A grid-tie PV inverter with the ability to improve power quality under unbalanced and distorted source voltage conditions

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a grid-tie PV inverter that is able to improve power quality under conditions of both distorted and unbalanced source voltage. The presented strategy is based on the instantaneous power theory and uses a second-order generalized integrator-quadrature signal generator (SOGI-QSG). The presented control strategy is aimed at compensating reactive power, eliminating current harmonics, load balancing, and enabling the PV to inject maximum power to the grid. The advantages of the control system are the use of SOGI-QSG adaptive filter and frequency-locked loop (FLL), and removing the low-pass filter and phase-locked loop (PLL). DC–DC and DC–AC converters are utilized for connecting the PV to the grid. The DC–DC and DC–AC converters are responsible for maximum PV power tracking and achieving the control aims, respectively. Using 4-leg converter structure for grid-tie inverter enables achieving the control objectives in 3-phase 4-wire distribution network without any transformer. The presented control strategy is applied to a 3-phase 4-wire distribution network and is simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. The results of this simulation are then compared with the conventional instantaneous power method in areas including load balancing, reactive power compensation and the elimination of current harmonics, under unbalanced and distorted source voltage conditions.