A HIGH EFFICIENCY SINGLE-PHASE THREE-WIRE

PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM

J. F. CHEN1, T. J. LIANG1 and Y. C. KUO2

ABSTRACT
A novel single-phase three-wire PV energy conversion system with an advanced architecture such
small volume, low cost, low weight and high efficiency is presented. Then, the equivalent model
of the novel PV energy conversion system is derived for analysis and design of controller. Owing
to the linear relation of the PV array parameters versus insolation, the model can be analyzed
easily. The proposed system is employed with a three-leg inverter to control the MPPT process,
the line current and neutral line current. A current controlled MPPT algorithm controls the MPPT.
A neutral line mode controller maintains a utility neutral line current of zero. A line mode
controller controls the line current so as to provide power to the utility with a unity power factor.
The proposed system acts as a solar generator on sunny days and functions as an active power
filter on rainy days. Both simulated and experimental results verify the accuracy and excellent
performance of the proposed technique.

INTRODUCTION
Due to rapid growth of semiconductor and power electronics technology, photovoltaic (PV) energy is of
increasing interest in electrical circuit applications. The conventional PV energy conversion system includes a
DC/DC converter and a DC/AC inverter that are connected between a PV array and an electrical power system
[1]-[3]. The DC/DC converter is employed to track the maximum power point of the PV array according to the
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods [4]-[6]. The DC/AC inverter is employed to produce an output
current in phase with the utility voltage in order to obtain a unity power factor. However, the disadvantages of
the two-stage PV energy conversion system are cost and efficiency because of the large number of individual
devices, i.e. the DC/DC converter, batteries and DC/AC inverter. Hence, a single stage PV energy conversion
system is employed, resulting in smaller volume, lower weight, lower cost and higher efficiency [7], [8].
For modern offices and homes, a single-phase three-wire power line configuration is usually required.
Contemporary battery sources typically employ a full-bridge inverter and a center-tapped transformer to
implement a single-phase three-wire system. The transformer, however, increases physical volume and decreases
efficiency. Alternative to a full-bridge inverter and transformer, a three-leg inverter may be used to implement a
single-phase three-wire DC/AC energy conversion, as is done in the battery-powered design found in reference
[9]. Owing to the system is not connected with utility lines, the DC/AC inverter is merely required to support
power to the load, so the controller design is easy. Additionally, such typical double-loop controller architecture
with separate voltage and current feedback loops is bulky, complex and expensive, problems addressed by the
proposed single-loop controller architecture.
For a PV cell, the nonlinear output power relation of dP versus V and the near linear relation of dP
dV

dV

versus I are discussed [7], [8]. Thus, using dP as an index for current control is easier than for voltage
dV

control, allowing a easier design. The single-loop current controller is used for the PV energy conversion system
to perform a rapid MPPT and provide power to utilities with a unity power factor. The controller architecture is

Department of Electrical Engineering, National Chen Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, R.O.C
Department of Electrical Engineering, Chung Chou Institute of Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C

195

extended to the single-phase three-wire PV energy conversion system to control the line current. However, the
control of the neutral line current is not considered in the single-phase two-wire PV energy conversion system.
Thus, an equivalent model of the single-phase three-wire PV energy conversion system is derived to analyze the
characteristics of the system and to design the controller.
In the proposed single-loop single-phase three-wire PV energy conversion system, a single three-leg DC/AC
inverter is employed to: 1) control the current controlled MPPT process; 2) control the neutral line current; 3)
control the line current. In addition, the inverter supports the power to the load and utility line, significantly
enhancing the practical application. The utility neutral line current is maintained at zero, and the line current is
controlled so as to provide power to the utility with a unity power factor. A single loop current controller is used
to simply the conventional double-loop controller design. The proposed system performs dual functions, acting
as a solar generator on sunny days and as an active power filter on cloudy days. Both simulation and
experimental results will be presented to verify the excellent performance of the proposed technique.

THE EQUIVALENT MODEL AND CONTROL OF THE PV ARRAY

The architecture of the proposed single-phase three-wire PV energy conversion system shows in Fig. 1. The
equivalent model of this system will be derived from the following discussion. First, the equivalent model of the
PV array is discussed.
I pv

ic

iin

i ua

ia
S2

S1

Solar
Array

Lf
VDC
Cf

if

in

Ci

i L1

Z1

van

i un
n

v
S2

S1

i La

S3

S3

w
i L2

Z2

Z3

i L3

vbn

i Lb

o
ib

i ub

Fig.1 Single stage single-phase three-wire PV energy conversion system

The characteristics of a PV array can be given as [6]

qV
I = I g I sat exp
1
AKT

(1)

I g is the light-generated current, I sat

is the PV array saturation current, q is the charge of an electron, K is Boltzmann's constant, A is the
o
ideality factor of the p-n junction, T is the PV array temperature ( K ). From equation (1)
where I and V are the output current and voltage of the PV array,

V=

I g + I sat I
AKT
ln(
)
q
I sat

(2)

The output power of the PV array is expressed as

qV
P = V I g I sat exp
1
AKT

(3)

P is the output power of the PV array. From equations (1) and (2), the differential of I to V can be
defined as g m

where

dI
q
=
( I g + I sat I )
dV
AKT
Thus, the differential of P to V can be defined as I b
gm

Ib

dP
dI
=I+
V
dV
dV

(4)

(5)

196

= I ( I g + I sat I ) ln(

I g + I sat I
I sat

(6)

Substituting g m into equation (5), the equivalent model of the PV array is obtained as

I = I b g mV

(7)

From Figs. 2(a) and 2 (b), the near linear relation of g m and

dP
( I b ) versus I , also the linear relation of
dV

dP ( I ) versus insolation, which make the model easy to analyze. Owing to the relation of dP
g m and
b

dV
dV
versus I is nearly linear, the reference current command I ref is easily acquired by computing the relative
variation of dP versus I . For reasons of simplification, a single chip 89c51 is used to replace the complex
dV
analog circuit. Fig. 2(c) shows the flowchart. Vn and I n are the momentary voltage and current of the PV
array, while V p and I p are the previous voltage and current.

(a)

(b)
sense Vn , I n
I = I n I p
V = Vn V p

yes

V = 0

no
yes
I+

I
V= 0
V

no

no
yes
I+

yes

I = 0

I > 0

I
V 0
V >

yes

no
no
Decrease I ref

Increase I ref

Increase I ref

Decrease I ref

I p = In
V p = Vn

Return

(c)
Fig.2 (a) Diagram of

g m V.S. I (b) Diagram of

dP ( I ) V.S.
b
dV

method

197

I (c) Flowchart of proposed MPPT

THE EQUIVALENT MODEL AND THE CONTROLLER OF THE PROPOSED PV ENERGY

CONVERSION SYSTEM
From Fig.1, operation of the proposed inverter can be decoupled into the line mode and neutral line mode. The
inverter dynamic equations of line mode and neutral line mode are
Line mode:

Llm

dilm
= k pwm v clm vulm
dt

(8)

Lnm

dinm
= k pwm v cnm v unm
dt

(9)

Neutral line mode:

V DC
, v ulm = v ab , v unm = ( v an + v bn ) ,
v tri
are the inverter output currents of line and neutral line modes, v ulm and v unm are the utility

where, Llm = L , Lnm = 3L , ilm = ia ib , inm = in , k pwm =

ilm and inm

voltages of line and neutral line modes, Llm and Lnm are the inverter output inductors of line and neutral line
modes, v clm and v cnm are the control signals of line and neutral line modes, V DC is DC bus voltage,

and

vtri is the peak of triangular carrier signal. Thus, the equivalent model of the three-leg inverter is obtained [9].
An equivalent model of the proposed inverter output for load and utility is derived. From Fig. 1:
ia = iua + iLa
(10)

i b = i ub i Lb
in = iun + iLb iLa

(11)
(12)
Thus

ia ib = iua iub + iLb + iLa

(13)
From equations (12) and (13), iua iub and iun are defined as iulm and iunm , the utility line currents of line
and neutral line modes. Similarly, ia ib = ilm and in = inm are defined as in the previous discussion. Thus,
equations (12) and (13) can be modified as

where i Llm = i Lb + i La

ilm = iulm + i Lb + i La = iulm + i Llm

(14)
inm = iunm + i Lb i La = iunm + i Lnm
(15)
and i Lnm = i Lb i La are defined as the load currents of line and neutral line modes.

In case the power consumed by the inverter is small enough to be neglected, the input power of the inverter is
equal to the output power. Thus
VDC ii = k pwm v clm ilm + k pwm v cnm inm
(16)

ii =

v clm
v
ilm + cnm inm
vtri
vtri

(17)

From equations (7)-(9) and (14)-(17), the equivalent model of the single-phase three-wire PV energy conversion
system can be obtained and shown in Fig. 3.
I pv

i lm

iulm

L lm

Ib

gm

VDC

Lf

Ci

ii

Cf

vclm
VDC
v tri

iLlm

Z lm

i nm

vulm

iunm

L nm

vcnm
VDC
vtri

iLnm

Z nm

vunm

Fig.3 Equivalent model of proposed PV energy conversion system

198

In this system, the u-leg and w-leg of the inverter are employed to control the utility line current, making it
sinusoidal and in phase with the utility voltage, and also to control the MPPT process. Similarly, v-leg of the
inverter is employed to maintain the utility neutral line current at zero. Hence, the commands of the utility line
current can be defined as
*
iulm
I mlm sin S t

i
where, i

*
ulm

and i
*

amplitude of iulm ,

*
unm

*
unm

(18)

