure 2.3.

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Start

Measure Vnew
and Inew

Calculate power,
Pnew

Yes No
Pnew>Pold

Vnew>Vold Vnew>Vold

Yes No Yes No

D=Dold- D D=Dold+ D D=Dold+ D D=Dold- D

Figure 2.3 Flowchart of Perturb and Observe Algorithm [13]

2.3.2. Incremental Conductance Algorithm

In this algorithm, the power (product of voltage and current) of PV array is differentiated w.r.t
the PV array voltage and set equal to zero, and based on the value of the differential, the actual
operating point is found. In this algorithm, unlike perturb and observe, PV array power doesn‟t
have to be computed. This algorithm provides very good transient performance i.e., when
atmospheric conditions are changing. Flowchart of Incremental Conductance algorithm is shown
in figure 2.4.

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Start

Sense PV
array V and I

Calculate V
and I

V=0

No Yes
Yes
I/ V=-I/V Yes
I=0

No No

I/ V>-I/V
I>0
Yes
Yes No
No

Increment Decrement Decrement Increment

Duty Duty Duty Duty

Update
voltage and
current

Return

Figure 2.4 Flowchart of Incremental Conductance Algorithm [13]

The basic idea of incremental conductance method is that the slope of the power at the MPP with
respect to the voltage equals zero. Also, the power is increasing with the voltage to the left of the
MPP, and it is decreasing to the right of the MPP. Simply, the slope of P-V characteristics curve
is zero at the MPP, positive on the left of the MPP and negative on the right of the MPP [14].
Figure 2.5 shows the incremental conductance method for MPPT.

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Figure 2.5 Incremental Conductance Method for MPPT

2.4. DC-DC Boost converter

The Boost converter is a power converter that generates output voltage greater than the input
voltage. It consists of four main components: an inductor, a power electronic switch (e.g. an
IGBT, MOSFET), a diode and a capacitor. The boost converter is controlled using Pulse Width
Modulation (PWM) control strategy. PWM controls the boost converter by turning the switch
ON or OFF at a high frequency (called the switching frequency) [15, 16].

2.5. DC-AC Inverter in PV System

Inverters used nowadays in a PV system are self-commutated. The switching devices used in
them can be power BJTs, IGBTs or MOSFETs, depending on the switching frequency and power
density of the system. The inverters can be broadly classified into two types which are current
source inverters and voltage source inverters [17]. They are briefly explained below.

2.5.1. Current Source Inverter

In a current source inverter, the input side is a current source. The polarity of input current does
not change and the direction of flow of power is determined by the input voltage. CSIs generate
an alternating current wave at the output which has a fixed magnitude for a given input and
adjustable time period. An inductor is connected at the input side of CSIs to maintain the current.

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2.5.2. Voltage Source Inverter

The input side of a voltage source inverter is a voltage source; a large capacitor is used for this
purpose. The polarity of input voltage does not change and therefore direction of power flow is
determined by the DC current input. Contrary to CSIs, alternating voltage of constant amplitude
but variable can be obtained by using VSIs. Another feature of VSIs is that, they can be operated
in both voltage control mode and current control mode.

2.6. Active and Reactive Powers and DC-Link Voltage Controller

The controller tasks are achieved mainly by two cascaded loops [18]:
1. Fast internal current loop to control the grid current in order to get a high-quality power with
low harmonics.
2. External voltage loop to control the DC-link voltage, which controls the power flow in the
system.

2.6.1. Clarke’s and Park’s Transformation

2.6.1.1. Clarke’s Transformation

The transformation of stationary circuit to a stationary reference frame was developed by E.
Clarke. The stationary two-phase variables of Clarke‟s transformation are denoted as α and β
[19]. As shown in figure below, α-axis and β-axis are orthogonal.

Figure 2.6 Clarke‟s Transformation

2.6.1.2. Park’s Transformation

It is used to transform the three phase quantities to the two phase quantities in some system for
the aim of controlling. The changes of variables are employed in the analysis of various static
and constant parameters in power system components. All known real transformations for these

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components are also contained in the transformation to the arbitrary reference frame. This
transformation is a well-known three-phase to two-phase transformation in synchronous system
analysis [19]. It is presented in the figure below.

Figure 2.7 Park‟s Transformation

2.7. Grid Synchronization

To achieve power flow between the renewable resource generator and the utility network, the
injected inverter current needs to be synchronized with the grid voltage. Different algorithms are
used for grid synchronization. The main purpose of these algorithms is to obtain the phase
information of grid voltage. Transformation from natural reference frame to stationary or
synchronous reference frame may be required to make this possible [18]. Zero crossing method,
Filtering of grid voltages and PLL are the methods that are used for grid synchronization. Among
these three, PLL is the most widely used method. A brief explanation of PLL is presented below.

2.7.1. Phase Locked Loop (PLL)

PLL provides good rejection of harmonics and other disturbances. It is implemented in
synchronous reference frame [20]. Figure 2.8 shows the basic structure of PLL. The phase lock is
achieved by setting the reference d axis voltage Ud* to zero. A PI regulator is usually used to
control Ud and the output of the controller is the grid frequency, which can be integrated to find
the grid voltage phase angle.

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Figure 2.8 PLL loop [22]

 The Phase Detector: the phase detector outputs a signal that is proportional to the phase
difference between the reference signal and the signal generated by the transformation
block (abc→ dq).
 The Loop Filter: This block presents a low-pass filter, usually PI controller, to attenuate
the high-frequency AC components from the phase detector output. The output of this
block is the grid frequency.
 VCO Controller: This block integrates the grid frequency to obtain the phase shift of the
grid voltage (Ө).

2.8. Power Decoupling

Power decoupling in a PV system is usually achieved by using a capacitor. In case of a single
stage system, decoupling capacitor is placed between the inverter and PV panels. For a
multistage system, it is placed between the output of DC-DC converter and inverter input.
Decoupling capacitor is used to reduce the oscillatory nature of power obtained from PV
modules [21].

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Figure 2.9 Capacitor location in single stage

Figure 2.10 Capacitor location in multistage system

2.9. Modulation Techniques for Inverter

To convert the DC voltage into an AC voltage signal, the switches present in an inverter need to
be switched on and off by providing pulses at their gates. There are a number of techniques that
can be used to generate pulses. The most commonly used are the space vector pulse width
modulation (SVPWM) and sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) [18]. In this thesis work,
the space-vector pulse width modulation is going to be applied due to its simplicity for digital
implementation and maximum utilization of DC bus voltage.

2.10. Filter as Grid Interface

Inverters, as being switching devices cannot be directly connected to the grid. This is because the
inverter produces harmonics which degrades power quality. There are different standards in
which put a limitation on the harmonics that can be injected into the grid [22-24]. A transformer
may be used to connect the system to the grid [25]. The windings of the transformer serve as
inductance which reduces the harmonics present in the current wave. Transformers are expensive
and bulky which leads to the system being costly. Therefore, a transformer-less topology to
connect inverter to the grid has come into existence, and that is by using a filter circuit as the
interface. There are three types of passive filters that are generally used; they are an L, LC and
LCL-filter. These filters are shown in figure 2.11.

