• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

Technologies for an MVDC(medium voltage direct current) distribution system are being considered as an effective alternative to overcome the interconnection delay issues of PV systems. However, the implementation of a DC distribution system might lead to economic problems because of the development of DC devices. Therefore, this paper deals with the scale of a PV plant based on its capacity and proposes hosting-capacity models for PV systems to establish a network to evaluate the feasibility of an MVDC distribution system. The proposed models can be classified as AC and DC distribution systems by the power-supply method. PV systems with hundreds of MW, dozens of MW, and a few MW can be categorized as large-scale, medium-scale, and small-scale models, respectively. This paper also performed modeling for an economic evaluation of MVDC distribution system by considering both the cost of AC and DC network construction, converter replacement, operation, etc. The profit was composed of the SMP and REC rate of a PV plant. A simulation for economic evaluation was done for the MVDC distribution system using the present worth and equal-principal costs repayment method. The results confirmed that the proposed model is a useful tool to evaluate economic issues of a DC distribution system.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.17-23
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• 2006

This paper proposes a novel active frequency drift (AFD) method for the islanding prevention of grid-connected photovoltaic inverter. To detect the islanding phenomenon of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) inverters concerning about the safety hazards and the damage to other electric equipments, many kinds of anti-islanding methods have been presented. Among them, AFD method using chopping fraction enables the islanding detection to drift up (or down) the frequency of the voltage during the islanding situation. In this paper, injecting the periodic zero current into the basic AFD method is proposed. This proposed method shows the analytical design value of cf to meet the test procedure of IEEE Std. 1547 with various load conditions. Detection of islanding is verified using simulation tool PSIM.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.79-84
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• 2010

This paper presents a grid connected photo-voltaic system using a quasi-Z-source inverter (QZSI) for power stage reduction. The power stage can be reduced because of an additional shoot-through stage which is a characteristic of QZSI. Therefore, by utilizing a QZSI the system's efficiency can be increased. In this paper, for applying a QZSI to a PV system, control methods such as maximum power point tracking (MPPT), point of common coupling (PCC) current control and PWM are studied and verified through simulation and experiment. In order to explain the above controllers, the characteristics of a QZSI are first analyzed. Then the MPPT control technique with a modified P&O method, the PCC current control for the regulation of the dc-link capacitor voltage and the PWM methods for the proposed system are explained. The feasibility of the proposed algorithm is verified through simulation and experiment with a 3kW system.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.459-470
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• 2021

This paper presents a low-cost prototype for monitoring online the maximum power produced by a domestic photovoltaic (PV) system using Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The most common tracking algorithms (P&O, InCond, HC, VSS InCond, and FL) were first simulated using MATLAB/Simulink and then implemented in a low-cost microcontroller (Arduino). The current, voltage, load current, load voltage, power at the maximum power point, duty cycle, module temperature, and in-plane solar irradiance are monitored. Using IoT technology, users can check in real time the change in power produced by their installation anywhere and anytime without additional effort or cost. The designed prototype is suitable for domestic PV applications, particularly at remote sites. It can also help users check online whether any abnormality has happened in their system based simply on the variation in the produced maximum power. Experimental results show that the system performs well. Moreover, the prototype is easy to implement, low in cost, saves time, and minimizes human effort. The developed monitoring system could be extended by integrating fault detection and diagnosis algorithms.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.108-113
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• 2023

Pressure to reduce costs in the current solar market is driving the development and implementation of new module designs and prompting the use of new materials and components. In order to utilize the variability of each material that makes up the module, it is essential to understand the basic characteristics of the material. In this article, we evaluate light degradation after UV irradiation as an encapsulation material. Measure and analyze the results of various characteristic tests for discoloration, optical and electrical property degradation before and after UV accelerated testing. To evaluate weathering stability, UV tests were performed comparing existing EVA and UVT-EVA, POE and improved low-cost POE. Even in the weather resistance test with a total UV exposure of 60 kW/m², the properties of the encapsulants were mostly stable. EVA and POE-based encapsulants showed slight differences, and these slight differences are believed to pose a threat to long-term stability. This study is a basic analysis of encapsulation research for PV modules and will be helpful in understanding future development and encapsulant properties.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.278-281
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• 1999

In a utility interactive photovoltaic system, a PWM inverter is used for the connection between the photovoltaic arrays and the utility. The DC current becomes pulsated causes the distortion of the AC current waveform. This paper presents the reduced pulsation of DC input current by operating the inverter with buck-boost chopper in the discontinuous conduction mode. The DC current with contains harmonics component is analyzed by means of separating into two terms of a ripple component and a direct component. The constant DC current without pulsation is supplied from photovoltaic array to the inverter. The proposed inverter system provide a sinusoidal AC current for domestic loads and the utility line with unity power factor.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.1714-1728
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• 2016

