Performance Comparison between Bipolar and Unipolar Switching Scheme

for a Single-Phase Inverter based Stand-alone Photovoltaic System

Pradyumna Kr. Behera, Subhadip Das, Monalisa Pattnaik, Department of Electrical Engineering, NIT Rourkela

This paper presents a comparative experimental study of bipolar and unipolar switching schemes of a single-phase inverter based stand-alone PV system. The single-phase inverter is
connected with the PV string and DC-DC converter in subsequent arrangement along with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for optimum power generation in autonomous
Abstract mode despite of changing irradiance condition. The steady-state and transient behavior of both incremental conductance (INC) and variable step-size incremental conductance
(VSSINC) MPPT algorithms are analyzed thoroughly. The sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) technique is incorporated to create the proper gate signals for the inverter
switches. The inherent harmonic component in output inverter voltage is somewhat reduced by choosing a high frequency carrier signal and an LC filter is designed to eliminate the
higher order harmonics. A laboratory setup for the dual-stage stand-alone PV system is developed using a boost converter, single-phase inverter and the control schemes are
implemented using the dSPACE RTI1103 digital controller. The INC and VSSINC MPPT results are presented at varying irradiation. The functionality of the bipolar and unipolar
SPWM are observed at an irradiation of 210 W/m2 which confirms that the unipolar SPWM gives superior performance than bipolar SPWM switching.

I. Introduction IV. LC Filter Design VIII. Experimental Results

 Distributed generation (DG) of electricity from  To get a sinusoidal output voltage, an LC filter is placed at of SPWM Inverter
photovoltaic (PV) system have gained a great research the output of the VSI.
focus due to its eco-friendly nature and the plug-and-play  The LC filter attenuates the high frequency harmonics
feature. present in the output voltage and current waveforms.
 PV based stand-alone system are classified into three (a) (d)
 The value of inductor and capacitor used are designed
converter configurations: single-stage, dual-stage and according to equation represented below
three-stage.
𝟏𝟏 𝑬𝑬𝟐𝟐 𝒇𝒇𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟏 𝟑𝟑 𝟒𝟒 𝟑𝟑𝒎𝒎 𝟗𝟗𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐
 The dual-stage cascaded converter arrangement is usually • 𝑳𝑳𝒇𝒇 = × × × − +
𝟑𝟑 𝟐𝟐 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝒇𝒇𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻 𝟐𝟐 𝜫𝜫 𝟖𝟖
employed as different functionalities are segregated in the
𝟐𝟐. 𝟓𝟓𝟓 × 𝑷𝑷
two independent stages. • 𝑪𝑪𝒇𝒇 =
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝜫𝜫 × 𝑬𝑬𝟐𝟐 (b) (e)
 First Stage: Voltage amplification and MPPT control.
 Second Stage: DC-AC voltage inverting function, provide  where, P is the power output of the SPV system, E is the
good quality power with least harmonic distortion. load rms voltage, f0 is the fundamental frequency (50 Hz),
fs represents the inverter switching frequency and “m” is
the modulation index.
II. Architecture of Dual-Stage (c) (f)
SPV System
V. Specifications of SPV System
Fig. 6. Experimental Results of Bipolar SPWM Scheme
(a) Unfiltered output voltage of single-phase VSI
(b) Filtered output voltage, load current & power
(c) Load current and FFT response of load current after using LC filter

Fig. 6. Experimental Results of Unipolar SPWM Scheme

VI. Experimental Prototype

(d) Unfiltered output voltage of single-phase VSI
(e) Filtered output voltage, load current & power
Fig. 1. Architecture of dual-stage SPV system
(f) Load current and FFT response of load current after using LC filter

III. MPPT Algorithm

 The efficiency of the PV system can be increased, if the IX. Conclusion
PV module is operated deliberately at MPOP, regardless  The experimental results confirm that the power drawn from
of varying environmental conditions. the PV generator using VSSINC algorithm gives a good
 The major criteria associated with MPPT of a PV panel dynamic performance with reduced power oscillation,
includes Fig. 4. Experimental prototype of dual-stage SPV system resulting in an improved efficiency in comparison to INC
(a) Stabilization of power at MPOP algorithm.
(b) Response time to reach MPOP  Both bipolar as well as unipolar switching techniques are used
VII. Experimental Results for controlling the inverter in open loop configuration.
 It is found that the harmonic content is less in case of
unipolar switching. The LC filter attenuates the output voltage
ripple and limits the high ripple current due to inverter
switching.
(a) (b)  The size & cost of LC filter is more in bipolar switching as
compared to unipolar switching scheme
Fig. 2. Step change comparison between INC & VSSINC MPPT

X. References
(c) (d) 1. Z. Zeng, H. Yang, R. Zhao, and C. Cheng, “Topologies and control strategies of multi-
functional grid-connected inverters for power quality enhancement: A comprehensive
review,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 24, pp. 223–270, 2013.

2. T. Esram and P. L. Chapman, “Comparison of photovoltaic array maximum power

Fig.5. (a) INC algorithm for irradiance increase from 210 W/m2 to 370 W/m2
(b) INC algorithm for irradiance decrease from 370 W/m2 to 210 W/m2
(c) VSSINC algorithm for irradiance increase from 210 W/m2 to 370 W/m2
(d) VSSINC algorithm for irradiance decrease from 370 W/m2 to 210 W/m2
point tracking techniques,” IEEE Transactions on energy conversion, vol. 22, no. 2,
pp. 439–449, 2007.
3. S. Motahhir, A. El Ghzizal, S. Sebti, and A. Derouich, “Modeling of photovoltaic
system with modified incremental conductance algorithm for fast changes of
irradiance,” International Journal of Photoenergy, 2018.

Fig. 3. Flowchart of VSSINC MPPT algorithm