• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.737-745
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• 2013

Offshore wind farms are rapidly growing owing to their comparatively more stable wind conditions than onshore and land-based wind farms. The power capacity of offshore wind turbines has been increased to 5MW in order to capture a larger amount of wind energy, which results in an increase of each component's size. Furthermore, the weight of the marine turbine components installed in the nacelle directly influences the total mechanical design, as well as the operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. A reduction in the weight of the nacelle allows for cost-effective tower and foundation structures. On the other hand, longer transmission distances from an offshore wind turbine to the load leads to higher energy losses. In this regard, DC transmission is more useful than AC transmission in terms of efficiency because no reactive power is generated/consumed by DC transmission cables. This paper describes some of the challenges and difficulties faced in designing high-power-density power conversion systems (HPDPCSs) for offshore wind turbines. A new approach for high gain/high voltage systems is introduced using transformerless power conversion technologies. Finally, the proposed converter is evaluated in terms of step-up conversion ratio, device number, modulation, and costs.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.654-665
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• 2016

The pumping of electric power from photovoltaic (PV) farms is normally carried out using transformers, which require heavy mounting structures and are thus costly, less efficient, and bulky. Therefore, transformerless schemes are developed for the injection of power into the grid. Compared with the H4 inverter topology, the H6 topology is a better choice for pumping PV power into the grid because of the reduced common mode current. This paper presents how the perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) can be implemented in the H6 inverter topology along with the improved sinusoidal current injected to the grid at unity power factor with the average current mode control technique. On the basis of the P&O MPPT algorithm, a power reference for the present insolation level is first calculated. Maintaining this power reference and referring to the AC sine wave of bus bars, a sinusoidal current at unity power factor is injected to the grid. The proportional integral (PI) controller and fuzzy logic controller (FLC) are designed and implemented. The FLC outperforms the PI controller in terms of conversion efficiency and injected power quality. A simulation in the MATLAB/SIMULINK environment is carried out. An experimental prototype is built to validate the proposed idea. The dynamic and steady-state performances of the FLC controller are found to be better than those of the PI controller. The results are presented in this paper.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2129-2138
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• 2016

The full-bridge inverter, widely used for single-phase photovoltaic grid-connected applications, presents a leakage current issue. Therefore, an AC bypass branch is introduced to overcome this challenge. Nevertheless, existing modulation strategies entail drawbacks that should be addressed. One is the zero-crossing distortion (ZCD) of the AC current caused by neglecting the AC filter inductor voltage. Another is that the system cannot deliver reactive power because the AC bypass branch switches at the power frequency. To address these problems, this work proposes an optimized hybrid modulation strategy. To reduce ZCD, the phase angle of the inverter output voltage reference is shifted, thereby compensating for the neglected leading angle. To generate the reactive power, the interval of the negative power output is calculated using the power factor. In addition, the freewheeling switch is kept on when power is flowing into the grid and commutates at a high frequency when power is fed back to the DC side. In this manner, the dead-time insertion in the high-frequency switching area is minimized. Finally, the performances of the proposed modulation strategy and traditional strategies are compared on a universal prototype inverter. Experimental results validate the theoretical analysis.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.828-833
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• 2014

Grid connected transformerless solar power generation system is frequently used with the benefits of cost and efficiency. However, significant DC leakage current can flow from the DC line into the ground with dielectric breakdown in the transformerless solar power generation system. The leakage current occurred in the DC line causes accidents such as fire and electric shock on human. To resolve this problem, high sensitivity DC leakage current sensor is needed. But recently the studies on safety of DC line are not performed. In this paper, a high sensitivity DC leakage current sensor that can detect DC leakage current in solar power generation system, is proposed. Based on the studies, DC leakage current sensor is fabricated and characteristic tests are carried out. Finally, the accuracy of sensor performance is verified by leakage current experiments in solar power generation system.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.153-162
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• 2016

