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To print: Select File and then Print from your browser 's menu. Grasping the significance of solar inverters Posted:01 Sep 2011 In the recent years, solar power has become a major power source due to its environmental and economic benefits and proven reliability. Since the solar power system does not have moving parts, virtually it does not require any kind of maintenance once installed. In this paper, the overview of solar power industry will be discussed along with "Sun Farmer" solar inverter platform project designed by IMI Singapore D & D team. Solar Power is produced by collecting sunlight on the solar panels and converting it into electrical energy. A solar cell (also called photovoltaic cell) is the smallest solid-state device that converts the energy of sunlight directly into electricity through the photovoltaic effect. A Photovoltaic (PV) module is an assembly of cells in series or parallel to augment voltage and/or current. A Panel is an assembly of modules on a structure. An Array is an assembly of panels at a site. The performance of a solar cell is measured in terms of its efficiency at turning the sunlight into electricity. A typical commercial solar cell has an efficiency of 15 percent, i.e., about one-sixth of the sunlight striking the cell generates electricity. Improving solar cell efficiencies while holding down the cost per cell is an important goal of the PV industry. Available PV technologies Photovoltaic (PV) cells are generally made either from crystalline silicon sliced from ingots or castings, or from grown ribbons or thin film deposited in thin layers on a low-cost backing. Crystalline silicon technology: This is the most common technology representing about 90 percent of the market today. Crystalline silicon cells are made from thin slices cut from a single crystal of silicon (monocrystalline) or from a block of silicon crystals (polycrystalline). Their efficiency ranges between 12 percent and 17 percent. Three main types of crystalline cells can be distinguished: Monocrystalline (Mono c-Si) Polycrystalline (or Multicrystalline)(multi c-Si) Ribbon sheets (ribbon-sheet c-Si)

Figure 1: (a) Monocrystalline, and (b) Polycrystalline. Thin film technology: Thin film modules are constructed by depositing extremely thin layers of photosensitive materials onto a low-cost backing such as glass, stainless steel or plastic. Modern technologies use a printing process, far faster than conventional high-vacuum deposition, to create an efficient, durable solar cell. This method boosts the cost and capital efficiency of the solar panels.

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Several other types of photovoltaic technologies developed today have begun to be commercialized or still at the research level. Some of these are: Concentrated photovoltaic: Concentrated photovoltaic systems use lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto high-efficiency solar cells. These solar cells are typically more expensive than conventional cells used for flat-plate photovoltaic systems. However, the concentration decreases the required cell area while also increasing the cell efficiency. Efficiencies are in the range of 2030 percent.

Figure 2: Here's a flexible PV cell. Flexible cells: Based on a production process similar to that of thin film cells, when the active material is deposited in a thin plastic, the cell can be flexible. Some of these are lightweight, bendable, easily interconnected, easily adjusted in size and capable of supporting up to 25 Amps of current per cell. These attributes open the range of applications, especially for building integration (roof tiles) and end-consumer applications. Benefits of solar power The use of solar power has many advantages. First, the energy from the sun is free and readily accessible in most parts of the world. Moreover, the sun will keep shining until the world's end. Also, silicon from which most photovoltaic cells are made is an abundant and nontoxic element (the second most abundant material in the earth's crust). Second, the whole energy conversion process is environmentally friendly. It produces no noise, harmful emissions or polluting gases. The burning of natural resources for energy can create smoke, cause acid rain and pollute water and air. Carbon dioxide, CO2, a leading greenhouse gas, is also produced in the case of burning fuels. Solar power uses only the power of the sun as its fuel. It creates no harmful byproduct and contributes actively to the reduction of global warming.

Figure 3: Greenhouse gases illustrated in grams per kilowatt-hour of CO2 equivalent).

