Harmonics Minimization in PUC Type Solar Multilevel Converter with Multicarrier Switching Schemes

Abstract

This paper presents the power quality investigation of a seven-level three-phase packed U-cell (PUC) converter with multicarrier switching schemes. This system is grid-connected, and each phase has two solar PV arrays of different voltages. Various modulation schemes are available for switching the multilevel converter, and level-shifted multicarrier pulse width modulation is widely used for easy implementation. A new modified carrier-based modulation technique is introduced for solar PV array fed PUC inverter. The main aim is to reduce the harmonic content in the seven-level output voltage. It also increases the magnitude of the fundamental component of the converter voltage. The comparison of the presented technique shows its advantages over other existing modulation schemes. Closed-loop control is implemented with the inclusion of a modified switching scheme for switching the three-phase PUC converter. The proportional resonant controller provides excellent dynamic performance to feed the power into the grid. Modeling and simulation of the system are done in MATLAB/Simulink. Furthermore, obtained simulation results verify the effectivity of the switching scheme towards minimizing total harmonic distortion. The overall system is validated in the real-time simulator for steady-state and dynamic environmental conditions.

KEYWORDS:

• DQ control
• Modified triangular PWM
• Power quality
• PUC inverter
• Solar power integration
• THD

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors are grateful to Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India for facilitating research in Electrical Department at IIT, Delhi [grant number RP03195]. The authors also acknowledge “Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) National Science Chair Fellowship” for providing research funds.

Notes on contributors

Sanjay Upreti

Sanjay Upreti has done his BTech from G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, India in 1989, MTech from IIT Delhi in 2012, and pursuing PhD in electrical engineering from Department of Electrical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India. He has worked in the Electrical Maintenance Department of the chemical process industry from 1990 to 1993. He worked in a PCB manufacturing unit from 1994 to 2008 as a factory manager. He joined academics in 2008 as an Assistant professor in Al-Falah School of Engineering and Technology (AFSET), Faridabad, Haryana and worked till 2010. Since then, he is associated with Bhagwan Parshuram Institute of Technology (BPIT), Delhi, India, as an assistant professor in the Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) Department. His research area is power quality, renewable energy, multilevel converter, and its applications. Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Bhim Singh

Bhim Singh (Fellow, IEEE, IET, IETE, National Science Chair, and CEA Chair Professor) was born in Rahamapur, Bijnor (UP), India, in 1956. He has received his BE (Electrical) from the University of Roorkee (Now IIT Roorkee), India, in 1977 and his MTech (Power Apparatus & Systems) and PhD (Electrical Engineering) from the IIT Delhi, India, in 1979 and 1983, respectively. In 1983, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Roorkee, as a lecturer. He became a Reader there in 1988. In December 1990, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi, India, as an assistant professor, where he has become an associate professor in 1994 and a professor in 1997. He has been head of the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Delhi from July 2014 to August 2016. He has been dean, Academics at IIT Delhi , August 2016 to August 2019. He has been JC Bose Fellow of DST, Government of India from December 2015 to June 2021. He has been CEA Chair Professor from January 2019 to June 2021. He is SERB National Science Chair since July 2021. Prof Singh has guided 100 PhD dissertations and 170 ME/MTech/MS(R) theses. He has filed 87 patents. He has executed 90 sponsored and consultancy projects. His areas of interest include solar PV grid interface systems, microgrids, power quality monitoring, and mitigation. Email: [email protected]

Narendra Kumar

Narendra Kumar has done his BE from IIT-Roorkee in 1985, ME from PEC Chandigarh in 1987, and PhD from Delhi College of Engineering (now known as Delhi Technological University), Delhi in 2003 in electrical engineering. He is currently a professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, and Delhi, India. His current area of interest is Power Electronics applications in power systems, instrumentation and Control. Email: [email protected]