This paper presents improved harmonics extraction based on Adaptive Linear Neuron (ADALINE) algorithm for single phase photovoltaic (PV) shunt active power filter (SAPF). The proposed algorithm, named later as Improved ADALINE, contributes to better performance by removing cosine factor and sum of element that are considered as unnecessary features inside the existing algorithm, known as Modified Widrow-Hoff (W-H) ADALINE. A new updating technique, named as Fundamental Active Current, is introduced to replace the role of the weight factor inside the previous updating technique. For evaluation and comparison purposes, both proposed and existing algorithms have been developed. The PV SAPF with both algorithms was simulated in MATLAB-Simulink respectively, with and without operation or connection of PV. For hardware implementation, laboratory prototype has been developed and the proposed algorithm was programmed in TMS320F28335 DSP board. Steady state operation and three critical dynamic operations, which involve change of nonlinear loads, off-on operation between PV and SAPF, and change of irradiances, were carried out for performance evaluation. From the results and analysis, the Improved ADALINE algorithm shows the best performances with low total harmonic distortion, fast response time and high source power reduction. It performs well in both steady state and dynamic operations as compared to the Modified W-H ADALINE algorithm.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1037-1047
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• 2017

The Differential Power Processing (DPP) converter is a promising multi-module photovoltaic inverter architecture recently proposed for photovoltaic systems. In this paper, a DPP converter architecture, in which each PV-panel has its own DPP converter in shunt, performs distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT) control. It maintains a high energy conversion efficiency, even under partial shading conditions. The system architecture only deals with the power differences among the PV panels, which reduces the power capacity of the converters. Therefore, the DPP systems can easily overcome the conventional disadvantages of PCS such as centralized, string, and module integrated converter (MIC) topologies. Among the various types of the DPP systems, the feed-forward method has been selected for both its voltage balancing and power transfer to a modified H-bridge inverter that needs charge balancing of the input capacitors. The modified H-bridge multi-level inverter had some advantages such as a low part count and cost competitiveness when compared to conventional multi-level inverters. Therefore, it is frequently used in photovoltaic (PV) power conditioning system (PCS). However, its simplified switching network draws input current asymmetrically. Therefore, input capacitors in series suffer from a problem due to a charge imbalance. This paper validates the operating principle and feasibility of the proposed topology through the simulation and experimental results. They show that the input-capacitor voltages maintain the voltage balance with the PV MPPT control operating with a 140-W hardware prototype.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.23-33
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• 2017

A great deal of study for loss reduction of photovoltaic system is conducted currently. It is hard to distinct the fault of photovoltaic system with the naked eye. For that reason, it is essential to repair and maintain the PV system by monitoring the system. The fault of individual modules can cause the huge loss of the entire system because of the mismatch. Therefore, the method of diagnosing the PV array is necessary by measuring the multi-channel arrays simultaneously. In this paper, it is presented the method of measuring I-V curve of multi-channel arrays simultaneously by using the charge and discharge characteristics of capacitor. Generated DC power at PV arrays is charged and discharged at the capacitors in a moment. By measuring the charged voltage and current, it is possible to diagnose of performance of PV arrays.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.325-333
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• 2021

A 3 kW grid-tied PV inverter with Gallium nitride high-electron mobility transistor (GaN HEMT) for domestic commercialization was developed using boost converter and full-bridge inverter with LCL filter topology. Recently, many GaN HEMTs are manufactured as surface mount packages because of their lower parasitic inductance characteristic than standard TO (transistor outline) packages. A surface mount packaged GaN HEMT releases heat through either top or bottom cooling method. IGOT60R070D1 is selected as a key power semiconductor because it has a top cooling method and fairly low thermal resistances from junction to ambient. Its characteristics allow the design of a 3 kW inverter without forced convection, thereby providing great advantages in terms of easy maintenance and high reliability. 1EDF5673K is selected as a gate driver because its driving current and negative voltage output characteristics are highly optimized for IGOT60R070D1. An LCL filter with passive damping resistor is applied to attenuate the switching frequency harmonics to the grid-tied operation. The designed LCL filter parameters are validated with PSIM simulation. A prototype of 3 kW PV inverter with GaN HEMT is constructed to verify the performance of the power conversion system. It achieved high power density of 614 W/L and peak power efficiency of 99% for the boost converter and inverter.