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Figure 2.11 L, LC and LCL filters [26]

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Chapter Three
System Modeling of Photovoltaic Inverter

3.1. Photovoltaic Cell

The Photovoltaic (PV) cell is a PN junction device made from semiconductor materials. It is
commonly made up of doped silicon [26]. The energy conversion in a PV cell may be described
in three steps. First, the absorption of solar (photons‟) energy generates electron-hole pairs.
Then, the electrons and holes are separated by the structure of the device. Finally, electric
charges are collected at the terminal of PV cell. The rate of generation of electric charge
depends on the solar irradiance, the temperature of the cell and the semiconductor material type.
The output power from a single PV cell is very low. A large number of PV cells are connected in
series and parallel, making a PV module, to produce higher power levels [27]. Then, several
modules are connected in series and parallel to make a PV array as shown in figure below.

Figure 3.1 PV Cell, Module and Array [27]

3.2. Modelling of PV Modules

The goal of PV model is to find the equivalent circuit parameters (Iph, Io, Irs, Ish and Ipv) using the
information provided in the PV module datasheet in table 3.1. The parameters that are normally
provided by the datasheets of the PV module are the short-circuit current (Isc), the open-circuit
voltage (Voc), and the operating voltage and current at the given standard values. All these values
are given at STC, which are a temperature of 25oC and an irradiance of 1000 Watt/m2.

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A solar cell is basically a p-n junction which is fabricated in a thin wafer of semiconductor. The
electromagnetic radiation of solar energy can be directly converted to electricity through the
photo voltaic effect. When it is being exposed to the sunlight, the photons with energy can be
greater than the band-gap energy of the semiconductor creates some electron-hole pairs
proportional to the incident irradiation [28]. The equivalent circuit of the photovoltaic cell is as
shown below in figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2 The Equivalent Circuit of Photovoltaic cell [29]

From the above circuit diagram, the current source (Iph) represents the cell photo current. Rsh and
Rs represent the shunt and series resistance of the cell respectively. Most of the time, the value of
shunt resistance is too large and that of series is very small. Hence they may be neglected for
analysis purpose. PV cells are grouped in larger units called PV modules which are further
interconnected in parallel-series configuration to form PV arrays [29].
According to the equivalent circuit, the photo current depends on the solar radiation and
temperature of the environment condition is calculated as follows:
[ ] (3.1)

Where G is solar radiation, Isc is short circuit current of the PV cell, Tref is the nominal
temperature and Ki is the temperature coefficient of short circuit current of the cell at 25oC and
1000w/m2.
From equivalent-circuit, the diode current of the cell can be expressed as:

[ ] (3.2)

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The thermal voltage is given by:

(3.3)

Where V is the external voltage and I is the external current of the photovoltaic cell.
VT is thermal voltage and Io is the dark saturation current of the diode.
The dark saturation current of the diode is mathematically expressed as:
( )
( )

( * (3.4)

[ ]

Where, A is the ideality factor of the diode.

K is the Boltzmann constant.
q is electron charge.
Ego is the band-gap energy of the semiconductor.
The reverse saturation current of the photovoltaic cell is obtained as,
(3.5)
( *
[ ]

Where Voc is open-circuit voltage.

Ns is the number of PV modules connected in series.
T is the temperature effect on the solar PV module.
According to Ohm‟s law, the current through shunt resistance is equal to:
(3.6)

By applying all the above equations, the external current can be found as:

( )
[ ] (3.7)

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Table 3.1. Design parameters for PV array [30]

Parameter name Specification values

Rated power 305.226W
Open-circuit voltage(Voc) 64.2V
Short-circuit current(Isc) 5.96A
Temperature coefficient of Isc (Ki) at 25oC and 0.061745
1000W/m2
Number of PV cells connected in series(Ns) 96
Electron charge(q) 1.6*10^-19C
Ideality factor(A) 0.94504
Boltzmann‟s constant(K) 1.3805*10^-23J/k
Band-gap energy of semiconductor(Ego) 1.1eV
Shunt resistance(Rsh) 269.593Ω
Series resistance(Rs) 0.37152Ω
Nominal temperature(Tref) 298k
Operating temperature(T) 25oC
Solar irradiation(G) 1000W/m2

The Simulink modeling is done using the above equations in the following manner.
The conversion of temperature from degree Celsius to kelvin is shown in figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3 Block diagram of temperature conversion

Figure 3.4 shows the simulink block diagram which is used to find the photo current (Iph). The
converted values of temperature and irradiance level together with the value of current
temperature coefficient from PV module datasheet are used to calculate the photo current (Iph)
using eq. (3.1).

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Figure 3.4 Block diagram of photo current

The diode saturation current (Io) which is calculated using the eq. (3.4) is presented by the
simulink block diagram shown in figure 3.5.

Figure 3.5 Block diagram of diode saturation current

The block diagram which is used to determine the reverse saturation current (Irs) at STC using
eq. (3.5) is shown in figure 3.6.

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Figure 3.6 Block diagram of reverse saturation current

The Simulink block diagram of shunt current(Ish) shown in figure 3.7 can be used to obtain the
shunt current using eq. (3.6).

Figure 3.7 Block diagram of shunt current

After the values of the photo current (Iph), the diode saturation current (Io), the reverse saturation
current (Irs) and the shunt current (Ish) are being calculated, all these values are substituted in eq.
(3.7) to calculate the output current of the solar PV system. The Simulink block diagram shown
in figure 3.8 represents eq. (3.7).

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Figure 3.8 Block diagram of output current

Figure 3.9 Block diagram of Solar PV System for a single PV module

The following PV array model is formed by integrating of five a single PV module which is
connected in series to generate a power about 1.5KW. A single PV module produces only a
power of 305W.

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Figure 3.10 Block diagram of Solar PV System for a PV array

3.3. Modeling of Boost converter

DC/DC power converters are employed in PV systems to change the output voltage. Normally, a
DC/DC converter is sequentially inserted between the load and the PV panel to gain the power
available from the solar panel. It is useful for a PV system with unstable and fluctuating output.
If the PV system uses both AC and DC converters, a DC-link capacitor can enhance the DC
output voltage stability, and therefore, reduce the effect of fluctuation on the AC output [31]. DC
converters may be boost converters (step-up), buck converters (step-down), or a combination of
both, like CUK converters and buck-boost converters. Converter type may be selected based on
the desired capacity or size of the output voltage to provide the appropriate input voltage for the
inverter with the dc voltage stabilization and regulation capability [32]. This is important for
hybrid energy systems, grid connected systems and standalone systems. DC/DC converter in
such systems works with a maximum power operating algorithm so that the PV system generates
more power. Figure 3.11 shows the basic circuit diagram of boost converter used in this work.