PV systems are safe and highly reliable. The estimated lifetime of a PV module is 30 years. Furthermore,
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the modules' performance is very high, providing over 80 percent of the initial power after 25 years, which makes photovoltaic a very reliable technology in the long term. In addition, very high quality standards are set at a European level, which guarantees that consumers buy reliable products. PV Modules can be recycled and, therefore, the materials used in the production process (silicon, glass, aluminium, etc.) can be reused. Recycling is not only beneficial for the environment but also for helping reduce the energy needed to produce those materials and, hence, the cost of fabrication. It requires low maintenance. Solar modules are almost maintenance-free and are easily installed. It brings electricity to remote rural areas. Solar systems give an added value to rural areas (especially in developing countries where electricity is not available). House lighting, hospital refrigeration systems and water pumping are some of the many applications for off-grid systems. Telecommunication systems in remote areas are also well-known users of PV systems. It can be aesthetically integrated in buildings (BI PV). Systems can cover roofs and facades, cutting down on the energy buildings consume. They don't produce noise and can be integrated in very aesthetic ways. European building legislations have been and are being reviewed to make renewable energies a required energy source in public and residential buildings. This fact is accelerating the development of eco-buildings and positive energy buildings (E+ Buildings), opening up many opportunities for a better integration of PV systems in the built environment. The energy payback time of a module is constantly decreasing. This means that the time required for a PV module to produce as much energy as it needs to be manufactured is very short, varying between 1.5 years and 3 years. Over its lifetime, a typical PV module, in a sunny climate, will produce over 20 times the electricity initially used to manufacture it. Solar energy costs While the oil industry uses price per barrel as its unit of price measurement, the primary unit of measure for the solar energy industry typically is price per Watt Peak (Wp). In order to translate, kWp (a standardized measure excluding solar conditions) to kWh (a measure that takes account of solar conditions), an adjustment for the actual location of the solar panel is necessary in order to take into account how much sunlight would be expected in that location over the period of a year. Some simple examples are that a 1kWp System will produce approximately: 1800 kWh/year in Southern California 850 kWh/year in Northern Germany 1600-2000 kWh/year in India and Australia Solar electricity prices today hover around 30 cents/kWh, or 25 times the average residential electricity tariffs. Solar market The solar PV market has been booming over the last years and is forecast to maintain an upward trend in the coming years. By the end of 2008 the global cumulative capacity exceeded 15.6 GWp, and at the end of 2009 hit 22.9 GWpa whopping 46 percent increase within just one year. It should be noted that the European Union contributes to more than 60 percent of the global cumulative capacity. Today, more than 3 million households in Europe get their power from solar photovoltaic electricity. Competitive positioning About 59 percent of the world's solar product sales installed in the last five years were in applications that are tied to the electricity grid. Solar Energy prices in these applications are 520 times more expensive than the cheapest source of conventional electricity generation, although they may only be 35 times the electricity tariff that utility customers pay. In contrast, PV can be fully cost competitive on economic grounds in remote (off-grid) industrial and habitational applications. However, it is the grid-connected market that remains the major prize for the solar industry because of the huge scale of the electricity supply market. Indeed, this is where growth has recently been strongest. While solar is a long way from competing with conventional power generation costs at 35 cents/kWh, it is much closer to reaching electricity tariffs charged to residential, commercial and industrial consumers. This is especially relevant because when the PV is located in the consumers' premises then the comparison for the customer is between the tariff rate and the cost of PV electricity from his system.
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On-grid market opportunity An analysis of electricity rates around the world shows that the solar industry is rapidly approaching the point where commercial on-grid market niches will be created in selected countries or regions where electricity rates are high. In order for the solar industry to make a systematic penetration in to the electricity segment, installed solar-system costs will need to drop from around $810/Wp to $3/Wp. This would continue the trend of falling solar electricity costs over the last 25 years. A push to $3/Wp would bring solar energy costs from the present 30 cents per kilowatt-hour to around 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, which would allow it to compete more strongly with other renewable energies and capture a significant share of the electricity market.

