Design and Development of Grid connected Photovoltaic Inverter

Abstract

Increasing fossil fuel prices with continuous increasing demand has made use of renewable energy sources a necessity than a luxury. This project focuses on development of a photovoltaic inverter which can be used to supply generated photovoltaic energy to grid. Interfacing a solar inverter module with the power grid involves three major tasks. First is to ensure that the solar inverter module is operated at the Maximum Power Point (MPP), the second is to inject a sinusoidal current into the grid and the third is the efficiency of the module. Since the inverter is connected to the grid, the standards given by the utility companies must be obeyed. These standards deal with issues like power quality, detection of islanding operation, grounding, and so on. A rigorous design and simulation verification process of different photovoltaic inverter topologies through PSIM is carried out and after having analyzed results which also comply with IEC norms of grid connection the proposed topology is implemented. Comparison of the experimental result with the simulation result and also with the available market product of same rating is carried out and necessary corrections are made to enhance the performance the product in terms of efficiency, reliability, size and cost.