Unipolar PWM Strategy for Transformerless PV Grid-Connected Converters

• Published in: IEEE transactions on energy conversion Vol. 27; no. 4; pp. 835 - 843
• Main Authors: Barater, D., Buticchi, G., Crinto, A. S., Franceschini, G., Lorenzani, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-12-2012
• Subjects: Photovoltaic (PV) systems; Photovoltaic systems; Power generation; Power quality; Pulse width modulation converters; pulsewidth modulation (PWM) converters
• ISSN: 0885-8969; 1558-0059
• DOI: 10.1109/TEC.2012.2212197

In domestic grid-connected PV applications, a single-phase converter is usually employed. In such low-power plants, it is possible to adopt converter topologies without galvanic isolation between the photovoltaic (PV) panels and the grid. The absence of a high- or line-frequency transformer permits us to reduce power losses, cost, and size of the converter. On the other side, in the presence of a galvanic connection, a large ground leakage current could arise due to parasitic PV panel capacitance. Leakage currents cause electric safety problems, electromagnetic interference increase and, consequently, a reduction of the converter power quality. This paper presents a converter topology able to minimize the ground leakage current also in the case of unipolar pulsewidth modulation without increasing inductive common mode filter size and preserving efficiency. Simulations and experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed solution.