The proportional + resonant (PR) controller has been proposed in the past as a suitable method to control the current generated by the grid-connected photovoltaic voltage source inverters. Due to the fact that information regarding the frequency of the grid is needed to use this control technique, the synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop (SRF-PLL) is commonly used. To assure that the total harmonic distortion of the injected current (THDi) meets the appropriate standards, even if the grid voltage is polluted and its frequency varies, an adaptive control strategy is presented in this paper. This control strategy can improve the behavior of both, the conventional SRF-PLL and the conventional PR controller, when they are used in a polluted grid with a time varying frequency. The experimental results obtained by means of a digitally controlled 10-kVA inverter, show up that the THDi of the injected current is improved when the proposed adaptive control strategy replaces the conventional one.

This study presents a transformerless topology for a grid‐tied single‐phase inverter capable of performing the simultaneous maximum power point tracking of two independent and series connected photovoltaic sources. This topology is derived from the neutral point clamped multilevel inverter in half‐bridge configuration. The use of a half‐bridge topology reduces the leakage current to very low values, whereas the multilevel topology presents an output voltage quality similar to that of a full‐bridge inverter. To simultaneously track the maximum power of both photovoltaic sources, a generation control circuit is used. With this topology, it is possible to improve the performance of the converter under partial shadowing conditions, very common in photovoltaic facilities operating in residential areas. A 5 kW prototype of this topology has been implemented and tested in the laboratory.

In testing maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms running on electronic power converters for photovoltaic (PV) applications, either a PV energy source (PV module or PV array) or a PV emulator is required. With a PV emulator, it is possible to control the testing conditions with accuracy so that it is the preferred option. The PV source is modeled as a current source; thus, the emulator has to work as a current source dependent on its output voltage. The proposed emulator is a buck converter with an average current mode control loop, which allows testing the static and dynamic performance of PV facilities up to 3 kW. To validate the concept, the emulator is used to evaluate the MPPT algorithm of a 230-W experimental microinverter working from a single PV module. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.