A Comprehensive Review on Grid Connected Photovoltaic Inverters, Their Modulation Techniques, and Control Strategies

Abstract

The installation of photovoltaic (PV) system for electrical power generation has gained a substantial interest in the power system for clean and green energy. However, having the intermittent characteristics of photovoltaic, its integration with the power system may cause certain uncertainties (voltage fluctuations, harmonics in output waveforms, etc.) leading towards reliability and stability issues. In PV systems, the power electronics play a significant role in energy harvesting and integration of grid-friendly power systems. Therefore, the reliability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of power converters are of main concern in the system design and are mainly dependent on the applied control strategy. This review article presents a comprehensive review on the grid-connected PV systems. A wide spectrum of different classifications and configurations of grid-connected inverters is presented. Different multi-level inverter topologies along with the modulation techniques are classified into many types and are elaborated in detail. Moreover, different control reference frames used in inverters are presented. In addition, different control strategies applied to inverters are discussed and a concise summary of the related literature review is presented in tabulated form. Finally, the scope of the research is briefly discussed.

Keywords

• grid-connected PV system
• grid-connected PV inverters
• multi-level inverters
• modulation techniques
• control strategies
• current control