Abstract
In grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power stations, improving the life expectancy and long-term reliability of three-phase PV inverters is urgently needed to match the significantly higher lifetime of the PV modules. A key contribution toward such improvement is replacing the conventional electrolytic film capacitors by metallized polypropylene film ones. This paper presents a detailed evaluation of a conventional three-phase grid-connected PV inverter performance when replacing the electrolytic capacitor with a minimum value of metallized polypropylene film capacitor. Although the minimum dc bus capacitance leads to higher voltage ripples, such ripples were found to be within acceptable limits to operate the inverter satisfactorily. Simulation and experimental results are presented for a 5-kW grid-connected inverter prototype with a nominal dc voltage of 457 V to confirm the theoretical considerations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 6894625 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1297-1306 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 1 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2014 IEEE.
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Keywords
- Electrolytic capacitor
- grid-connected inverters
- metallized polypropylene film capacitor
- photovoltaic (PV) systems
