Phase-controlled inverters associated to a multi-pulse autotransformer applied to photovoltaic cogeneration

This paper presents the study of phase-controlled inverters associated to an 18-pulse autotransformer with Y-differential connection for photovoltaic energy cogeneration. The main objective of this system is to perform the cogeneration of photovoltaic energy on a simple, robust and cheaper way, aiming the application on remote places, which presents more rigorous climate conditions and where the size and volume are not a relevant factor. With the differential configuration, the autotransformer processes just 22% of the total power provided to the system by the photovoltaic panels, reducing significantly the overall cost. On other hand, the 18-pulses connection allows low THD quasi-sinusoidal output currents, minimizing the needed of output filters. This proposed system is composed by simple and well known technologies that use phase-controlled inverters and autotransformer, so it can be a robust, simple and low-cost solution for photovoltaic cogeneration.