Active common-mode filter for photovoltaic transformerless inverters

In the recent years the research on photovoltaic converters has been focused on topologies that do not feature a line frequency transformer, in order to reduce costs and successfully increase the overall efficiency. The main problem in removing the galvanic isolation is that the parasitic capacitance present between the cell and the metal frame enclosing the panel (usually earth-connected) enables a common-mode current to be injected into the grid by the converter. This paper proposes an active common-mode filter able to compensate the high-frequency common-mode voltage variations at the output of the power converters, that represent the principal cause of ground leakage current. The advantage of this solution concerns the capability to operate with an arbitrary power factor. In this work it is applied in cascade to a converter with standard full-bridge topology driven by a three-level PWM strategy. Simulation and experimental results shows the feasibility of the proposed approach.