Harmonic Current Emission of Photovoltaic

Installations under System Conditions

Juergen Schlabbach

University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld, Germany

Wilhelm-Bertelsmann-Str. 10
D-33609 Bielefeld, Germany
Phone: +49 521 1067213
Email: juergen.schlabbach@fh-bielefeld.de

Index terms – PV-generators, Harmonic currents,
ENS-signal, EN 50160, Test conditions
Abstract—Harmonic currents of PV-inverters show a
significant dependency on the harmonic voltage content of
the AC-system voltage. Measurements of harmonic
currents were carried out in LV-systems and under
laboratory test conditions with adjustable harmonic
content of the AV-voltage. Two PV-inverters, one with
coupling transformer and one without transformer were
tested. The results indicated that the emitted harmonic
currents depend strongly on the harmonic voltages
prevailing in the AC-voltage. PV-inverters without
transformer show significant lower harmonic currents
than inverters with coupling transformer. The standard
test conditions as defined in international standards does
not consider real system conditions with respect to the
harmonic voltages in system voltage. The measured
currents as documented in data sheets are therefore
comparatively lower than under the condition of real
system operation.
generation; the THDI will remain below 10% in case the
loading of the inverter exceeds 18% of the rated power [2],
[3]. Some measurements are significantly lower for low load
conditions, which is the effect of the ENS-signal generated by
the inverter to detect and to prevent islanding operation [4].
For increasing generating conditions, the ENS-signal is
increasing the variety of the THDI only to a comparatively
small extend, as can be seen in Fig. 1.
International standards [5] and [6] define standard test
conditions with respect to the harmonic voltages of the
voltage source, in order to measure the emitted harmonic
currents of any equipment; the standards have to be applied to
PV-inverters as well, as special standards are missing up to
now. The defined maximal harmonic voltages, e.g. for the
5th harmonic equal 0.4%, are comparatively lower than the
expected values of harmonic voltages of power systems [7].

1. INTRODUCTION
Grid-connected photovoltaic systems (PV-systems) with
DC/AC-converters are subject to harmonic current emission
which depend on the type of technology used, on the control
strategy of the DC/AC-inverter, on the existence of high- or
low-frequency coupling transformer and on the harmonic
voltages prevailing in the AC-power system. A dominant role
on the harmonic current emission is also given by the
performance of the AC/DC-inverter under partial generating
conditions [1].
Fig. 1 indicates the total harmonic current THDI of a PV- Figure 1. THDI of current of a PV-inverter without transformer
(PAC = 5 kW) for different loading conditions
generator (Pn = 5 kW; PWM-frequency 16 kHz; without
transformer) under different generating condition (ratio P/Pn),
measured for the period of one week. The shape of the THDI
is characterised by a comparative high value under low
2. MEASUREMENTS IN POWER SYSTEMS
_________________________________________________
2.1 PV-Inverter under Investigation
978-1-4244-1744-5/08/$25.00 ©2008 IEEE
Measurements of harmonic currents and voltages in a
generating conditions with a sharp decay for increased

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LV-power system have been carried out for periods between 0,5

four days and one week. The power system consists of cables

I in A
0,5 0-5 % Pr
and overhead-lines supplying mainly domestic load, small 0,4
5-10% Pr

industry and some agricultural load. The system is fed from 0,4
10-15 % Pr

the local 20-kV-system (S”k = 46 MVA at 20 kV; 630-kVA-

15-20 % Pn

0,3 20-40 % Pr

transformer; uk = 6 %). Different types of PV-generators with 0,3

40-60 % Pn

rated power of the DC/AC-inverter between 2.1 kW and

60-100 % Pr

0,2 >100 % Pr
5 kW, with and without transformer, are installed in the 0,2
system.
0,1

As example the measurement results of a 5-kW-inverter 0,1

without transformer (nominal AC-power: 4.6 kW; maximal 0,0

DC-power: 5.3 kW; MPP-tracking-range: 125 to 750 V; PV- 3 5 7 9 11

Harmonic order
13 15 17 19 21

panel 6 kW) are presented in the context of this chapter,

except were noted. Figure 3. Harmonic currents (95%-probability) of the inverter for
different generating conditions measured during one week

2.2 Harmonic Currents and Generated Power

Fig. 2 indicates the THDI (Total Harmonic Distortion) 12

and the generated power of a 5-kW-inverter measured

Ih /I1 in %
0-5% Pr
10
through one day in summer. During start- and stop-period of 5-10% Pr
10-15% Pr
the generator in the morning and evening hours, characterised 8 15-20% Pr

by low generated power (below ≈ 800 W), the THDI is 20-40% Pr

40-60% Pr
significantly higher than during the rest of the day. 6
60-100% Pr
>100% Pr