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Figure 3.11 Circuit diagram of Boost converter

3.3.1. Design of DC-DC converter
Two stage topology is chosen for grid connected solar PV system. In this model, DC-DC
converter is used to boost the output voltage of PV array to the required voltage level which is
fed into the inverter as an input from the converter side. The switching device is an important
part of DC/DC conversion. The switching device is selected based on the specific design of the
system, for instance, switching speed and power capacity. Generally, MOSFET is chosen for
supplying lower power capacity with fast switching speed whereas IGBT is used for higher
power capacity with medium switching speed [33].
The input voltage available from the PV array to the boost converter is 273.5V and the desired
output voltage is 700V. The selected switching frequency is 5 kHz for the switching device
IGBT.
The duty cycle of the boost converter is calculated using the formula,
(3.8)

The boost inductor can be calculated using the formula,

(3.9)

Where, Vpv is the input voltage to the converter, Vpv=273.5V

Vo is the desired output voltage, Vo=700V
fs is the switching frequency in the boost converter which is chosen to be 5KHz
The Photovoltaic capacitor can be calculated using the formula [34],
(3.10)

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The DC-link capacitor can be obtained using the following formula [21],
(3.11)

Where, the nominal power of PV module

the switching frequency , the voltage across the capacitor
the amplitude of the ripple voltage which is chosen to be 3%
Table 3.2. Design parameters for boost converter

Parameter name Value

output voltage of PV array at 1000W/m2 and 273.5V
25oC
output current of PV array at 1000W/m2 and 5.58A
25oC
Desired output voltage(Vo) 700V
output power of PV array at 1000W/m2 and 1.5KW
25oC
Switching frequency(fsw) 5000Hz

The calculated values of each component used for this design are provided below.
Table 3.3. Boost converter calculated parameters

Parameter name Value

Duty cycle(D) 60.93%
PV capacitor(Cpv) 75uF
Inductance(L) 3.2mH
DC-link capacitor(CDC-Link) 220uF
Resistance(R) 321ohm

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3.3.2. Incremental Conductance MPPT

The main function of the MPPT in a PV energy conversion system is to setting continuously the
system so that it extracts maximum power from the solar array in any case of weather or load
conditions. Since the solar array has a non-ideal voltage-current characteristics and the
conditions such as irradiance, ambient temperature, and wind that affect the output of the solar
array are unpredictable, the tracker should deal with a nonlinear and time-varying system.

The conventional MPPT algorithms are using to obtain the maximum power point.

Several algorithms can be used in order to implement the MPPT as follows: perturb & observe,
incremental conductance, parasitic capacitance and constant voltage, but only the first two are
the most frequently used.
The incremental conductance algorithm has been chosen as a MPPT control strategy in this
thesis work. This algorithm has advantages compared to perturb and observe as it can determine
when the MPPT has reached the MPP, where perturb and observe oscillates around the MPP.
The incremental conductance can track rapidly the increase and decrease of irradiance conditions
with higher accuracy than perturb and observe. One disadvantage of this algorithm is the
increased complexity when compared to perturb & observe [35].
Using the P-V curve described in figure 2.5 under chapter 2, the following equation can be
analyzed:

at MPP,

at the left side of MPP, (3.12)

at the right side of MPP.

In addition, the following equations can be obtained using eq. (3.12) by applying chain rule for
the derivative of product yields,

(3.13)

The DC-DC converter is controlled by incremental conductance technique in order to achieve the
maximum power point (MPP). The incremental conductance method is based on the observation,
the slope of the PV array curve is zero at MPP In addition to this, the curve is increasing from
left of MPP and decreasing from the right of MPP.

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at MPP,

at the left side of MPP, (3.14)

at the right side of MPP.

Here is the block diagram of the incremental conductance method used to extract the maximum
power from the PV array.

Figure 3.12 Block Diagram of Incremental Conductance

3.4. DC-AC Inverter

The PV array outputs are DC source energy, but the output of the grid side energy is AC source
to transfer the generated energy to the grid, it should be converted into AC energy with
controllable magnitude, phase and frequency. To achieve this, the three phase voltage source
inverter is being used. The voltage source inverter (VSI) switches are controlled using space-
vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) [36]. The SVPWM technique is widely used to control
the voltage source inverter, compared to sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM), the
SVPWM is more suitable for digital implementation and it has better DC-link voltage utilization.
Moreover, it is capable of reducing the total harmonic distortion (THD) [37].Three phase two
level VSI is going to be used in this work.

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Figure 3.13 Three phase two-level inverter

The relationship between the DC input and the AC output line to line voltage is given by:
√
(3.15)
√

Where, m is the modulation index, VDC is the DC-link voltage and VLL(rms) is the line to line
voltage which is chosen for this design.

3.4.1. Design of LCL-Filter

The LCL-filter is used to attenuate the high-frequency harmonics of the output current. The
circuit diagram of LCL-filter is shown in figure 3.14.

Figure 3.14 Circuit diagram of LCL-filter [38]

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The design procedure for the LCL-filter can be described by the following steps [38-41]:
Step 1: the filter capacitance is selected based on the limit of the reactive power absorbed by the
capacitor. Generally, it should be less than 5% of the rated power. The value of capacitance is
given by [39]:
(3.16)
Where, Cb is the base capacitance and x is the percentage of reactive power absorbed at rated
condition.
The base capacitance of the system can be calculated using the following formula:

(3.17)

(3.18)

Where, VLLrms is the rms value of line to line voltage, Prated is the rated power of the system, Zb is
the base impedance and fg is the grid frequency.
Step 2: the inverter side inductor is used to reduce the ripple of the inverter current and it is
calculated using the relationship between the ripple current and inverter inductor [39]:
(3.19)

Where, ∆I is the ripple current, usually limited from 10% to 20% of rated current, fs is switching
frequency.
The ripple current of the inverter (∆I) can be selected as 20% of base current. The base current
(Ib) of the system is given by:
(3.20)
√

The value of the inverter inductor can be found as:

(3.21)

Step 3: the grid side inductor can be found based on the required ripple attenuation factor (RAF)
at switching frequency. RAF is the ratio of the grid current to the inverter output current as
follows:

( )
| | (3.22)
( )

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RAF at switching frequency is given by eq. (3.22) which can be rewritten as eq. (3.23) to
calculate the grid inductor.

| | (3.23)

| | (3.24)

Step 4: the resonance frequency should be far away from the grid frequency and switching
frequency. A suitable range of fres is given by the following equations [38]:

√ (3.25)

(3.26)
Step 5: to avoid the resonance phenomenon, a damping resistor (Rf) is usually connected in
series with filter capacitor. The value of the damping resistor can be calculated using the
following formula [42]:

( )
(3.27)

Figure 3.15 depicts the effect of the damping resistor on the transfer function of the LCL-filter
which illustrates the bode plot of the filter transfer function without using damping resistor and
the performance of damping resistor how it prevents the resonance frequency in the filter.

(a) (b)
Figure 3.15 Bode Plot of LCL filter: (a) without Damping Resistor (b) with
Damping Resistor

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After calculating the required parameter values of the inverter filter design, it is provided in the
following table.

Table 3.4. Inverter and grid parameters

Parameter name Value

Inverter inductor(Li) 39.7mH
Grid inductor(Lg) 8mH
Filter capacitor(Cf) 0.76uF
Damping resistor(Rf) 31ohm‟s
The MATLAB code used to obtain the inverter and grid parameters are available in appendix B.

3.5. Space Vector PWM Strategy Control

Space-vector modulation (SVM) is one of the preferred real-time modulation techniques and is
widely used for voltage source inverters control. The SVPWM is accomplished by rotating the
reference vector around the state diagram which is composed of six basic non-zero vectors
forming a hexagon shown in figure 3.16.