(19)

are the utility current commands of the line and neutral line modes, I mlm is the
is the fundamental frequency of the utility voltage, and

sin S t is produced by the

PLL circuit. According to the operating conditions, i.e. solar generator or active power filter, the DC reference
current command I mlm is set as I ref or I apf , respectively. When the system is operated in the solar
generator mode, the single chip (89c51) computes I ref according to the proposed MPPT algorithm. When the
system is operated in the active power filter mode, i Llm is multiplied by

sin s t and then integrated to

compute the component of the load current in phase with the utility voltage [10]. This value is multiplied by -1
and set as the reference current command I apf . The inverter must then supply current to both load and utility.
Thus, the inverter output current commands can be defined as

where, i

*
lm

and i

*
nm

*
*
ilm
iulm
+ i Llm

(20)

*
*
inm
iunm
+ i Lnm

(21)

are the inverter output current commands of the line and neutral line modes. The current

error ekm of line and neutral line modes is defined as

*
ekm = ikm
ikm

(22)

where, km is lm or nm . Thus
*
dekm dikm
di
=
km
dt
dt
dt
*
di
1
1
= km +
v ukm
k pwm v ckm
dt
Lkm
Lkm

(23)

If the control effect of the controllers is excellent, ekm will approach to zero and

dekm
will approach zero.
dt

Thus

v ckm =

1
k pwm

Lkm

*
dikm
1
+
v ukm
dt
k pwm

(24)

where v unm = ( v an + v bn ) . If the utility voltages of the single-phase three-wire system are balanced
( v an = v nb ) ,

v unm is zero. Thus, equation (24) can be changed to

v clm =

1
k pwm

Llm

*
dilm
1
+
v ulm
dt k pwm

v cnm =

1
k pwm

Lnm

*
dinm
(26)
dt

Thus, the controller of the proposed three-leg inverter is obtained

199

(25)

SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENT RESULTS

To verify the performance of the proposed PV energy conversion system, the following specifications are
selected for simulation and experiment.
(1)

14 PV array modules
PV array specifications: Rated power=75 W, Rated current=4.4 A, Rated voltage=17 V, Short circuit

current=4.8 A, Open circuit voltage=22 V.

(2) Output voltage: 110 V, 60 Hz
(3) Load: Z 1 : Rectifier load 100 W, Z 2 : Resistive load 100 W,

Z 3 : Resistive load 100 W

Because the proposed PV energy conversion system provides two functions, two kinds of results will be
discussed, one for sunny days and one for periods of cloudy days. The results are discussed as follows.
(1) Solar generator mode (sunny day)
Fig. 4 is the maximum power point tracking diagram of the MPPT process at both constant insolation and varied
insolation. Clearly, the proposed method can track the maximum power point accurately with low oscillation.
Figs. 5 shows the experimental results of the converter output current. Because Z 1 is a rectifier load while Z 2

Z 3 are resistive loads, the unbalanced situation of the loads induces a non-zero original utility neutral line
current. Owing to the control effect of the line mode and neutral line mode, the utility line currents iua and iub
are sinusoidal waveforms and in phase with the utility voltage, and the utility neutral line current iun is almost
zero. The THD of iua shown in Fig. 5(d) is 3.19%
and

(a)

(b)

Fig.4 Proposed MPPT measurement (a) Constant insolation (b) Varied insolation

(a)

(b)

200

(c)
Fig.5 Experimental results of solar generator mode (a)

ia , in , ib

(d)
(b) i ua , i un ,

iub (c) v ab , i ua (d)

i ua output current spectrum

(2) Active power filter mode (low insolation)
Figs. 6 shows that utility line currents iua and
and that utility neutral line current

iun

iub are sinusoidal waveforms in phase with the utility voltage,

is almost zero. The THD of iua , as shown in Fig. 6(d), is 3.71%. Fig. 7

shows the proposed conversion system as it switches rapidly from solar generator mode to active power filter
mode, confirming that the system provides stable transient response.

(a)

(b)

(c)
Fig.6 Experimental results of active power filter mode (a)
(d)

(d)

i a , i n , i b (b) iua , iun , iub (c) v ab , iua

iua output current spectrum

Fig.7

V DC and i ua waveforms from solar generator mode to active power filter mode
201

CONCLUSIONS
A single-phase three-wire photovoltaic energy conversion system with single stage structure using a novel
maximum power point tracking algorithm is implemented. Equivalent model of the proposed system is derived
to analyze the characteristics and to design the controller. Owing to the linear relation of the PV array parameter
versus the insolation, the model is easy to analyze. The proposed system is employed with a single inverter to
implement the current controlled MPPT algorithm, the line mode controller, and neutral line mode controller.
System parts count is thereby reduced, material and labor costs are accordingly reduced, while the efficiency of
the system is improved. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the accuracy and the superior
performance of the proposed technique.
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