50 10000 2

40 9000
0
30 8000
T H D (I) [% ]

3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21

Harmonic order
20 7000

10 6000
Harmonic order
P [W ]

0 5000

-10 4000 Figure 4. Relative harmonic currents (95%-probability) of the

-20
-30
-40
-50
00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00
Figure 2. THDI (upper curve) and generated power (lower curve) of
the PV-inverter (PAC=5kW)
A statistical assessment of the low order harmonic
currents has been carried out with the measured data of one
week. Figures 3 and 4 outline the 95%-probablity-values of
the odd harmonic currents up to the 21st order with different
loading condition of the inverter. Other harmonic currents
were measured and assessed as well, however are of less
significance as compared with the indicated. Significant
differences in the harmonic current emission for different
generated power are indicated for the indicated ranges of
P/Pr below 5%; up to 10%, 15% and 20%; up to 40%, 60%
and 100% and above 100% as indicated.
3000
inverter for different generating conditions measured
2000
during one week
1000 The absolute values of the harmonic currents as per Fig. 3
0 are increasing, whereas the relative harmonic values of the
12:00
Time
14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 00:00
harmonic currents as per Fig. 4 are decaying with increasing
generated power. This seems to be a typical behaviour of the
PV-inverters, as it was found for all types and rating of the
investigated inverters.
2.3 Harmonic Currents and Harmonic Voltages
Further assessment of the measurement results was
carried out to indicate the relation between harmonic current
emission of the inverter and harmonic voltages, prevailing in
the power system. Fig. 5 indicates the results of this
assessment obtained for a PV-inverter operated with
approximately 2.35 kW to 2.45 kW (47% of rated power).
The straight lines in Fig. 5 indicate the average increase of the
emitted harmonic currents for increasing harmonic voltage.
The power range as mentioned was chosen due to the
availability of a sufficient high number of data (n ≥ 50) for
each harmonic order of voltage and current. As can be seen
from Fig. 5 the emitted harmonic currents are increasing with
increasing harmonic voltage for harmonic orders 5 to 11 and
decreasing for the 3rd harmonic.

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 3. LABORATORY MEASUREMENT
300 3.1 Test Equipment
Pn = 5kW
250 rd P =2.35kW- 2.45kW In order to separate the different effects from each other,
3
the emitted harmonic currents of the PV-inverter were
Harmonic current in mA

200
150
100
th
9
50 th
11
0 individually up to the 40th order, to represent the AC-system
0,0 0,5 1,0
Harmonic voltage in%
Figure 5. Emitted harmonic currents of PV-inverter for different
harmonic voltages, generated power: 2.35kW – 2.45kW
This dependency of the harmonic currents from the
harmonic voltages in the power system is typical for all types
of inverters without 50-Hz-transformer. Inverters having a
transformer on the AC-side show a slightly different
behaviour of the harmonics, as the 3rd harmonic current as all
other harmonic currents is increasing with increasing
harmonic voltage. As can be seen from Fig. 5, the range of
the harmonic voltages is comparatively small.
The assessment of the even order harmonics similar to
those of the odd order could not be carried out, as the number
of measurements of harmonics was very small and the results
did not show any coincidence.
Table I shows the gradient “increase of harmonic current
related to the increase of harmonic voltage” obtained from
Fig. 5.
TABLE I. GRADIENT FOR THE INCREASE OF EMITTED HARMONIC
CURRENTS RELATED TO PERCENTAGE HARMONIC VOLTAGE (DATA IN
MA/% OF VOLTAGE)
th
7
measured under defined conditions in laboratory tests with a
voltage source having adjustable harmonic voltages in a
th
5 suitable range that coincide with harmonic voltages in real
power systems. The effect of the prevailing harmonic
voltages in the power system can be eliminated if a pure
sinusoidal voltage source is used for the measurement.
A waveform generator, harmonic voltages to be adjusted
1,5 2,0 2,5 and a DC-voltage constant with maximal output voltage
300 V to represent the DC-voltage source were used. The
AC-load was represented by small electrical heating
appliances having different power between 200 W and 2 kW,
to be switched on and off according to the required load.
Measurement of harmonic voltages and currents was carried
out in accordance to IEC 61000-4-7 [8].
3.2 Voltage Parameter for Testing
During the tests, the harmonic voltages of the AC-source
have been modified one by one to different values starting
from zero up to some percent of the nominal system voltage.
The maximal percentage value of the individual harmonic
voltages was taken from EN 50160 [7]. This standard
describes, besides other power system disturbance
parameters, the expectation values of harmonic voltages
which coincide with the compatibility levels as per IEC
61000-3-2 and IEC 61000-3-12, details are included in Table
II.
The test voltage, e.g. for the 5th harmonic, was adjusted
between 0% and 6% in steps of 0.6% each, the power of the
inverter was adjusted for all tests to 50% of the rated power
by adjusting the voltage-constant DC-source and the AC-load
accordingly.

Harmonic order Gradient in 3.3 Results of Laboratory Measurement

3rd
5th
7th
9th
11th
The result as per Table 1 indicates, that the emitted
harmonic currents depend strongly on the harmonic voltages
prevailing in the power system as the harmonic currents are
increasing with increasing harmonic voltage. This effect of
increasing (decreasing) harmonic current with increasing
harmonic voltage can be interpreted either originating from
the PV-inverter itself or from the power system. The
individual effects cannot be measured separately in this case.
mA/ % of voltage
-20.2 A set of 15 measured data per harmonic order and
35.0 harmonic voltage step was measured during the tests,
79.3 however the variety between the individual measurements for
62.3 the same harmonic order was negligibly small. Figs. 6 and 7
42.7 indicate the dependency of the individual harmonic currents
from the harmonic voltage in the AC-side. The individual
steps indicate the percentage increase, step 10 is identical to
the maximal value of harmonic voltage as per EN 50160.
The 3rd harmonic is characterised by a constant decay with
increasing harmonic voltage with a similar gradient as in the
field test. The odd order harmonics, represented in Fig. 6 up
to the 19th order, show a minimum at different voltage steps.
The minimum, if any, of the even order harmonic currents
(see Fig. 8) occurs with step 1 of the harmonic voltage except
for the 2nd order harmonic where the minimum of the
harmonic current is reached between step 2 and step 3.

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 400,00 4. TEST CONDITIONS AND H ARMONIC ASSESSMENT
3

350,00
5 4.1 Standards for Harmonic Current Emission
7
9
300,00 11 International standards IEC 61000-3-2 and IEC 61000-3-12
13
[5, 6] define voltage test conditions (type test) to carry out
Cu rren t in mA

15
250,00 17
19 measurements of harmonics emitted by power electronics.
200,00 These standards have to be applied to PV-inverters as well, as
far as specific standards for PV-inverters are not available.
150,00
Both standards apply for low-voltage systems, PV-inverters
100,00 with low rating (Ir ≤ 16 A) are allowed to be tested under
more restricted conditions than inverters with higher rated
50,00
power (Ir ≤ 75 A).
.
0,00
Sinus Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10

Voltage step
4.2 Comparison of Standard Test Conditions and Real
Figure 6. Emitted odd order harmonic currents of a PV-inverter System Conditions
for increasing harmonic voltage during laboratory tests
Table III outlines the maximal values of the harmonic
voltages for standard test conditions and the maximal
expected values in real power systems as per EN 50160 [7].
120,00
The values (columns 2 and 3) indicate that the harmonic
2
4
voltages defined in the standard test conditions as per IEC
100,00
6 610000-3- are lower than the harmonic voltages that might be
8
10 expected in the power system (column 4). The standard test
80,00 12
14
conditions as per IEC 61000-3- do not reflect the harmonic
C u rent in m A

60,00
16
18
conditions that are expected in power systems, the harmonic
20 current will be significantly higher than those measured
40,00
during the type test.

20,00
TABLE III. PERMISSIBLE HARMONIC VOLTAGES (IEC 61000-3-2
AND EN 61000-3-12), EXPECTATION VALUES (EN 50160)
0,00
Sinus Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10
Harmonic order Voltage in % of nominal voltage
Voltage step
61000-3-2 61000-3-12 EN 50160
3 0.9 1.25 5.0
Figure 7. Emitted even order harmonic currents of an inverter
5 0.4 1.5 6.0
for increasing harmonic voltage during lab-tests
7 0.3 1.25 5.0
9 0.2 0.6 1.5
The harmonic voltages for minimal harmonic current are 11 - 0.7 3.5
13 - 0.6 3.0
indicated by bold figures in Table II. For comparison the
Even (2 - 10) 0.2 0.4 2.0 - 0.5
expectation values as per EN 50160 are also included in the
Other (11 - 39) 0.1 - 3.5 - 1.5
table. The minimal conditions for the even order harmonics Other (12 - 40) - 0.3 -
are given for harmonic voltages: u2 = 0.4%; u4 = 0.1% and for
higher odd harmonics u6 = 0.05%.
Table IV gives the relation between the minimal harmonic
currents for the maximal permissible harmonic test voltage as
TABLE II. MINIMUM OF EMITTED HARMONIC CURRENT ( ODD per IEC 61000-3-12 and the harmonic currents emitted under
ORDER) AS COMPARED WITH THE HARMONIC VOLTAGE DURING maximal expected harmonic voltage conditions as per EN
LABORATORY TEST 50160.
Harmonic Step of uh [%] uh [%]
Order test voltage of test voltage EN 50160
3 > 10 > 5% 6%
5 4 2.4% 6%
7 2-3 1.2 – 1.5% 5%
9 5 0.75% 1.5%
11 1 0.35% 3.5%
13 1 0.3% 3%
15 4–5 0.02 – 0.025% 0.5%
17 1 0.02% 2%
19 - - 1.5%