3.5.1. Principle of Space Vector PWM

For the simplicity of analysis on PWM techniques, the values on three phase (a-b-c) coordinate
system are usually transferred to that on α β − plane. In the SVPWM technique, the reference
voltage vector is Vref that rotates in the space with an angular frequency of is selected as the
control instruction. The principle of SVPWM requires the determination of a sector, calculation
of vector segments and calculation of switching time durations [43].
The procedure for implementing a two level space vector PWM can be summarized as follows.
1. Calculate the angle (α) and reference voltage vector (Vref) based on the input voltage
components.
2. Find the sector in which Vref lies, and the adjacent space vectors based on the sector angle α.
3. Find the time intervals T1, T2 and T0 based on switching time and the angle.
Angle (α) and Reference Voltage Vector (Vref)
In the SVPWM, the three phase output voltage vector is represented by a reference vector that
rotates at an angular speed of =2 . The SVPWM uses the combinations of switching states to
approximate the reference vector. A reference voltage vector (Vref) that rotates with angular
speed in the α-β plane represents three sinusoidal waveforms with angular frequency in the
coordinate system. The space vector with magnitude (Vref) rotates in a circular direction at an

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angular velocity of where the direction of rotation depends on the phase sequence of the
voltages. If it has a positive phase sequence, then it rotates in the counter clockwise direction.
Otherwise, it rotates in the clockwise direction with a negative phase sequence. The three phase
voltages could be described with only two components, α and β, in a two dimensional plane. The

magnitude of each active vector is 2 . The active vectors are apart and describe a hexagon

boundary. The locus of the circle projected by the space reference vector depends on V0, V1, V2,
V3, V4, V5, V6 and V7. According to the principle of space-vector PWM, the alpha-beta (αβ)–
coordinate system can be realized by Clarke transformation using eq. (3.28).

[ ] [ ]
√ √
[ ]

The 3-phase quantities are reduced to two phase quantities, the first one is direct axis (real axis)
and other one is quadrature axis (imaginary axis). These two quantities are represented as the
magnitude (Vref) and angle (α). Vref rotates with the speed of angular velocity (ω= f). The
SVPWM is the combination of the reference voltage and 6 switching states of the inverter. The
basic switching vector and sector diagram is shown in figure 3.16, forms a hexagon which can be
seen as consisting of six sectors spanning 60°each. The reference vector which represents
three-phase sinusoidal voltage is generated using SVPWM by switching between two
nearest active vectors and zero vectors [44].

Figure 3.16 Representation of space vector in complex plane [44]

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The magnitude of the reference voltage and angle ( of the above equation used to implement
the SVPWM are calculated as follows,

| | √ (3.29)

( *

Determination of Sector
It is very necessary to understand in which sector the reference output voltage lies in order to
determine the switching time and sequence. The phase voltages corresponding to eight switching
states, six nonzero vectors and two zero vectors at the origin. Depending on the reference voltage
and , the angle of the reference vector can be used to determine the sector as shown in
Table 3.5.
Table 3.5. Sector Identification

Sector Degrees
1
2
3
4
5
6

Determination of the Switching Times for each transistor

It is necessary to arrange the switching sequence so that the switching frequency of each inverter
leg is minimized. There are many switching patterns that can be used to implement SVPWM. To
minimize the switching losses, only two adjacent active vectors and two zero vectors are used in
a sector. To meet this optimal condition, each switching period starts with one zero vectors and
end with another zero vector during the sampling time. This rule applies normally to three phase
inverters as a switching sequence. Therefore, the switching cycle of the output voltage is double
the sampling time and the two output voltage waveforms become symmetrical. Table 3.6 shows
a symmetric switching sequence [43]. Referring to this table, the binary representations of two

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adjacent basic vectors differ in only one bit, so that only one of the upper transistors switches is
closed when the switching pattern moves from one vector to an adjacent one. The two vectors
are time weighted in a sample period to produce the desired output voltage.
To calculate the time of application of different vectors, consider figure 3.17 which is depicting
the position of different available space vectors and the reference vector in the first sector.

Figure 3.17 Principle of space vector time calculation

The time of each active phase vector can be calculated in the following manner,

√ ( )

√ ( ) (3.31)

Where n denotes the number of sector.

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Table 3.6. Seven segment switching sequence [43]

Space vector Switching state On state switch Off state switch Vector definition
V0 000 S4, S6, S2 S1, S3, S5
V1 100 S1, S6, S2 S4, S3, S5

V2 110 S1, S3, S2 S4, S6, S5

V3 010 S4, S3, S2 S1, S6, S5

V4 011 S4, S3, S5 S1, S6, S2

V5 001 S4, S6, S5 S1, S3, S2

V6 101 S1, S6, S5 S4, S3, S2

V7 111 S1, S3, S5 S4, S6, S2

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Chapter Four
Grid Connected PV System
The Distributed power generation systems (DPGS) can be broadly classified into two categories
which are standalone and grid connected PV systems. In standalone PV systems, storage
batteries are used which stores the energy obtained from these intermittent sources. These
batteries serve as input to the inverter which converts DC power into AC power.
In the grid connected PV systems, energy storage devices may not be required as the energy
obtained from the sun light directly. In the case of a solar PV system, the sun light can be
directly converted to AC and transferred to the grid. To achieve this, the inverter must be
controlled in advanced way using control loops so that the expected power can be transferred to
the grid and also the inverter‟s output terminals cannot directly be connected to the grid because
of the harmonics that are available in the current due to the switching nature of the inverter. A
filter is used to reduce the total harmonic distortions (THD) from the inverter and grid current.

4.1. Control Structure of Grid Connected Inverter

Control system of a grid connected inverter is responsible for managing the power injection into
the grid, which is obtained from a distributed generator. Mostly, control structures based on two
cascaded loops are employed for this work. A number of combinations of cascaded loops can be
used, which include outer power and inner current loop [45] and outer voltage and inner power
loop [46]. But the most widely used strategy as mentioned in [18] is the one which uses a slower
outer dc-link voltage control loop and a faster inner current control loop.
Voltage control loop is responsible for balancing the power flow of the system. If there is more
power available from the dc side, the controller present in this loop changes the reference current
so that more ac power can be delivered to the grid. The current control loop deals with
maintenance of power quality and reduction of harmonics available in the inverter current, so
that it can be injected into the grid.
The control system can be designed in one of the three reference frames which are natural
reference frame, stationary reference frame and synchronous reference frame. In natural
reference frame, there needs to be a controller for each phase current [18]. As the currents are
sinusoidal, non-linear controllers like dead beat and hysteresis are used in natural reference
frame. Fig. 4.1 shows control structure in natural reference frame.

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Figure 4.1 Control Structure in Natural reference Frame [18]

In stationary reference frame control implementation, abc variables are transformed into αβ axis
variables. In this case, the variables are also sinusoidal. Proportional-Resonant controllers are
normally used in stationary reference frame structure as PI controllers cannot remove steady
state error in case of sinusoidal signals [18]. One possible implementation of control structure in
stationary reference frame is depicted in fig. 4.2.

