Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A random carrier frequency PWM technique with a narrowband for a grid-connected solar inverter

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Electrical Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The quality of power is always a concern for the high penetration of a grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) system due to the variation in solar irradiation and the temperature change of solar output, which in turn varies the fundamental component of power delivered to the grid. A solar source requires an inverter interface to supply the AC load as well as for the grid interconnection. Any reduction in the fundamental component generated by solar PV at a lower irradiation level or at high- temperature results in increasing %THD at the output of inverter for a given fixed switching frequency since harmonics due to PWM technique is comparable with the fundamental component. The selection of high-fixed-switching-frequency PWM reduces harmonics but increases the stress on switches and switching losses. It also suffers from issues of harmonics at carrier frequency and its sideband at multiples of switching frequency that causes acoustic noise and EMI. The random frequency PWM (Random PWM) method overcomes these issues presented by the fixed-frequency PWM method. However, a wide band of Random PWM makes the inverter filter design difficult and causes resonance in the distribution system. In addition, asymmetry in the carrier wave introduces even-order harmonics in the line current. Hence, this paper proposes a narrowband random frequency PWM method to reduce sideband harmonics, lower-order harmonics, even-order harmonics and a total harmonic distortion (THD) for a solar-based grid-connected inverter. Simulation results present a satisfactory performance of the proposed control technique for a steady-state and transient results. Experimental validation of the same is carried out on the OPAL-RT OP4500-based laboratory prototype of a 2-kVA inverter which depicts reduction in harmonics and hence improvement in power quality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Year End Review (2017)—MNRE. Available: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=174832

  2. Haque MM, Wolfs P (2016) A review of high PV penetrations in LV distribution networks: present status, impacts and mitigation measures. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 62:1195–1208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Executive Summary on Power Sector October (2019) Available: http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/monthly/executivesummary/2019/exe_summary-10.pdf

  4. Mukwekwe L, Venugopal C, Davidson IE (2017) A review of the impacts and mitigation strategies of high PV penetration in low voltage networks. In: Power Africa, 2017 IEEE PES, IEEE, pp 274–279

  5. Shehadeh SH, Aly HH, El-Hawary ME-A (2019) Effect of weather conditions on harmonic performance of PV inverters. Electr Power Compon Syst 47(14–15):1233–1246. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325008.2019.1630693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Elkholy A (2019) Harmonics assessment and mathematical modelling of power quality parameters for low voltage grid connected photovoltaic systems. Sol Energy 183:315–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Al-Shetwi AQ, Sujod MZ (2018) Modeling and design of photovoltaic power plant connected to the MV side of Malaysian grid with TNB technical regulation compatibility. Electr Eng 100(4):2407–2419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Poosri O, Charoenlarpnopparut C (2016) Harmonics impact of rooftop photovoltaic penetration level on low voltage distribution system. Int J Electron Electr Eng 4(3):221–225. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijeee.4.3.221-225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Watson JD, Watson NR (2017) Impact of residential PV on harmonic levels in New Zealand. In Innovative smart grid technologies conference Europe (ISGT-Europe), 2017 IEEE PES, IEEE, pp. 1–6

  10. Liu Z, Xu X, Abdelsalam HA, Makram E (2015) Power system harmonics study for unbalanced microgrid system with PV sources and nonlinear loads. J Power Energy Eng 3(05):43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Elkholy A, Fahmy F, El-Ela AA, Nafeh AE-SA, Spea S (2016) Experimental evaluation of 8 kW grid-connected photovoltaic system in Egypt. J Electr Syst Inf Technol 3(2):217–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Mechouma R, Mebarki H, Azoui B (2018) Behavior of nine levels NPC three-phase inverter topology interfacing photovoltaic system to the medium electric grid under variable irradiance. Electr Eng 100(3):2129–2145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Sabri SEB, Sujod MZB, Alias WNHB, Jadin MSB (2019) Limiting THD of grid connected photovoltaic system using PWM switching frequency selection based on solar irradiance changing. In: 2019 IEEE international conference on automatic control and intelligent systems (I2CACIS), pp 96–101

  14. Zhang G et al (2019) Pseudorandom-frequency sinusoidal injection for position sensorless IPMSM drives considering sample and hold effect. IEEE Trans Power Electron 34(10):9929–9941

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Boopathi R, Jayanthi R, Ansari MMT (2019) Power quality improvement in wind energy conversion system using hybrid SVPWM inverter control technique for THD reduction. Int J Dyn Control. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40435-019-00556-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Eltawil MA, Zhao Z (2010) Grid-connected photovoltaic power systems: technical and potential problems—a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 14(1):112–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Arulkumar K, Vijayakumar D, Palanisamy K (2016) Recent advances and control techniques in grid connected PV system–a review. Int J Renew Energy Res (IJRER) 6(3):1037–1049

    Google Scholar 

  18. Ahmed KH, Finney SJ, Williams BW (2007) Passive filter design for three-phase inverter interfacing in distributed generation. In: Compatibility in power electronics, 2007. CPE’07, IEEE, pp 1–9

