High-efficiency grid-connected photovoltaic module integrated converter system with high-speed communication interfaces for small-scale distribution power generation

This paper presents a high-efficiency grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) module integrated converter (MIC) system with reduced PV current variation. The proposed PV MIC system consists of a high-efficiency step-up DC-DC converter and a single-phase full-bridge DC-AC inverter. An active-clamping flyback converter with a voltage-doubler rectifier is proposed for the step-up DC-DC converter. The proposed step-up DC-DC converter reduces the switching losses by eliminating the reverse-recovery current of the output rectifying diodes. To reduce the PV current variation introduced by the grid-connected inverter, a PV current variation reduction method is also suggested. The suggested PV current variation reduction method reduces the PV current variation without any additional components. Moreover, for centralized power control of distributed PV MIC systems, a PV power control scheme with both a central control level and a local control level is presented. The central PV power control level controls the whole power production by sending out reference power signals to each individual PV MIC system. The proposed step-up DC-DC converter achieves a high-efficiency of 97.5% at 260W output power to generate the DC-link voltage of 350 V from the PV voltage of 36.1V. The PV MIC system including the DC-DC converter and the DC-AC inverter achieves a high-efficiency of 95% with the PV current ripple less than 3% variation of the rated PV current. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.