Figure 4.2 General Structure for Implementation of Control in Stationary RF [18]

In Synchronous reference frame, the sinusoidal variables are transformed into a frame that
rotates at synchronous speed with sinusoidal variables, which makes these quantities appear as
DC values. This means that PI controllers can be used as they provide satisfactory results when
dealing with DC quantities [18]. Fig. 4.3 shows general control structure in synchronous
reference frame (SRF).

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Figure 4.3 General Control Structure in Synchronous Reference Frame [18]

As can be seen in figure 4.4, the cross coupling terms and voltage is fed forward in the control
loop so that active and reactive power injection into the grid can be independently controlled
[47]. Synchronous reference frame (SRF) control structure is the most widely used.

Figure 4.4 Current Control Loop; Cross coupling [47]

4.2. Control Structure of the Inverter

The most important part of the system rather than obtaining maximum power from the PV array
is the control of the inverter so as to control the active and reactive power flow. From the grid

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synchronization to power flow management and pulse width modulation of the inverter is taken
care by the control structure of the inverter.
In this model, the control going to be used is synchronously rotating reference frame which is
used to transform voltage and current quantities from natural reference frame (abc-frame) to
synchronously rotating reference frame (dq-frame).

4.2.1. Representation of Three Phase Variables in Stationary RF

It transforms a three phase abc signals into a two phase orthogonal system in stationary reference
frame which is called as α-β frame where both α and β axes are locked in position by the
transformation. This transformation is widely used in electrical machine analysis and in the
control of power electronic converters due to the advantage of working with reduced number of
signals than the actual. The transformation from natural reference frame (abc-frame) to
stationary reference frame (αβ-frame) is given in matrix form as follows [48],

√ √
[ ] [ ] (4.1)

[ ]

√ √
[ ] [ ] (4.2)

[ ]

The scaling factor 2/3 is being considered for amplitude invariant transformations. In a balanced
three phase systems, Ia+Ib+Ic=0 and I0 can be neglected, which is resulting in simplified
transformation form as follows,

[ ] [ √ √
] [ ] (4.3)

From the three phase currents, the α-β current components can be calculated as can be seen in eq.
(4.3). The α-β components of the voltages can be calculated from line to line voltages using eq.
(4.4).

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[ ] [ √ √
] [ ] (4.4)

The simplified inverse Clarke transformation for converting the quantities back to natural
reference frame (abc-frame) is given as

[ ] √
[ ] (4.5)

[ √ ]

[ ] √
[ ] (4.6)

[ √ ]

4.2.2. Representation of Three Phase Variables in SRRF

The three phase signals represented in stationary reference frame are time-varying quantities as
the frame is stationary. If the quantities need to look like time-invariant, then the observer or the
frame of reference should also be rotating along with the rotating space vector, such frame of
reference is called dq-synchronous reference frame, proposed by Park (1929) for the analysis of
synchronous machines. The transformations from abc-frame to dq0-frame is given as [48]

( ) ( )
[ ] ( ) ( ) [ ] (4.7)

[ ]

( ) ( )
[ ] ( ) ( ) [ ] (4.8)

[ ]

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Where θ=ωt is the reference phase angle. This transformation requires the information of the
reference phase angle. The phase angle information can be obtained by using the phase locked
loop (PLL).
Since the system is balanced, the above eq. (4.7) and eq. (4.8) are simplified in the following
transformation matrix form as follows,

( ) ( )
[ ] [ ] [ ] (4.9)
( ) ( )

( ) ( )
* + [ ] [ ] (4.10)
( ) ( )

The inverse Park transformation from dq0-frame to abc-frame is provided as follows,

[ ] [ ( ) ( )] [ ] (4.11)
( ) ( )

[ ] [ ( ) ( )] * + (4.12)
( ) ( )

In this thesis work, the dq0 to abc transformation helps the space vector pulse width modulation
(SVPWM) to generate the pulse gates for the switching nature of the inverter in order to control
the voltage source inverter (VSI).

4.2.3. Grid Synchronization

The phase information of the grid voltage can be obtained by using phase locked loop (PLL).
The necessary phase information which is required for synchronizing the three phase inverter
current with the three phase grid voltage is being obtained. The phase angle that is used in dq
transformation for both current and voltage quantities to make sure that the magnitude of the grid
and inverter are same. Figure 4.5 shows the internal structure of the phase locked loop present in
the Simulink.

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Figure 4.5 Internal Structure of Phase Locked Loop

4.2.4. Control Loops for Inverter Control

In this thesis work, there are two control loops that are used to balance the power flow on the
side of DC and AC in order to increase the power quality which is fed into the grid and that are
the external voltage loop controller and internal current loop controller [49].
PI Controller for Voltage and Current Control
Proportional-Integral (PI) controllers are one of the most commonly used types of controllers.
The measured DC voltage is compared with the reference voltage to feed the error signal to this
controller to reduce the error. as well as, the measured direct and quadrature current are
compared with the reference direct and quadrature current, then the error signal is fed to the PI
controller.
DC-Link Voltage Control
This controller is used to regulate the DC voltage delivered from the boost at the input side of the
inverter. The PI controller gains are selected using the formula [50]:

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(4.13)

(4.14)

Where Kp and Ki are proportional gain, C is the boost converter capacitor and Ts is the switching
period of the inverter switch.
Current Control Loop
This controller is used to regulate the injected current in synchronously dq-reference frame. The
PI controller gain is selected using the formula,

(4.15)

(4.16)
Where L is the filter inductor, R is the filter resistance which should be very minimum that is
1ohm‟s and is the time constant given by L/R.
The external voltage loop controller is used to keep the DC-link voltage constant. The output of
the active current reference is generated by the DC-link voltage controller.
The reactive power controller sets the reactive current reference which is set to zero. The main
function of the voltage loop controller is to change the active reference current so that the power
available from the PV array can be matched with the power injected to the grid. Figure 4.6 shows
the external voltage loop controller.

Figure 4.6 DC-Link Voltage Controller

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The internal current controller loop is used to regulate the grid currents that are converted into
direct current (Id) and quadrature current (Iq). The internal current loop controller is worked
based on the active current reference and reactive current reference. But, the reactive power
current reference must be taken as zero in order to supply only active power to the grid by
providing the desired voltage signal to achieve the unity power factor. Figure 4.7 shows the
internal current loop controller.

Figure 4.7 Internal Current Controller

The proposed method is done based on the controlling of current and voltage, active power and
reactive power which are injected to the grid. Both current and voltage control scheme is mainly
dependent on the dq-reference frame. The grid voltage and current can be converted into the
direct voltage, quadrature voltage, direct current and quadrature current by using the natural
reference frame (abc-frame) to synchronously rotating reference frame (dq-frame). The
controller block performs the control action by comparing the measured direct and quadrature
current with the reference direct and quadrature current, and then the error signals are being
generated and fed to the PI controller. Figure 4.8 depicts the Simulink model of the current and
voltage controller of grid connected PV inverter.

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Figure 4.8 Overall Voltage and Current controller for Active and Reactive Power Control

4.3. Grid with Load

The grid can be modelled as three phase voltage source with the line-to-line voltage of rms value
of 400V. The inverter connected with filter is used as input to the grid. Figure 4.8 shows a
1.5KW load is connected to the grid.

Figure 4.9 Model of Grid Connected Load

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4.4. Block Diagram of Overall System

In the previous two chapters, the main basic components of the grid connected PV inverter
system have been modeled. Those all components are the PV array, the DC-DC boost converter
with MPPT controller using incremental conductance, the voltage source inverter (VSI) with the
LCL filter, the phase locked loop (PLL), and the voltage source inverter controller. So, the entire
grid connected PV system is built by using all components modeled in chapter 3 and chapter 4.
The MATLAB/SIMULINK model for grid connected PV system which is shown in figure 4.10
consists of the following parts described below.
PV Array: the PV array consists of one parallel string and five series strings that each string
consisting of 96 modules which are connected in series. The PV array can generate a maximum
power of 1.5KW at a constant solar irradiance G=1000W/m2 and temperature T=25oC.
DC-DC Boost Converter: the boost converter is used to enhance the maximum voltage of the
PV array from 273.5V to the appropriate voltage level that is 700V. The duty cycle of the boost
converter is generated by MPPT using incremental conductance algorithm. The boost converter
is operated at the switching frequency of 5 KHz.
MPPT Controller: uses the incremental conductance algorithm to generate the duty cycle of the
boost converter. This controller automatically varies the duty cycle of the converter in order to
extract the maximum power from the PV array.
Voltage Source Inverter: The two levels IGBT voltage source inverter is used to convert the
700V DC-link voltage to the line to line rms AC voltage of 400V. The inverter switches are
controlled by using the space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) technique. So, the space
vector pulse width modulation signals are generated by the inverter controller. The voltage
source inverter controller is used to generate the appropriate gate signals for the voltage source
inverter switch to generate the required AC voltage and current.
Inverter with SVPWM and Grid Filter: an LCL-filter is very important to reduce the total
harmonics which is produced by the voltage source inverter.

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Figure 4.10 The Complete Model of the Grid Connected PV System

Table 4.1. Grid and controller parameters used for simulation

Parameter name Value

Frequency of the system(f) 50Hz
Grid voltage(VLLrms) 400V
Current controller gains(Kp,Ki) (0.79,20)
Voltage regulator gains(Kp,Ki) (6.62,254)

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Chapter Five
Simulation Results and Discussion

5.1. Introduction
In this chapter, the results obtained from the model which has been designed in chapter 3 and
chapter 4 are presented. This shows all the simulations for the PV array with the characteristics
curve, DC-DC boost converter with MPPT controller, reduction of THD of the inverter and the
inverter control scheme and the results of the overall system under different atmospheric
conditions. The complete grid connected PV model and simulation results were being done using
MATLAB/SIMULINK.

5.2. PV Array
The results of the designed model have similarity with that of the results of the PV array which
are provided in the datasheet in table 3.1. The graphs of I-V and P-V characteristics curve of the
PV array are obtained which are quite similar to the actual behavior of a real PV array under the
effect of various levels of irradiance and temperature which are depicted in figure 5.1 and figure
5.2. The MATLAB codes used to find the PV array characteristics are available in appendix A.

Figure 5.1 Effect of temperature changes on I-V and P-V Curve

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Figure 5.2 Effect of solar irradiance changes on I-V and P-V Curve
It is clear that the simulation results of the modeled PV module match with the PV module in the
datasheet by comparing the designed model results with the datasheet results.

Figure 5.3 I-V and P-V Curve at different temperature found from datasheet

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Figure 5.4 I-V and P-V Curve at different irradiance found from datasheet
The sun power SPR-305 module has a maximum power of 305W under standard test conditions.
The PV array is constructed using a PV string which consists of five module connected in series
in order to generate a power of around 1.5KW as shown in figure 5.5. The measured
characteristics curves of I-V and P-V for PV array using MATLAB/Simulink under standard test
conditions are shown in figure 5.6.

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Figure 5.5 PV array characteristic curve for I-V and P-V under STC

Figure 5.6 I-V and P-V Curve for PV Array Measured from MATLAB/Simulink
The simulation result of the system model in chapter 3 is implemented in Simulink environment.
The simulation running time is 2.5 second. The input signals of the PV array can be either
constant or time-varying irradiance and temperature which are illustrated in figure 5.7. However,
the system is operated at different solar irradiance and temperature level.

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The magenta color indicates the operating temperature that has a value of 25oC and 50oC
respectively.
The red color shows the operating solar irradiation that has a value of 1000W/m2, 250W/m2 and
again 1000W/m2 respectively.

Figure 5.7 Temperature and Irradiance at different level

5.3. DC-DC Converter

In this thesis work, the boost converter is modelled to operate in continuous conduction mode
using equations described in chapter 3. This converter boosts the output voltage of PV array to
the required voltage level which is about 700V with applying the maximum power point tracking
using incremental conductance algorithm around the boost converter side. Figure 5.8 shows the
voltage and power which is extracted from the PV array and the system tracks the maximum
output power and output voltage of PV array efficiently. Under standard test condition, the input
power is 1.521KW and the voltage at maximum power point is around 273.2V.

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At the temperature of 50 OC and irradiance of 1000W/m2, the maximum available power is

reduced to 1.33KW and voltage at maximum power point is 266V.

Figure 5.8 Output of PV array

5.4. DC-Link Voltage

The DC-link voltage is being controlled by the voltage regulator. Due to this, the maximum
power obtained from PV array is approximately equal to the power injected to the grid. Figure
5.9 shows the results of DC-link voltage and reference voltage signal for the voltage controller.
When the irradiance and temperature changes, the DC-link voltage also changes slightly but, the
voltage controller returns it back to the desired level by keeping the voltage constant. The DC-
link voltage tracks the reference voltage signal within the acceptable range. As can be seen in
figure 5.10, the error signal between the DC-link voltage and the reference voltage signal is very
closing to zero. So the DC-link voltage tracks the reference voltage signal with minimum error.
This DC-link voltage can follow the reference voltage signal with the rise time of 0.001732
second and settling time of 0.215 second.

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Figure 5.9 DC-link Voltage and Reference Voltage Signal

Figure 5.10 Error Signal Between DC-link Voltage and Reference Voltage

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5.5. DC-AC Inverter

The inverter receives the DC voltage from the boost converter and it turns into AC signals. This
AC signal is a two-level signal. The line-to-line voltage oscillates between the negative and
positive of the DC-link voltage of the designed model as shown in figure 5.11.

Figure 5.11 Inverter Output Voltage Vab

The voltage source inverter (VSI) output voltage and current with and without filter and FFT
spectrum were evaluated.
Disturbances are highly available in the side of voltage source inverter which affects the whole
grid connected PV system and reduces the power quality of the system. Due to this effect, an
LCL-filter is used to attenuate the high frequency harmonics to fulfil the recommended standard.
Figure 5.12 and figure 5.13 shows the effect of LCL filter on the reduction of disturbances of the
inverter current and voltage.
The results of the output current and voltage of the inverter with FFT spectrum is shown in
figure 5.14 and figure 5.15 respectively. The total harmonic distortion (THD) is less than 5%
according to IEEE standard 929-2000 which is about 0.86%.