  19. Nwosu C, Ogbuka C, Oti S (2017) On the analytical tuning of controllers for grid-coupled voltage source converter: frequency analysis. Electric Electron Tech Open Acc J 1(2):00007

    Google Scholar 

  20. Li YW, He J (2014) Distribution system harmonic compensation methods: an overview of DG-interfacing inverters. IEEE Ind Electron Mag 8(4):18–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Mathe L, Lungeanu F, Sera D, Rasmussen PO, Pedersen JK (2012) Spread spectrum modulation by using asymmetric-carrier random PWM. IEEE Trans Ind Electron 59(10):3710–3718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Esmaeli A, Mobini M (2013) Research and development random pulse width modulation. Int Res J Appl Basic Sci 6(9):1243–1248

    Google Scholar 

  23. Satheesh G, Reddy TB, SaiBabu C (2014) A family of random PWM algorithms for reduction of torque ripple and current harmonics of direct torque controlled open end winding induction motor. J Control Autom Electr Syst 25(3):349–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Jadeja R, Ved A, Chauhan S (2015) An investigation on the performance of random PWM controlled converters. Eng Technol Appl Sci Res 5(6):876–884

    Google Scholar 

  25. Chang Y-T, Chen B-Y, Lai Y-S (2011) Novel random switching PWM technique with constant sampling frequency and constant inductor average current for digital-controlled converter. In: Energy conversion congress and exposition (ECCE), IEEE, pp 2936–2943

  26. Kim K-S, Jung Y-G, Lim Y-C (2009) A new hybrid random PWM scheme. IEEE Trans Power Electron 24(1):192–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Lezynski P, Smolenski R, Loschi H, Thomas D, Moonen N (2020) A novel method for EMI evaluation in random modulated power electronic converters. Measurement 151:107098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Tse K, Chung HS-H, Hui SR, So H (2002) A comparative study of carrier-frequency modulation techniques for conducted EMI suppression in PWM converters. IEEE Trans Ind Electron 49(3):618–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Sivarani T (2016) Intensive random carrier pulse width modulation for induction motor drives based on hopping between discrete carrier frequencies. IET Power Electron 9(3):417–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Sun J (2012) Pulse-width modulation. In: dynamics and control of switched electronic systems, vol 1. Advances in Industrial Control, 1 edn. Springer London, pp 25–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2885-4

  31. Phadke AG, Thorp JS (2017) Synchronized phasor measurements and their applications. Springer, Berlin

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  32. Lai Y-S, Chang Y-T, Chen B-Y (2013) Novel random-switching PWM technique with constant sampling frequency and constant inductor average current for digitally controlled converter. IEEE Trans Ind Electron 60(8):3126–3135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Chen H-c, Chang Y-c, Tang Y-j (2006) Comparisons of voltage spectrum in RFPWM scheme. In: 2006 IEEE international symposium on industrial electronics, IEEE, vol 2, pp 775–778

  34. Peyghambari A, Dastfan A, Ahmadyfard A (2015) Strategy for switching period selection in random pulse width modulation to shape the noise spectrum. IET Power Electron 8(4):517–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Bhattacharya S, Mascarella D, Joos G, Moschopoulos G (2015) Reduced switching random PWM technique for two-level inverters. In: Energy conversion congress and exposition (ECCE), IEEE, pp 695–702

  36. Bhattacharya S, Mascarella D, Joos G, Moschopoulos G (2015) A discrete random PWM technique for acoustic noise reduction in electric traction drives. In: Energy conversion congress and exposition (ECCE), IEEE, pp 6811–6817

  37. Lee K, Shen G, Yao W, Lu Z (2017) Performance characterization of random pulse width modulation algorithms in industrial and commercial adjustable-speed drives. IEEE Trans Ind Appl 53(2):1078–1087

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Singh AK, Hussain I, Singh B (2016) An improved P&O MPPT algorithm for single stage three-phase grid integrated solar PV system. In: 2016 IEEE 7th power India international conference (PIICON), pp 1–6

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Marwadi Education Foundation’s Group of Institutions, Rajkot, Gujarat, India

    Rajendrasinh Jadeja, Amit D. Ved & Tapankumar Trivedi

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

    Siddharthsingh K. Chauhan

Authors
  1. Rajendrasinh Jadeja
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Amit D. Ved
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Siddharthsingh K. Chauhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tapankumar Trivedi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rajendrasinh Jadeja.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix-I

Appendix-I

Experimental Setup Parameters: Source Phase Voltage (VPh)—110 V, MPP Voltage (Vmp)—350 V, MPP Current (Imp)—3.2A, DC link capacitor (Cdc)—2350 µF, coupling inductor [2]—6 mH, Filter capacitor (Cf)—25 µF, Damping resistor (Rf)—1.1 Ω.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jadeja, R., Ved, A.D., Chauhan, S.K. et al. A random carrier frequency PWM technique with a narrowband for a grid-connected solar inverter. Electr Eng 102, 1755–1767 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00202-020-00989-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00202-020-00989-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation