A cost-effective single-stage inverter with maximum power point tracking

Renewable energy, such as solar energy, is desirable for power generation due to their unlimited existence and environmental friendly nature. However, the high initial investment impedes its wide commercialization. This paper proposes a cost-effective single-stage inverter with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in combination with one-cycle control (OCC) for photovoltaic power generation. This control scheme is based on the output current-adjusting feature of OCC. The output current of the inverter can be adjusted according to the voltage of the photovoltaic (PV) array so as to extract the maximum power from it. In the mean time, OCC guarantees that the output current is proportional and in phase with the grid voltage. All these are accomplished in one power stage and a simple control circuit. No detection and calculation of power are needed. Compared with previously proposed approaches, this method is much more efficient and cost-effective and yet exhibits excellent performance. The principle is explained qualitatively and extensive experiments have been carried out to verify the proposed method.