Given their structural arrangement, photovoltaic (PV) modules exhibit parasitic capacitance, which creates a path for high-frequency current during zero-state switching of the converter in transformerless systems. This current has to be limited to ensure safety and electromagnetic compatibility. Many solutions that can minimize or completely avoid this phenomenon, are available. However, most of these solutions are patented because they rely on specific and often complex converter topologies. This study aims to solve this problem by introducing a solution based on a classic converter topology with an appropriate modulation technique and passive filtering. A 5.5 kW single-phase residential PV system that consists of DC-DC boost stage and DC-AC H-bridge converter is considered. Control schemes for both converter stages are presented. An overview of existing modulation techniques for H-bridge converter is provided, and a modification of hybrid modulation is proposed. A system prototype is built for the experimental verification. As shown in the study, with simple filtering and proper selection of switching states, achieving low leakage current level is possible while maintaining high converter efficiency and required energy quality.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2014

This paper describes an optimal configuration for multi-central inverters in a medium-voltage (MV) grid, which is suitable for large-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants. We theoretically analyze a proposed common-mode equivalent model for problems associated with multi-central transformerless-type three-phase full bridge(3-FB) PV inverters employing two-winding MV transformers. We propose a synchronized PWM control strategy to effectively reduce the common-mode voltages that may simultaneously occur. In addition, we propose that the existing 3-FB topology may also have the configuration of a multi-central inverter with a two-winding MV transformer by making a simple circuit modification. Simulation and experimental results of three 350kW PV inverters in a multi-central configuration verify the effectiveness of the proposed synchronization control strategy. The modified transformerless-type 3-FB topology for a multi-central PV inverter configuration is verified using an experimental prototype of a 100kW PV inverter.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.190-194
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• 2017

Present-day solar panels incorporate inverters as their core components. Switching devices driven by specialized power controllers are operated in a transformerless inverter topology. However, some challenges associated with this configuration include the absence of isolation, causing leakage currents to flow through various components toward ground. This inevitably causes power losses, often being also the primary reason for the power inverters' analog equipment failure. In this paper, various aspects of the leakage currents are studied using different circuit analysis methods. The primary objective is to convert the leakage current energy into a usable DC voltage source. The research is focused on harvesting the leakage currents for producing circa 1.1 V, derived from recently developed rectifier circuits, and driving a $200{\Omega}$ load with a power in the milliwatt range. Even though the output voltage level is low, the harvested power could be used for charging small batteries or capacitors, even driving light loads.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2013.11a
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• pp.206-207
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• 2013

UPS 부하시험의 에너지와 비용 저감을 위해 단상 풀브릿지 토폴로지에 기반한 전력시스템을 제안하고, 이 시스템을 위해 병렬로 구성된 단상 PWM컨버터들 사이에 반드시 존재해야하는 Blocking 제어기법과 그 모델링에 대해 연구하였다. 주요 목적은 병렬로 연결된 두 컨버터사이에 발생되는 순환전류영향과 그 영향으로 인해 반드시 필요하게 된 컨버터들 스위치의 Blocking 제어기법에 관해 연구하였다.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.248-251
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• 1999

Recently, according to developing industry and life style, power consumption have been increased year after year. Currently these much power demand from power consumer is weakening the allowable power reverse margin in summer. As on of the remedies about this problem, the small scale grid-connected photovoltaic system is considered for auxiliary power source. Generally, grid-connected inverter have a isolation transformer for electrical isolation from utility. This paper propose transformerless system topology an inquiry the validity using simulation.

• 전기의세계
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.80-82
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• 1975

This paper presents a synthesis procedure of multi-channel active filters, which realizes an arbitrary N*N matrix of real rational functions in the complex variable s as a voltage transfer matrix. The resultant network reveals a transformerless grounded active RC(2N+1)-terminal network. The active network is consisted of six 2N-port RC networks with 2N single-ended operational amplifiers.