Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

GaN‐based split phase transformer‐less PV inverter with auxiliary ZVT circuit

Journal Article · · IET Power Electronics
 [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. School of Electrical Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University Tempe Arizona USA
  2. Power Systems Engineering Center National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado USA

This paper explores performance enhancement of the common ground dynamic dc‐link (CGDL) inverter for single phase photovoltaic (PV) applications by a combination of gallium nitride (GaN) devices, split phase topology, coupled inductors, and zero voltage transition (ZVT) scheme. The CGDL inverter has the inherent advantage of minimised dc‐link capacitance and negligible leakage current due to the common ground configuration, but its reported efficiency was usually lower because of the higher dc‐link voltage used for the reduction of decoupling capacitance to a great extent. To solve the efficiency problem, in this study, a soft switching circuit is proposed for the first stage, while a coupled inductor integrated magnetics is incorporated in the second stage to reduce inductor loss, volume, and cost. Both of these topological improvements combined with the use of GaN devices facilitate in achieving high efficiency without compromising converter power density. Extensive experimental results are provided from a GaN based 1 kVA hardware prototype to demonstrate the superior performance of the CGDL inverter attaining a peak efficiency of 98.7% and a California Energy Commission efficiency of 98.5% at 75/50 kHz switching frequency.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0006521
OSTI ID:
1786675
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1659970
Journal Information:
IET Power Electronics, Journal Name: IET Power Electronics Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 13; ISSN 1755-4535
Publisher:
Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

References (23)

DC-link voltage control strategy for reducing capacitance and total harmonic distortion in single-phase grid-connected photovoltaic inverters journal August 2015
Improved single-phase transformerless inverter with high power density and high efficiency for grid-connected photovoltaic systems journal February 2016
Design and implementation of single-phase inverter without transformer for PV applications journal April 2018
Resonant snubbers with auxiliary switches journal January 1993
A GaN based doubly grounded, reduced capacitance transformer-less split phase photovoltaic inverter with active power decoupling conference March 2017
A single phase transformerless string inverter with large voltage swing of half-bridge capacitors for active power decoupling conference September 2016
A Single-Phase Asymmetrical T-Type Five-Level Transformerless PV Inverter journal March 2018
A novel family of DC-DC PWM converters using the self-resonance principle conference January 1994
GaN-Based High-Power-Density Electrolytic-Free Universal Input LED Driver journal July 2018
Power Decoupling Method for Single-Phase H-Bridge Inverters With No Additional Power Electronics journal August 2015
A Design of a DC–AC Inverter Using a Modified ZVS-PWM Auxiliary Commutation Pole and a DSP-Based PID-Like Fuzzy Control journal January 2016
Highly Reliable Transformerless Photovoltaic Inverters With Leakage Current and Pulsating Power Elimination journal February 2016
A Single-Phase Transformerless Inverter With Charge Pump Circuit Concept for Grid-Tied PV Applications journal July 2017
Common-Ground-Type Transformerless Inverters for Single-Phase Solar Photovoltaic Systems journal March 2018
Zero-Voltage Switching DC Link Single-Phase Pulsewidth-Modulated Voltage Source Inverter journal September 2007
A Review of Power Decoupling Techniques for Microinverters With Three Different Decoupling Capacitor Locations in PV Systems journal June 2013
A Photovoltaic Array Transformer-Less Inverter With Film Capacitors and Silicon Carbide Transistors journal March 2015
Modeling and Design of Series Voltage Compensator for Reduction of DC-Link Capacitance in Grid-Tie Solar Inverter journal May 2015
A High Power Density Series-Stacked Energy Buffer for Power Pulsation Decoupling in Single-Phase Converters journal June 2017
A Capacitance-Minimized, Doubly Grounded Transformer less Photovoltaic Inverter With Inherent Active-Power Decoupling journal July 2017
Development of DC to Single-Phase AC Voltage Source Inverter With Active Power Decoupling Based on Flying Capacitor DC/DC Converter journal June 2018
Naturally Adaptive, Low-Loss Zero-Voltage-Transition Circuit for High-Frequency Full-Bridge Inverters With Hybrid PWM journal June 2018
A 500-kHz, 3.3-kW Power Factor Correction Circuit With Low-Loss Auxiliary ZVT Circuit journal June 2018

Similar Records

GaN-Based Split Phase Transformer-Less PV Inverter with Auxiliary ZVT Circuit
Journal Article · Wed Nov 20 23:00:00 EST 2019 · IET Power Electronics · OSTI ID:1659970

High Step-Up Transformerless Inverter for AC Module Applications With Active Power Decoupling
Journal Article · Thu Aug 02 20:00:00 EDT 2018 · IEEE Translations on Industrial Electronics · OSTI ID:2446684

High Performance ZVT with Bus Clamping Modulation Technique for Single Phase Full Bridge Inverters
Conference · Sun Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · OSTI ID:1238685

Related Subjects