A compact SiC photovoltaic inverter with maximum power point tracking function. (1st January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ando, Yuji; Oku, Takeo; Yasuda, Masashi; Shirahata, Yasuhiro; Ushijima, Kazufumi; Murozono, Mikio
• Is Part Of: Solar energy. Volume 141(2017)
• Page Start: 228
• Page End: 235
• Publication Date: 2017-01-01
• Subjects: DC direct current -- AC alternating current -- MOSFET metaloxidesemiconductor field-effect transistor -- SBD Schottky barrier diodes -- MPPT maximum power point tracking -- PWM pulse width modulation -- JFET junction field-effect transistor -- BJT bipolar junction transistor -- IGBT insulated gate bipolar transistor -- HEMT high electron mobility transistor; Silicon carbide -- Solar cell -- Inverter -- Photovoltaic device -- Maximum power point tracking -- Lithium-ion battery; Solar energy -- Periodicals; Solar engines -- Periodicals; 621.47
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2016.11.041
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-092X

Abstract

Highlights: A maximum power point tracking controller was integrated into a SiC inverter module. Size of the inverter is just one third of commercial Si inverters available today. The conversion efficiency was 3% higher than that of the commercial Si inverters. Abstract: A compact 150 W photovoltaic inverter was developed using SiC devices, which integrated a maximum power point tracking charge controller and a direct current (DC) - alternating current (AC) converter into a single module. The DC-AC converter circuit was built with four SiC metal-oxidesemiconductor field-effect transistors, while the DC-DC converter circuit built with four SiC Schottky barrier diodes. An increase of the switching frequency led to the module of a reduced size (250 × 180 × 28 mm 3 ), which is just one third volume of a commercial Si-based inverter available today. Besides being compact, the conversion efficiency of the DC-AC converter was approximately 3% higher than that of the commercial Si-based inverter. In addition, the MPPT controller showed a conversion efficiency exceeding 96%, which raised the total efficiency under practical operation conditions up to 86%.