Simple Utility-Interactive Power Conditioning System for Domestic Applications

Some papers of power converters that interface between photovoltaic arrays and a.c. utility system have been reported [l]-[3]. Some innovative utility-interactive power conditioning systems have been also studied [4],[5]. The characteristics of these systems lie in the fact that a full wave rectified current waveform is generated from the d.c. source and converted into a low distortion sinusoidal current which is fed in-phase with the a.c. sinusoidal voltage of the utility. This method has various advantages, but the circuit configurations and control systems are a little complicated. However, as the cost of such systems will rise, it is preferable the utility interactive system without on-site battery. This paper proposes a simple utility interactive photovoltaic power conditioning system with a forward converter. In addition, innovative lossless snubber circuits are presented and discussed.