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TABLE IV. COMPARISON OF HARMONIC CURRENTS EMITTED UNDER
STANDARD TEST CONDITIONS (EN 61000-3-12) AND IN CASE OF
MAXIMAL HARMONIC VOLTAGES (EN 50160)
Harmonic Minimal current; Exp. current
order
Test as per Voltages as per
IEC 61000-3-12 EN 50160
3 74.3mA 74.3mA
5 65.8mA 193.8mA
7 30.4mA 285.9mA
9 15.1mA 69.2mA
11 29.6mA 349.9mA
13 31.5mA 365.8mA
Table IV indicates that the emitted harmonic current under
real system conditions can exceed the harmonic currents of
the PV-inverter obtained for standard test conditions as per
IEC 61000-3- by far.
5. CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK
The comparison of site measurements and laboratory tests
with controlled harmonic voltage conditions indicated that the
emitted harmonic currents depend strongly on the harmonic
voltages in the AC-voltage. Standard test conditions as
defined in IEC 61000—3-2 and IEC 61000-3-12 do not take
account of this characteristic of the PV-inverter. The
harmonic voltages in the test voltage to be allowed for the
standard test procedure do not reflect the expected harmonic
voltages in AC-systems. The emitted harmonic currents
depend furthermore on the generated power of the PV-
inverter, resulting in high values of the harmonics for low
generation conditions and low values for high generation
conditions.
It is strongly recommended to consider a new approach for
testing of harmonic current emission of PV-inverters. The
special characteristic of the PV-inverters as explained in the
paper shall be taken into account. Tests for harmonic current
emission shall be carried out taking account of:
. maximal expected harmonic voltages in power system as
per EN 50160 to determine the worst conditions,
. partial generation conditions of the PV-inverter.
Assessment of the system connection of PV-inverters shall
be based on the distribution function of the expected
harmonic current emission and shall take account of the
typical daily and seasonal generation. The application of
simulation programmes is highly recommended.
[3] Drees, S.; Kohn, A.; Schlabbach, J.; Strathmann, D.; Vogel, E.:
Harmonic current emission of PV-installations (German). ew, Bd. 104
(2005), Heft 02, S. 68-71.
[4] E DIN VDE 0126-1-1 (2005-5): Automatic disconnection device
Relation between a generator and the public LV-grid (German).
col. 3 to
Col.2 [5] IEC 61000-3-2 (2005-11): Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) - Part
3-2: Limits - Limits for harmonic current emissions (equipment input
current <= 16 A per phase).
0.0
2.9 [6] IEC 61000-3-12 (2004-11): Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) -
Part 3-12: Limits - Limits for harmonic currents produced by equipment
9.4 connected to public low-voltage systems with input current >16 A and
4.6 <=75 A per phase.
11.8
[7] EN 50160 (2006-8): Voltage characteristic of electricity supplied by
11.6 public distribution systems (German).
[8] IEC 61000-4-7 (2004-7): Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) - Part
4-7: Testing and measurement techniques - General guide on harmonics
and interharmonics measurements and instrumentation, for power
supply systems and equipment connected thereto.
Juergen Schlabbach (b. 1952) studied power system engineering at the
Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, from where he received the
academic degrees as Dipl.-Ing. in 1977 and as Dr.-Ing. in 1982. He worked
till 1992 in an engineering company. He worked in responsible positions for
planning and design of public and industrial power systems mainly in
Arabian and Asian countries.
Since 1992 he is Professor at the University of Applied Sciences in
Bielefeld, Germany, responsible for electrical energy systems and renewable
energy schemes. He is member IEEE, VDE and VDI.
Topics of research include measurement and analysis of harmonics and
flicker, connection of renewable energy generation to the power system and
optimization of medium voltage cable systems. More information can be
obtained from: www://http.fh-bielefeld.de/fb2/labor-ev

References
[1] Chicco, G.; Schlabbach, J.; Spertino, F.: Characterisation of the
harmonic emission of grid-connected PV-systems. Proc. of IEEE-
Conference St. Petersburg PowerTech 2005. St. Petersburg, Russland
(June, 27-30, 2005), paper 66.
[2] Schlabbach, J.: Simulation of harmonic current emission of grid-
connected photovoltaic generators. Proc. of 8th International Conference
on Electrical Power Quality and Utilisation EPQU’05. Cracow, Poland
(Sept. 21-23, 2005), Paper 23, pp 545-552.

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