AC MODULES AND SOLAR POWER ELECTRONICS

AUTHORS Patrick Chapman, PhD CTO, SolarBridge Technologies Greg Madianos Product Line Director, SolarBridge Technologies

Rev. 1.0 October 8, 2010

AC MODULES AND SOLAR POWER ELECTRONICS

Ever since solar microinverters were rst conceived of thirty years ago, the development of solar modules that directly produce grid-compatible AC power has been a long-sought goal of the PV industry. As a step in that direction, module-level microinverters were rst introduced to the PV market in the 1990s. Only recently, however, have they progressed to the point where they provide a compelling alternative to the central inverters most commonly used today in PV systems. Additional forms of module-level electronics promising gains in energy harvest among other benets have also emerged recently, and many industry analysts expect that within a few years most PV modules will feature some form of module-level power electronics. This article summarizes the various forms of power electronics available today for PV modules, ranging from central inverters used in traditional DC-based systems to newly-developed AC modules (Fig 1). The primary characteristics examined lie in the areas of energy harvest, installation costs, communications, and ongoing service requirements over the operational life of a PV system, typically 25 years.

FIGURE 1 Solar Power Electronics Categories

Central Inverters
Central inverters are the most common form of power electronics used in PV systems today. In this model (Fig 2), a single, large inverter is connected to many PV modules wired in series to form strings with up to 600V of open-circuit voltage (1,000V in Europe). Multiple strings within the array may also be wired together in parallel before converging at the inverter, yielding some added exibility in system design and performance.

FIGURE 2 Central Inverter with Multiple Strings

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Capitalizing on many years of development, the DC-to-AC conversion efciency of many central inverters is 95% or higher, and they feature a relatively low unit cost per watt. However, central inverters have multiple drawbacks. They perform maximum power point tracking (MPPT) on the combined DC voltage and current produced by the series-connected modules, resulting in lost energy harvest due to module mismatch and varying shading conditions across the array. The use of high-voltage DC wiring raises some safety concerns, including a higher risk of arc faults, a primary cause of PV-related res. Central inverters cannot monitor the performance of individual PV modules, so damaged or otherwise compromised modules often go undetected. Central inverters also necessitate additional installation and system design costs, and a failure of the inverter results in a complete loss of production from the entire array. As most central inverters carry ve- or ten-year warrantees, such a system-level outage can occur several times over the operating life of a PV system, and leads to the costly purchase and installation of a replacement inverter each time. Finally, central inverters limit the design and site selection of PV systems, particularly in residential applications. They require co-planar module layouts and a lack of partial shading from chimneys, trees, vent pipes, etc. PV installers may opt out of half or more of potential sites due to these restrictions.

DC-DC Optimizers
DC-DC optimizers supplement a central inverter with individual DC-DC converters installed for each PV module (Fig 3). There are several types of DC-DC optimizerssome are wired serially in strings, while others produce high voltage and are wired in parallel. Some step each modules DC output voltage either up or down, while others can do both.

FIGURE 3 Central inverter with one DC-DC optimizer per module

The central inverter still converts the combined DC output from across the array to grid-compatible AC power, but the DC-DC optimizers perform MPPT at the module level. This allows each module to produce its full output without being held back by any under-performing modules in the array. DC-DC optimizers also permit module-level communications and performance monitoring. However, DC-DC optimizers retain a key disadvantage of central invertersa failure of the central inverter still results in a complete loss of system output. Furthermore, some DC-DC optimizer systems also require a separate command-and-control device to operate, creating one more point of potential system failure in addition to the central inverter. With additional equipment to purchase and install, DC-DC optimizers add to the initial cost of a PV system. The added module-level hardware also imposes a penalty on overall system-level efciency by introducing an additional stage of lossy power conversion.

Detached Microinverters
Detached microinverters are installed on the racking system beneath each PV module (Fig 4). By performing MPPT at the module level, detached microinverters offer enhanced energy harvest relative to central inverters, and have developed to the point where some achieve power conversion efciencies close to that of central inverters. Module-level communication and monitoring is possible, typically via power line communications, and system design is simplied by eliminating the need to account for varying levels of performance across modules in the array.

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FIGURE 4 Detached Microinverters

However, the additional labor required to install detached microinverters adds substantially to the initial cost of a PV system. Furthermore, as most detached microinverters offer only ve- to fteen-year warrantees, it is almost certainly necessary to replace all of themat varying timesduring the operational life of a PV system, which requires the costly de-installation and re-installation of one or more modules each time. As such, ongoing operating costs for detached microinverter systems can be signicant.

AC Modules with Integrated Microinverters

The National Electric Code denes AC modules as: A complete, environmentally protected unit consisting of solar cells, optics, inverter, and other components, designed to generate AC power when exposed to sunlight. In an AC module, a microinverter is directly integrated with a PV panel, yielding a module that natively generates grid-compatible AC power (Fig 5). AC modules attain all of the energy harvest and other advantages of detached microinverters, but since they ship as factory-tested power generators that satisfy a stringent set of requirements around coupling and integration, they eliminate the need for the additional installation steps required by detached microinverters.

FIGURE 5 AC Modules with Integral Microinverters

AC modules simplify system design, allowing any number and combination of modules to connect directly to the grid, and provide enhanced safety by eliminating all exposed DC wiring from the system altogether. To capture the full advantage of AC modules, however, the integrated microinverter must achieve a high level of reliability and longevity, enabling it to support a module-compatible 25-year warranty and obviating the need for the system owner to buy and install multiple replacement inverters. For example, SolarBridge Pantheon microinverters feature an advanced design that eliminates failure-prone components such as electrolytic capacitors and opto-isolators, replacing them with highly-ruggedized components with no near-term wear-out mechanisms.

Conclusion
This article summarizes solar power electronics architectures, including several that have emerged in recent years as alternatives to traditional PV systems in which series-wired DC modules are connected as a group to a central inverter. Of these architectures, AC modules with integrated, long-life microinverters such as the SolarBridge Pantheon achieve the dual advantages of both enhanced energy harvest and signicantly reduced installation and operating costs, yielding the lowest levelized cost of energy and hastening the arrival of grid parity for solar energy.

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