ICSET 2008

FILTER DESIGN FOR GRID CONNECTED PV INVERTERS

Hyosung Kim
Kongju National University School of Electrical Electronics Engineering 275, Budae, Cheonan, Chungnam, 330-717 Korea e-mail: hyoskim@kongju.ac.kr
Abstract-This paper proposes filter design guideline for single-phase grid-connected PV inverters. By analyzing the instantaneous voltage applied on the filter inductor, the switching ripple current through the filter inductor is precisely calculated. Therefore, filter inductance can be designed accurately which guaranties the switching ripple current under the target value. Proposed filter design method is verified by experiment.

Kyoung-Hwan Kim
KACO Korea Inc. 1st Floor, Dongbang Rental Bldg 333-1, Sangdaeeon, Jungwon, Seongnam, Korea e-mail: paul.kim@kacokorea.com switching of the utility inverters can be attenuated not by controllers, but by passive filters [12-16]. The influence of the ripple current on power quality can be evaluated by the ripple factor (RF) defined by (3).
RFsw = I (hsw ) 100 [%] I rate

(3)

This paper analyzes the relation between the filter inductance and the ripple factor according to the PWM pattern of grid-connected single-phase inverters. Based on I. Introduction the analysis, this paper proposes design guideline to get Distributed power generation systems (DPGS) are precise filter inductance that satisfies given ripple factor widely exploited according to the development of limit for the grid injection current. renewable energy systems [1,2]. DPGSs cover wide power Proposed design guideline not only gets accurate filter ranges from 1kW class residential applications to several inductance in L-filter configuration, but also estimates hundred MW class generation parks. Medium and small precise ripple factor for the inverter side L-filter of LCLscale DPGSs are normally connected to grid systems filter configuration which is necessary to get exact LCL through utility interactive inverters that inject grid current filter parameters [11]. Proposed design guideline also by current control mode operation [3-7]. gives correct RMS value of the ripple current which Since the power quality of the grid interface is further can be used for the loss calculation of gridinfluenced by the quality of the injection current, the connected PV inverters. current quality is generally regulated by utility companies Experiment validates the proposed theory and design [8,9]. For example, the total demand distortion (TDD) of guideline. 10-mininute averaged value for the injection current on a DPGS should not goes over 5%, and the even harmonics II. Analysis on ripple current should be limited under 25% to the neighbored harmonic limitation. A) Inverter topology Fig.1 describes a single-phase grid-connected inverter using full-bridge topology. If the b-leg switch is not used h= 2 and the node vn is directly connected to the DC spilt O, Moreover, there exist higher order harmonics based on then the power circuit changes to a half-bridge topology. Grid voltage ea is assumed ideal sinusoid. To simplify the switching frequency of the utility inverters which come from the circuit condition between the PWM the analysis, the fundamental component of the grid switching pattern and the grid voltages. Thus to evaluate current in Fig.1 is assumed to be zero. Thus, the the influence of utility inverters to the power quality on a fundamental component of the voltage applied on the filter grid interface, not only the low order harmonics described inductor is also zero as (4) by (1), but also the high order harmonics described by (2) (4) vL1 = vO1 ea = 0 should be considered [10,11]. As can be seen in Fig.2, single-phase full-bridge 400 (2) inverters normally use unipolar PWM, so that the inverter I rms , sw = I 2 ( h) / I rate h = 41 output voltage v0 has three step values; Vdc, 0, and -Vdc.
TDD =
40

Keywords: Grid-connected PV inverters, Single-phase PWM inverters, Switching ripple current, Filter design

I 2 (h) / I rate

(1)

The current ripples resulted from the high frequency

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during the switching period Ts. Thus, the filter inductor current of grid-connected single-phase full-bridge inverters during any switching period has typical waveform as shown by the lower curve in Fig. 2. In this case, the peak-to-peak value of the filter inductor current ipp that results from the unipolar PWM switching can be calculated as (5).
i pp = 2imax =
Fig. 1 Topology of a single-phase full-bridge inverter.

(Vdc vAV ) d1 T
L 2

(5)

However, single-phase half-bridge inverters have to use bipolar PWM as shown in Fig.3, so that the inverter output voltage v0 has two step values; +Vdc/2, and -Vdc/2. Thus, the characteristics of the ripple current are different between the two inverter topologies. This paper analyzes the switching ripple current on the filter inductor according to the two topologies.

Moreover, when the condition described by (4) is applied to single-phase full-bridge inverters during the interval of 0 < t < , equations (6) and (7) can be deduced.
vAV (t ) = d1 (t )Vdc , ea (t ) = maVdc sin(t )
d1 (t ) = ma sin(t )

(6) (7)

From (6) and (7), the peak-to-peak value of the filter inductor current during 0 < t < can be calculated by (8).
i pp (t ) = VdcTs (1 ma sin(t )) ma sin(t ) 2L

(8)

here, 0 < t < . Fig.4 shows magnitude distribution of ipp of gridconnected single-phase full-bridge inverters according to the parameter of modulation index ma during the angle 0 < t < . ipp() has minimum or maximum value when the utility angle is ; Sin-1(1/2ma), /2, and -Sin-1(1/2ma)
Fig. 2 Output voltage and current waveform of typical single-phase full-bridge inverters.
vo VDC vAV t

VDC i Imax

Fig. 4 Magnitude distribution of ipp of single-phase full-bridge inverters.

Imax

Ts = 1/fs

Fig. 3 Output voltage and current waveform of typical single-phase half-bridge inverters.

B) Analysis of ripple current When the switching frequency fsw is much higher than the utility frequency f0, the time average value of the inverter output voltage vAV can be regard to be constant
Fig. 5 Magnitude distribution of ipp of single-phase half-bridge inverters.

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As the same way, the peak-to-peak value of the filter inductor current ipp that results from the bipolar PWM switching can be calculated as (9).
i pp (t ) = VdcTs 2 {1 ma sin 2 (t )} 4L

(9)

here, 0 < t < . Fig.5 shows magnitude distribution of ipp of gridconnected single-phase half-bridge inverters according to the parameter of modulation index ma during the angle
0 < t < . ipp() has minimum or maximum value when

Since RMS value is related with only absolute value, the RMS value of Fig.6 can be calculated equivalently by the RMS value as Fig.7. When the switching frequency fsw is assumed to integer multiple of the utility frequency ie, fsw=nf0, the number of triangle waves during the 1/4 period (T/4) of the utility angle will be n. Fig.8 describes the distribution of triangle waves, where the magnitude of any k-th triangle wave can be calculated as (10).
imax ( k ) =
VdcTs [1 ma sin ( k )] ma sin( k ) 4L

(10)

the utility angle is; 0, /2, and . Since the voltage and current waveforms are half-cycle symmetry, the situation during < t < 2 repeats same as that of during 0 < t < . C) RMS value of ripple current The ripple current of utility-interactive single-phase full-bridge inverters is consisted with tri-angle waves bounded by ipp/2 as described by Fig.6.

here, = (2k 1) , k=1,2, ..., n. k

4n

Since the RMS value of each triangle wave is

imax ( k ) / 3 as shown by Fig.8, the RMS value of the

ripple current Ir can be calculated as (11).

Ir = 2
n k =1

s I r (k ) 2 =

n k =1

imax ( )2 3

(11)

When the switching frequency goes very high so that s goes to infinitely small, equation (11) can be written by integral form as (12).
Ir = 2 3
/2
0 2 imax ( )d

(12)

Substituting (8) to (12), equation (13) can be deduced.

Ir =
Fig. 6 Typical waveform of the filter inductor ripple current single-phase full-bridge inverters when ma=1.0. i of

VdcTs 4L

2 3

/2
0

2 (1 ma sin ) 2 ma sin 2 d

(13)

By calculating the integral in (13), the RMS value of the switching ripple current in single-phase full-bridge inverters can be obtained by (14).
Ir = VdcTs 4L 2 3
/2
0 2 (1 2ma sin + ma sin 2 ) 2 ma (1 cos 2 ) d 2

Fig. 7 Equivalent waveform of the ripple current for RMS value.

VdcTs 4L

2 2ma 3 2 4 (1 + ma ) ma 3 4 4 3

(14)

In the same way, the ripple current through the filter inductor of grid-connected single-phase half-bridge inverters is consisted with tri-angle waves bounded by ipp/2 as described by Fig.9.

Fig. 8 RMS calculation of the equivalent filter inductor ripple current

i.

Fig. 9 Equivalent RMS waveform of filter inductor ripple current single-phase half-bridge inverters.

i of

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Thus, the RMS value of the switching ripple current in single-phase half-bridge inverters can be calculated by (15)
Ir = VTdcTs 8L VTdcTs 8L 2 3 4 2 1 ma + ma 3 2 8 1 3 4 2 1 ma + ma 3 8

C) Filter design example Table 1 describes circuit conditions for an example grid-connected PV inverter.

(15)

Table 1 Circuit conditions for grid-connected PV inverters.

Item Rated Power P Rated Voltage V

Condition 10kVA 220V 60Hz 6kHz

III. Filter design guide line

A) Filter design on full-bridge topology The fundamental component for the filter inductor current of grid-connected single-phase full-bridge inverters can be calculated as (16).
I1 = maVdc m TV = a dc 2 Zbase 2 2 Lb

Utility frequency fo Switching frequency fsw

The per-unit system for the circuit condition can be calculated as follows;
Ib = P = 45.45[ A] V

(16)

(22)

Thus, the switching ripple factor of grid-connected single-phase full-bridge inverters (RFsw) is calculated by (17).
T L 3 2 4 I 1 + ma ma s b RFsw = r = 3 4 4 3 I1 T L

Zb = Lb =

V2 = 4.84[] P Zb = 12.84[ mH ] 2 f

(23) (24)

(17)

Reversely, when the ripple factor of the injection current is given by RFsw, the filter inductor must be designed by (18).
T 1 3 2 4 L 1 + ma ma s [ pu ] 4 3 Lb RFsw 3 4 T

(18)

B) Filter design on half-bridge topology The fundamental component for the filter inductor current of grid-connected single-phase half-bridge inverters can be calculated as (19).
I1 = maVdc m TV = a dc 2 2 Z base 4 2 Lb

Thus when the switching ripple factor limitation is set to 10%, filter inductance for single-phase PV inverter can be designed by Table 2 and Table 3. Table 2 is for fullbridge inverters, and Table 3 is for half-bridge inverters. Per-unit filter inductance data in Table 2 and Table 3 can be applied to any power rating and any voltage rating. When the modulation index is ma=1.0, the filter inductance of single-phase half-bridge inverter is around 3.79 times to that of single-phase full-bridge inverter. While, when the modulation index is ma=0.8, the filter inductance of single-phase half-bridge inverter is around 3.63 times to that of single-phase full-bridge inverter.
Table 2 Filter inductance for single-phase full-bridge inverters.

(19)

Modulation Index ma=1.0 ma=0.8

Filter inductance Per-unit [pu] 0.02075 0.03166 Real [mH] 0.266 0.406

Thus, the switching ripple factor of grid-connected single-phase half-bridge inverters (RFsw) is calculated by (20).
RFsw =
2 4 2 (1 ma + 3ma / 8 ) Ts Lb 2 6ma

(20)
Table 3 Filter inductance for single-phase half-bridge inverters.

When the ripple factor of the injection current is given by RFsw, the filter inductor must be designed by (21).
L 1 Lb RFsw
2 4 2 (1 ma + 3ma / 8) Ts 2 6ma

Modulation Index ma=1.0 ma=0.8

Filter inductance Per-unit [pu] 0.07854 0.11489 Real [mH] 1.008 1.475

[ pu ]

(21)

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IV.

Experiment

same filter inductances used in the experiment. Then the measured ripple factor RFsw,mes and the estimated ripple factor RFsw,est are compared to verify proposed theory.
Table 4 Experimental results for proposed grid-connected single-phase inverters.

To verify presented theory between the switching ripple factor and the filter inductance of grid-connected singlephase inverters, experiment is proceed on 10kVA/ 220V grid-connected PV inverter as described by Fig.10.

PWM topology
V dc 2
n a a'
vo 4.8Ohm v rs

Filter Inductor [mH]/[pu] 0.27/0.021 0.505/0.039

Ripple Factor RFsw,est [%] 15.0766 29.2351 RFsw,mes [%] 14.5 28.4

Unipolar
0.27mH io

Bipolar

Table 4 demonstrates the experimental results by the proposed filter design guideline for grid-connected singlephase full-bridge inverter and half bridge inverter Fig. 10 Experimental system of grid-connected single-phase fullrespectively. Half-bridge inverter is implemented by bridge inverter. adopting bipolar PWM topology to the same experimental system. Fig.11 shows experimental waveform of the gridconnected single-phase full-bridge inverter with the filter inductance of 0.27 [mH] whose per-unit value is 0.021 [pu]. As expected by the theory, the magnitude of the ripple component varies quadruple during the utility cycle. Applying the equivalent per-unit filter inductance, equation (17) estimates the switching ripple factor of the inductor current in the single-phase full-bridge inverter as RFsw,est =15.0766 [%]. From FFT analysis for the measured filter inductor current, the switching ripple Fig. 11 Experimental waveform of grid-connected single-phase fullbridge inverters when ma=0.8. factor RFsw,mes can be calculated to around 14.5 [%] to the rated RMS current. This is 96.17 [%] against the estimated switching ripple factor RFsw,est. Thus the error is about -4 [%]. Fig.12 shows experimental waveform of the gridconnected single-phase half-bridge inverter with the filter inductance of 0.505 [mH] whose per-unit value is 0.0393 [pu]. As expected by the theory, the magnitude of the ripple component varies twice during the utility cycle. Applying the equivalent per-unit filter inductance, equation (20) estimates the switching ripple factor of the inductor current in the single-phase half-bridge inverter as Fig. 12 Experimental waveform of grid-connected single-phase halfRFsw,est =29.2351 [%]. From FFT analysis for the bridge inverters when ma=0.8. measured filter inductor current, the switching ripple factor RFsw,mes can be calculated to around 28.4 [%] to the Experimental conditions are equal to Table 1. Here, rated RMS current. This is 96.17 [%] against the estimated modulation index is set to ma=0.8 through the experiment. switching ripple factor RFsw,est. Thus the error is about -3 However, the experimental verification goes opposite [%]. way. Since precise implementation of filter inductor is not However, the error is expected to decrease further if the easy, this paper first selects available filter inductor in the experimental system uses rated load resistor of 4.84 [] laboratory, then measure the switching ripple factor instead of presently used load resistor of 4.80 [] that is RFsw,mes by the selected filter inductor. Next, estimates the 99 [%] to the rated resistance. switching ripple factor RFsw,est by (17) or (20) applying the

V dc 2

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V. Conclusion This paper has proposed design guideline for the filter inductor of grid-connected single-phase PV inverters, which was verified by experiment. RMS value of fundamental component and ripple component for the filter inductor current of grid-connected single-phase PV inverters was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Based on the ripple current analysis, design guideline for filter inductor against the limitation of ripple factor was presented. Experiment verified that the proposed filter design guideline is very precise with the error under 4 [%]. Proposed design guideline is useful not only to get accurate filter inductance in L filter design, but also to get necessary intermediate filter inductance in LCL filter design. Proposed RMS calculation of the switching ripple current can be used for loss calculation of grid-connected single-phase inverter systems.

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