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1. A Novel Solar PV Inverter Topology Based on an LLC Resonant Converter

   https://doi.org/10.1109/ECCE.2019.8912924  

   Altin, Necmi ; Ozdemir, Saban ; Nasiri, Adel ( September 2019 , IEEE Energy Conversion Conference and Expo)

   In this paper, a new topology for grid-connected solar PV inverter is proposed. The proposed topology employs an LLC resonant converter with high frequency isolation transformer in the DC-DC stage. The DC-DC converter stage is controlled to generate a rectified sine wave voltage and current at the line frequency. An unfolder inverter interfaces between this DC stage and the grid. Both phase-shift and frequency control methods are used to control the LLC resonant converter. The switching frequency is determined depending on the phase-shift angle to extend the zero-voltage switching (ZVS) region. The transformer leakage and magnetization inductances are also properly designed to provide ZVS for wide operation area. The LLC converter operates in the ZVS region except the narrow band around the zero-crossings of the inverter output current. Since the LLC resonant converter has a high frequency transformer, the line frequency transformer requirement is eliminated, and thus more compact and efficient design is obtained. The proposed topology is validated by the simulation and experimental results. 

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2. Design and Optimization of the High Frequency Transformer for 100kW CLLC Converter

   https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC42165.2021.9487200  

   Zhao, Zhe ; Wu, Yuheng ; Du, Xinyuan ; Zhao, Yue ( June 2021 , 2021 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC))

   The CLLC converter is widely used in the power electronic applications as a DC transformer, which can provide galvanic isolation, bidirectional power flow and an adjustable output voltage with the use of proper controls. As the most critical component in the CLLC converter, the high frequency (HF) transformer should be optimized according to the design targets, such as efficiency and power density. Starting with the analysis of the CLLC operating characteristics, this paper proposes a formal approach to design the HF transformer of a 100kW CLLC converter for a grid-tied application. The optimization method for the HF transformer is presented and the effect of the resonant inductor is analyzed. The optimized transformer is simulated with the finite element analysis (FEA) and Matlab/Simulink. 

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3. Design and Experimental Study of a GaN-based Three-Port Multilevel Inverter

   https://doi.org/10.1109/IECON48115.2021.9589232  

   Tamasas Elrais, Mohamed ; Batarseh, Issa. ( October 2021 , IECON 2021 – 47th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society)

   A three-port multilevel inverter with two DC ports and an AC port using Flying Capacitor Multilevel (FCML) design based on Gallium Nitride (GaN) switches is proposed in this paper. Recently, FCML inverter has shown a superior ability for power conversion with high power density, improved Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), and efficiency. The presented three-port multilevel inverter fits various applications such as battery and photovoltaic (PV) grid integration and standalone AC load. The proposed inverter is experimentally verified by building a 3-kW prototype using GaN switches which include two 4-level FCML converter paths, each share the same bus capacitor (C bus ), which links them together. One FCML path is 1 kW that incorporates an unfolder for the DC-to-AC conversion and has achieved a peak efficiency of 98.2% with AC voltage and current THDs of 1.26% and 1.23%, respectively. While the second FCML converter path is 2 kW used for the DC-to-DC conversion and has achieved a 99.43% peak efficiency. 

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4. Control Methodologies to Mitigate and Regulate Second-Order Ripples in DC–AC Conversions and Microgrids: A Brief Review

   https://doi.org/10.3390/en16020817  

   Chaturvedi, Shivam ; Wang, Mengqi ; Fan, Yaoyu ; Fulwani, Deepak ; Hollweg, Guilherme Vieira ; Khan, Shahid Aziz ; Su, Wencong ( January 2023 , Energies)

   Second-order ripples occur in the voltage and current during any DC–AC power conversion. These conversions occur in the voltage source inverters (VSIs), current source inverters (CSIs), and various single-stage inverters (SSIs) topologies. The second-order ripples lead to oscillating source node currents and DC bus voltages when there is an interconnection between the AC and DC microgrids or when an AC load is connected to the DC bus of the microgrid. Second-order ripples have various detrimental effects on the sources and the battery storage. In the storage battery, they lead to the depletion of electrodes. They also lead to stress in the converter or inverter components. This may lead to the failure of a component and hence affect the reliability of the system. Furthermore, the second-order ripple currents (SRCs) lead to ripple torque in wind turbines and lead to mechanical stress. SRCs cause a rise in the temperature of photovoltaic panels. An increase in the temperature of PV panels leads to a reduction in the power generated. Furthermore, the second-order voltage and current oscillations lead to a varying maximum power point in PV panels. Hence, the maximum power may not be extracted from it. To mitigate SRCs, oversizing of the components is needed. To improve the lifespan of the sources, storage, and converter components, the SRCs must be mitigated or kept within the desired limits. In the literature, different methodologies have been proposed to mitigate and regulate these second-order ripple components. This manuscript presents a comprehensive review of different effects of second-order ripples on different sources and the methodologies adopted to mitigate the ripples. Different active power decoupling methodologies, virtual impedance-based methodologies, pulse width modulation-based signal injection methodologies, and control methods adopted in distributed power generation methods for DC microgrids have been presented. The application of ripple control methods spans from single converters such as SSIs and VSIs to a network of interconnected converters. Furthermore, different challenges in the field of virtual impedance control and ripple mitigation in distributed power generation environments are discussed. This paper brings a review regarding control methodologies to mitigate and regulate second-order ripples in DC–AC conversions and microgrids. 

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5. Resonant Multilevel Modular Boost Inverters for Single-Phase Transformerless Photovoltaic Systems

   https://doi.org/10.1109/ECCE.2018.8558049  

   Ni, Ze ; Li, Yanchao ; Johnson, Jalen ; Cao, Dong ( September 2018 , 2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE))

   This paper presents two novel single-phase resonant multilevel modular boost inverters based on resonant switched capacitor cells and a partial power processed voltage regulator. Compared with other multilevel boost inverters applied in PV systems, one remarkable advantage of the proposed topologies is that the bulky AC filtering inductor is replaced by a smaller-size one in the partial power processed buck converter. Constant duty cycle PWM method is attractive for the multilevel inverter controller design. GaN Enhancement Mode Power Transistors help both the modular resonant switched capacitor cells and the full-bridge unfolder be realized in a small size with high power density. The clamp capacitors in the resonant switched capacitor cells effectively alleviate the switch voltage spikes. These two inverter topologies are analyzed and simulated in PLECS. Simulation results verify the validity of boost inverter function. Stress analysis shows that the inverter has relatively small total normalized switch conduction power stress and total normalized switch stress ratio. Relative total semiconductor chip area comparison results reflect that the proposed topology achieves more efficient semiconductor utilization compared with typical non-resonant multilevel modular switched capacitor boost inverters. Test results indicate that the proposed topology can be used for single-phase non-isolated PV boost inverter applications with small ground leakage current, high voltage conversion ratio, small volume and potential high efficiency. 

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