A multi-objective study for down selection of a micro-inverter topology for residential applications

Author

Todorovic, Maja H. ; Fengfeng Tao ; Rui Zhou ; Steigerwald, R. ; Agamy, M. ; Yan Jiang ; Garces, Luis ; Schutten, Marco ; Marabell, D.

Author_Institution

GE Global Res. Center, Niskayuna, NY, USA

fYear

2014

fDate

8-13 June 2014

Firstpage

3108

Lastpage

3113

Abstract

Micro-inverter based photovoltaic (PV) systems now represent about 8% of the U.S. residential market, and offer many advantages including safety, performance, and simplified installation. This paper presents a detailed trade-off study of micro-inverter circuit topologies. In addition to standard criteria of efficiency, reliability and cost, this study takes into account grid Volt/VAR support functions of each topology. The trade-off study concludes in the identification of a new micro-inverter architecture with high efficiency and Volt/VAR support capability suitable for application over a wide range of PV module technologies.

Keywords

invertors; safety; solar cells; standards; PV module technologies; PV systems; US residential market; Volt-VAR support capability; grid Volt-VAR support functions; microinverter architecture; microinverter based photovoltaic systems; microinverter circuit topologies; microinverter topology; residential applications; safety; standard criteria; Capacitors; Indexes; Inverters; Stress; Switches; Topology; Windings; grid support; interleaved full-bridge; micro-inverter; resonant converter; single-stage inverters; two-stage inverters;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2014 IEEE 40th

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925595

Filename

6925595