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Figure 5.12 Output of Inverter before and after filter for Current waveform

Figure 5.13 Output of Inverter before and after filter for Voltage waveform

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Figure 5.14 FFT Analysis of Inverter Output Current

Figure 5.15 FFT Analysis of Inverter Output Voltage

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5.6. Three Phase Voltage and Current Waveforms

After the completion of synchronization of the output of the inverter with that of output of the
grid so that the magnitude, the phase angle and frequency of the inverter and grid are the same.
The phase locked loop plays a vital role in generating phase angle from the grid voltage in order
to synchronize the grid output with inverter output. Figure 5.16 shows the results of the output
waveforms of three phase voltage of the inverter and grid by having a magnitude of rms value of
230V and frequency of 50Hz.

Figure 5.16 Output Waveform of Three Phase Voltage for Inverter and Grid
Figure 5.17 illustrates the results of the three phase current which are injected into the inverter
and grid. As can be seen in the figure 5.17, the three phase grid voltage is in phase with that of
the three phase inverter current. The magnitude of current of each phase is around 2.142A rms.
The magnitudes of harmonics available in the injected current with respect to the fundamental
frequency/harmonic order for phase A and the total harmonics distortion (THD) of the injected
grid current and voltage, and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis of the grid current and
volatge as frequency spectrum is shown in figure 5.18 and figure 5.19.

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Figure 5.17 Output Waveform of Three Phase Current for Inverter and Grid

Figure 5.18 FFT Analysis of Grid Current

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Figure 5.19 FFT Analysis of Grid Voltage

5.7. Active and Reactive Reference Currents

The active and reactive power of the system are highly dependent on the active and reactive
reference current that are Id* and Iq* respectively. The direct current component is responsible for
controlling the active power from the inverter. The quadrature current component is responsible
for controlling the reactive power output from the inverter that has to be forced to zero in order
to achieve a unity power factor. The direct and quadrature current are tracked the active and
reactive reference current effectively and efficiently.

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Figure 5.20 Direct and quadrature current component

5.8. Output Power of the System

The power delivered to the grid is 1474W so that the maximum power available from the PV
array is 1521W depends on the constant solar irradiance and temperature. Only the active power
is injected into the grid and the reactive power becomes zero. The active power and reactive
power can be injected into the grid during the weather condition changes. The maximum power
delivered to the grid is reduced to 1285W at 50oC and 1000W/m2. Figure 5.20 depicts the active
power and reactive power injected to the grid.

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Figure 5.21 Active and Reactive Power injected into Grid

5.9. Effect of Resistive Load Change

The Simulation of the system shown in figure 4.10 were carried out for resistive and nonlinear
loads using Matlab/Simulink environment. The complete model of grid connected PV system
with local load connected to grid for a resistive load of 2.5kW and 3.5kW. The power flow of the
system is decreased with the effect of load change. The DC-link voltage is kept constant at the
given resistive load of 2.5kW and 3.5kW except the increasing of peak overshoot of the DC-link
voltage. Figure 5.22 shows DC-link voltage at a given resistive load. The total harmonics
distortion of the inverter and grid current with respect to the frequency was evaluated. When the
resistive load increases, the total harmonic distortion of the grid current of the system increases.
But the total harmonic distortion of the inverter is increased once, then it continues with the same
value. The THD of the inverter and grid current can be considered constant due to the small variation in
the harmonics. Figure 5.23 illustrates the THD of the inverter current at the load of 2.5kW and
3.5kW. Figure 5.24 shows the THD of the grid current at the load of 2.5kW. Figure 5.25 depicts
the THD of the grid current at the load of 3.5kW.

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Figure 5.22 DC-Link voltage at resistive load of 2.5kW and 3.5kW

Figure 5.23 FFT Analysis of Inverter Current at load of 2.5kW and 3.5kW

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Figure 5.24 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at load of 2.5kW

Figure 5.25 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at load of 3.5kW

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Table 5.1. A summary for different values of resistive load

Resistive Load THD of Inverter Current (%) THD of Grid Current (%)
1.5kW 0.86 0.88
2.5kW 0.87 0.91
3.5kW 0.87 0.93

5.10. Effect of Non-Linear Load Change

The complete model of grid connected PV system with local load connected to grid for a
nonlinear load of 125Ω and 320Ω. The types of nonlinear load was used in this work is the diode
bridge rectifier as shown in figure 5.26. The power flow of the system is decreased with the
increasing of nonlinear load values. The DC-link voltage is kept constant at the given nonlinear
load except the decreasing of peak overshoot of the DC-link voltage. Figure 5.27 shows the DC-
link voltage at a given nonlinear load. When the nonlinear load increases, the total harmonic
distortion of the grid current is highly decreased. However, the total harmonic distortion of the
inverter is decreased once and it continues with the same value. The THD of the inverter and grid
current is very lower due to the effect of nonlinear load. Figure 5.28 illustrates the THD of the
inverter current at the load of 125Ω and 320Ω. Figure 5.29 shows the THD of the grid current at
the load of 100Ω. Figure 5.30 depicts the THD of the grid current at the load of 125Ω. Figure
5.31 illustrates the THD of the grid current at the load of 320Ω.

Figure 5.26 Non-linear Load

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Figure 5.27 DC-Link voltage at non-linear load of 125Ω and 320Ω and C = 3000µF

Figure 5.28 FFT Analysis of Inverter Current at non-linear load of 100Ω, 125Ω and 320Ω and C
= 3000µF

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Figure 5.29 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at non-linear load of 100Ω and C = 3000µF

Figure 5.30 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at non-linear load of 125Ω and C = 3000µF

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Figure 5.31 FFT Analysis of Grid Current at non-linear load of 320Ω and C = 3000µF
Table 5.2. A summary for different values of nonlinear load

Non-linear load and THD of Inverter Current (%) THD of Grid Current (%)
C = 3000µF
100-Ω 0.12 0.61
125-Ω 0.12 0.51
320-Ω 0.12 0.50

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Chapter Six
Conclusion and Future Work
6.1. Conclusion
In this thesis work, the task of designing and modelling of the three phase grid connected solar
PV system using synchronously rotating reference frame has been successfully carried out. The
proposed system comprises of the PV array, DC-DC boost converter, Incremental conductance
based MPPT, 3-ɸ VSI, LCL-filter.
The PV array was modelled accurately that was constructed using MATLAB/SIMULINK
environment. The accuracy of the model for PV array was verified by comparing the results of
the model with the datasheet information. The DC-DC boost converter was designed and used to
boost the output voltage of the PV array to the desired level. The control algorithms have been
proposed in order to maximize the output power of the PV array. The most important parts of the
system are the MPPT, DC-link regulator, active and reactive power control, total harmonics
eliminations and synchronization control. Simulation results show that the incremental
conductance based MPPT method tracks the maximum power point of the PV array to extract
maximum power for a given environmental condition. A three phase voltage source inverter was
controlled using SRRF with SVPWM to convert the DC voltage to an AC voltage in which its
output current is synchronized with the grid voltage. An LCL-filter was designed which used to
reduce and attenuate the high frequency harmonics at the output side of the inverter. This filter is
used to interconnect the inverter output with the grid which provides the filtering of harmonics
available in the current due to the switching nature of the inverter.
The control structure of the inverter is done based on two loops such as external loop and
internal loop which are used to perform as DC-link voltage control and current control loop in
order to maintain the power flow in the system and power quality and harmonics present in the
current respectively. The simulation results show that the proposed system operates efficiently
and effectively under various weather conditions. The efficiency of the overall system is around
97% which is improved more than the previous related work whose efficiency is around 96%.
The total harmonic distortion of the grid current is 0.88% which is less than the previous work
that is 1.42%. For resistive load change, the THD of the grid current and inverter current are
0.88%, 0.91% and 0.93%, and 0.86%, 0.87% and 0.87% for a load of 1.5kW, 2.5kW and 3.5kW

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respectively. For a nonlinear load change, the THD of the grid current and inverter current are
0.61%, 0.51% and 0.50%, and 0.12%, 0.12% and 0.12% for a load of 100Ω, 125Ω and 320Ω and
C = 3000µF respectively.

6.2. Future Work

The future work can be carried on to make broad the scope of the thesis that can be summarized
into the following points:
 Perform some practical experiments to verify the obtained simulation results.
 It is possible to compare the model developed based incremental conductance using
different types of MPPT techniques.
 Perform fault analysis on the developed system model using the constructed model.
 In this thesis work, the two-level three phase inverter is used; multilevel inverters are
able to minimize the switching losses occurring in the inverter because the switching
losses are the main concern in two level inverters.

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[50] L. Ma, W. Ran and T. Q. Zheng, "Modeling and control of three phase grid-connected
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Appendices
Appendix A: MATLAB CODES to obtain I-V and P-V Curve

MATLAB code to obtain the PV characteristics curves for I-V and P-V curve
%constant and variables
q=1.6*10^-19; %electron charge
Ego=1.1; %band-gap energy of semiconductor
K=1.380504*10^-23; %Boltzmann constant
Ki=0.061745; %Temperature coefficient of short-circuit current
A=0.94504; %ideality factor
Isc=5.96; %short-circuit current
Voc=64.2; %open-circuit voltage
Rs=0.37154; %series resistance
Rsh=269.5934; %shunt resistance
Ns=96; %number of cells connected in series
Np=1; %number of cells connected in parallel
Tref=298; %nominal temperature
Tk= [100 75 50 25]; % different temperatures
Top=273+Tk; %operating temperature
G=1000; %solar irradiance
Vpv= (0:70); %output voltage of PV system
for i=1:4
Iph=(Isc+Ki*(Top(i)-Tref))*G/1000;
Irs=Isc/(exp((q*Voc)/(A*Ns*K*Top(i))-1));
Io=Irs*(Top(i)/Tref )^3*(exp((q*Ego*((1/Tref)-(1/Top(i))))/(A*K)));
Ish=Vpv/Rsh;
Ipv=Iph-Io*(exp((q*Vpv)/(A*Ns*K*Top(i))-1)-Ish);
Ppv=Vpv.*Ipv;
figure(1)
plot(Vpv, Ppv,'linewidth',2)
title('P-V Curve for PV Module')

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xlabel('Output Voltage (V)')

ylabel('Output Power (W)')
axis([0 70 0 350])
legend('T=100oC','T=75oC','T=50oC','T=25oC');
hold on
grid on
figure(2)
plot(Vpv, Ipv,'linewidth',2);
axis([0 70 0 12])
title('I-V Curve for PV Module')
xlabel('Output Voltage (V)')
ylabel('Output Current (A)')
legend('T=100oC','T=75oC','T=50oC','T=25oC')
hold on
grid on
end
%constant and variables
q=1.6*10^-19; %electron charge
Ego=1.1; %band-gap energy of semiconductor
K=1.380504*10^-23; %Boltzmann constant
Ki=0.061745; %Temperature coefficient of short-circuit current
A=0.94504; %ideality factor
Isc=5.96; %short-circuit current
Voc=64.2; %open-circuit voltage
Rs=0.37154; %series resistance
Rsh=269.5934; %shunt resistance
Ns=96; %number of cells connected in series
Np=1; %number of cells connected in parallel
Tref=298; %nominal temperature
Top=273+25; %operating temperature
G=[1000 800 600 400 200];%different solar irradiances

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Vpv=(0:0.01:70);%output voltage of PV system

for i=1:5
Iph=(Isc+Ki*(Top-Tref))*G(i)/1000;
Irs=Isc/(exp((q*Voc)/(A*Ns*K*Top))-1);
Io=Irs*(Top/Tref)^3*(exp((q*Ego*((1/Tref)-(1/Top)))/(A*K)));
Ish=Vpv/Rsh;
Ipv=Iph-Io*(exp((q*Vpv)/(A*Ns*K*Top)-1)-Ish);
Ppv=Vpv.*Ipv;
figure(1)
plot(Vpv,Ppv,'linewidth',2)
title('P-V Curve for PV Module')
xlabel('Output Voltage (V)')
ylabel('Output Power (W)')
legend('G=1000w/m2','G=800w/m2','G=600w/m2','G=400w/m2','G=200w/m2')
axis([0 70 0 350])
hold on
grid on
figure(2)
plot(Vpv,Ipv,'linewidth',2);
axis([0 70 0 12])
title('I-V Curve for PV Module')
xlabel('Output Voltage (V)')
ylabel('Output Current (A)')
legend('G=1000w/m2','G=800w/m2','G=600w/m2','G=400w/m2','G=200w/m2')
hold on
grid on
end

Appendix B: MATLAB code to design inverter filter

%Inputs
VLLrms = 400; % line to line rms voltage

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Vph = 400/sqrt(3); % phase rms voltage

Pn = 1.526e3W; % rated active power (Pmpp at STC)
Vdc = 700V; % dc-link voltage from the boost converter
fg = 50Hz; % grid frequency
fs = 5e3Hz; % inverter switching frequency
%Step1-----Calculate Zb,Lb,Cb
Vb=VLLrms;
Pb=Pn;
Ib=Pn/(sqrt(3)*VLLrms);
Zb=VLLrms^2/Pn;
Lb=Zb/(2*pi*fg);
Cb=1/(2*pi*fg*Zb);
%Step2-----Calculate Cf (maximum power factor variation seen by the grid is less than 5%)
x=2.5/100;
Cf=x*Cb;
%Step3-----Calculate Li (deltaIb=Vdc/(8*fs*Li)) deltaIb between 10-20%
deltaIb=.2*Ib; %(20% * Imax)
Li=Vdc/(8*fs*deltaIb);
%Step4-----Calculate Lg
RAF = 20/100; % attenuation factor is 20%
Lg=(RAF+1)/(RAF*Cf*(2*pi*fs)^2);
%Step5-----Calculate frequency resonance
Ur=sqrt((Li+Lg)/(Li*Lg*Cf));
fres=Ur/(2*pi); % resonance frequency
%Step6-----make sure that 10fg<(fres)<fs/2
fres_Test=(fres>10*fg) && (fres<fs/2);
%Step7-----Calculate damping resistor( Rf)
Rf=1/(3*2*pi*fres*C)

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