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Figures 4a and 4b: Here is the historical development of global cumulative PV power installed per region (Source: European Photovoltaic Industry Association [EPIA)]). Country comparisons As shown in Figures 4a and 4b the most significant country markets for solar PV are Japan, the United States and Germany. In recent years, the major national market incentive programs have further boosted installations in both Japan and Germany. One result is that Germany has now overtaken the United States. Most of the Japanese and German sales have been to grid-tied applications, mainly for residential roof-mounted systems and building-integrated PV. US demand has a higher proportion of rural off-grid demand than these other two markets. Driving forces Amongst the industrialized countries, the Japanese and German Governments have led the way in legislating the use of high subsidies to stimulate development of their domestic solar markets. This has caused the evolution of the industry structure in each country and led to strong distributor and dealer networks with well-trained installers and good customer support capabilities. Underlying government policy has been the desire both to reduce CO2 emissions via solar deployment and to develop a strong national solar industry creating high-technology jobs. Overall, the drivers of regional solar energy demand in applications where the solar energy is connected to the electricity grid are: Regional programs led by national or state governments and the extent of subsidies within these The enthusiasm of customers for green energy, especially solar Local electricity tariffs (high electricity rates encourage alternative sources of energy) Solar (sunlight) conditions (solar electricity prices fall as sunlight levels increase) Marketing strategies by solar companies The extent of the "delivery infrastructure" (the number of local suppliers and qualified installers) Across all regions and applications, customer awareness of what solar PV can offer is one of the biggest factors limiting market growth. Photovoltaic applications The Photovoltaic technology can be used in several types of applications: Grid-connected domestic systems: This is the most popular type of solar PV system for homes and
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Grid-connected domestic systems: This is the most popular type of solar PV system for homes and businesses in developed areas. Connection to the local electricity network allows any excess power produced to feed the electricity grid and to sell it to the utility. Electricity is then imported from the network when the sun is not out. An inverter is used to convert the direct current (DC) power produced by the system to alternative current (AC) power for running normal electrical equipment.

Figures 5a and 5b: Shown are grid connected solar inverters.

Grid-connected power plants: These systems, also grid-connected, produce a large quantity of photovoltaic electricity in a single point. The size of these plants ranges from several hundred kilowatts to
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several megawatts. Some of these applications are located in large industrial buildings such as airport terminals or railway stations. This type of large application makes use of already available space and compensates a part of the electricity produced by these energy-intensive consumers. Off-grid systems for rural electrification: Where no electric mains is available, the system is connected to a battery via a charge controller. An inverter can be used to provide AC power, enabling the use of normal electrical appliances. Typical off-grid applications are used to bring access to electricity to remote areas (e.g., mountain huts and developing countries). Rural electrification means either small solar home system covering basic electricity needs in a single household, or larger solar mini-grids, which provide enough power for several homes.

Figures 6: An illustration of stand-alone (off grid) solar inverter. Hybrid systems: A solar system can be combined with another source of powera biomass generator, a wind turbine or diesel generatorto ensure a consistent supply of electricity. A hybrid system can be gridconnected, stand-alone or grid-supported. Off-grid industrial applications: Uses of solar electricity for remote applications are very frequent in the telecommunications field, especially to link remote rural areas to the rest of the country. Repeater stations for mobile telephones powered by PV or hybrid systems also have a large potential. Other applications include traffic signals, marine navigation aids, security phones, remote lighting, highway signs and waste water-treatment plants. These applications are cost competitive today, as they are able to bring power in areas far away from electric mains, avoiding the high cost of installing cabled networks. Solar inverters A typical solar power system consists of an array of solar PV panels and inverters. The PV panels convert the sun's rays directly into electrical energy in the form of DC voltage, and the inverter converts the DC voltage coming out of PV panels into AC voltage which is sent back to the utility grid. Therefore, the inverters have become the central parts of grid-connected systems.

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Figures 7: An illustration of grid-connected inverter using linear transformer. In addition to high efficiencies for DC-AC conversion and maximum power point tracking (MPPT), inverters should produce AC energy at the required qualitywith low total harmonic distortion (THD) of current, a high power factor (close to unity) and a low level of electromagnetic interferenceto maximize the transfer of energy from the array to the grid. Inverters must also comply with safety requirements for users, equipment and the grid itself. Several topologies are available for the inverter. One of them is to use a linear transformer driven by an Hbridge. It is the simplest and the most reliable method offering the complete isolation between the power grid and the DC front end. It also prevents the DC current injection into the grid, which is undesirable. But the drawback with this topology lies in the fact that power loss on the linear transformer is significant, hence resulting in low efficiency. The bulkiness and heavy weight of the linear transformer are additional disadvantages in this topology. Another topology uses the output inductors in place of the heavy linear transformers. This method ultimately offers the highest efficiency among all topologies, and because of the small sizes of the inductor the inverter becomes much lighter and cost effective when compared with their linear transformer counterpart. But the drawback is that it no longer provides any form of electrical isolation between the grid and the PV panels. Some countries, with their strict regulations, do not accept this type of inverter.

Figures 8: An illustration of transformer-less inverter.

