Modeling, simulation and implementation of single phase five level inverter fed from renewable energy sources

At present, the whole world is going through a severe energy crisis due to the nonreplenishable nature of fossil fuels which are major sources of energy conventionally. In addition to limited availability of conventional energy sources, they also contribute heavily towards environmental pollution. In this scenario, renewable energy sources has got significant role to play in meeting global energy demand. Solar and wind energy systems are the most popular types of grid connected renewable energy systems. In this paper we are presenting a new system configuration for interfacing the hybrid solar and wind energy system to the grid. This configuration is flexible and it allows these two renewable energy sources to supply the load together or independently depending upon their availability. The configuration proposed here uses a modified five-level inverter for converting DC voltage generated from renewable energy sources to AC voltage at desired frequency. The usage of five-level inverter reduces Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) in output voltage and helps in eliminating bulk filters required at the output side. Simulation study of the proposed system is carried out using MATLAB Simulink. Experimental verification is carried out by implementing control algorithm using AT89C52 microcontroller. Both simulation and hardware results are provided in this paper.