Therefore, inverter manufacturers find ways to get around with this by including the high frequency, highly efficient, small and light transformer at the front end DC-DC converter. Not only does it offer the galvanic isolation between the grid and the PV panels, it also provides the regulated and controlled DC bus voltage to inverter. As an added advantage, the MPPT feature can be included in the DC-DC converter section. The MPPT system in the inverter will make sure that the inverter is always operating at the maximum power the PV panels can deliver in various weather conditions and at any time of day.

Figures 9: Grid-connected inverter using HF transformer and inductors. Sun Farmer solar inverter is the first inverter platform by IMI Singapore D & D team utilizing the
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transformer-less topology (at the output) combined with the front-end DC-DC converter using the small high frequency-high efficient transformer. The phase-shift DC-DC converter with a Zero Voltage Transition (ZVT) mechanism is touted to allow the reduction of switching loss on the semiconductor devices. The fullbridge topology is used at the output driving two inductors.

Figures 10: Here is the fundamental schematic diagram of Sun Farmer inverter. At the heart of the IMI's solar inverter is a 32-bit microprocessor, which has a digital control algorithm for power management for grid-connected operations and MPPT algorithm. The firmware is developed by using C language. Among the tasks performed by this microprocessor are MPPT tracking mechanism in the DC-DC section, Grid voltage Zero-Cross detection, Grid phase synchronizing using PLL, Park & Reverse Park transformation of grid voltage and current, calculation of active power and reactive power and other protection features. One feature of the Sun Farmer Inverter is that it requires no user intervention once connected to the PV cells. It automatically detects the presence of grid voltage and controls the output voltage synchronous with the grid voltage, frequency and phase. The targeted life expectancy for the IMI's solar inverter is greater than eight years. Safety features: Grid connected in photovoltaic (PV) systems must observe the islanding situation when the utility supply fails. In case of islanding, the PV generations must be disconnected immediately from mains. PV generators can continue to meet only the local load, if the PV output matches the load. But if the grid is connected during islanding, transient over-current can flow through the PV system inverters, which may damage protective equipment such as circuit breakers. There are many reasons that islanding must be prevented with photovoltaic or any other distributed-energy generation. Some of these are listed below: The utility cannot control voltage and frequency in the island, creating the possibility of damage to customer equipment in a situation where the utility has no control. Utilities, along with the PV distributed-resource owner, can be found liable for electrical damage to customer equipment connected to their lines that results acceptable ranges. Islanding may create a hazard for utility line-workers or the public by causing a line to remain energized, which may be assumed to be disconnected from all energy sources. Reclosing into an island may result in re-tripping the line or damaging the distributed-resource equipment or other connected equipment because of out-of-phase closure. Islanding may interfere with the manual or automatic restorable of normal service by the utility. Besides the anti-islanding feature, the inverter also needs to meet the respective safety guidelines and regulations imposed by specific regions. Future of inverters Higher efficiency: Currently, maximum efficiencies of inverter in the US Market are in the order of 95 percent. In Europe, transformerless designs and innovative topologies are yielding higher efficiencies, with one model (SMA Sunny Mini Central 8000TL) claiming 98 percent. Lower cost: A price target of around $0.2-0.3/W by 2020 has been set for inverters, which represents a reduction of 5075 percent from current levels. This is most likely to be achieved through increased production volumes and learning-curve improvements.
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Better reliability: Inverter MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) is now in the 510-year range. Ideally, inverters would last as long as other PV system components (i.e., 25 years), but many question whether such improvements will ever be achievable at a reasonable cost. In the near- to medium-term, an MTBF of greater than 10 years is likely to be achievable through improving quality control, better heat dissipation and the reduction of complexity. Advanced communication capabilities: Today, inverters can record and relay information using manufacturer-specific protocols. Next-generation units should use a universal communication standard to relay more comprehensive system information, enabling advanced diagnostic features and communication with the utility to support grid stability. According to IMI Singapore, the Sun Farmer solar inverter platform project is a pilot project that could eventually pave the way for further development of the future's energy-harvesting systems from other alternative energy sources. As most of the developed countries are starting to take the initiatives to tackle greenhouse gases and are trying to solve environmental problems associated with global warming, the market for energy-saving products and energy-harvesting systems will be an ever-growing market over the next few decades. About the authors Aung Naing Moe and Zhang Binbin are part of the Speedy-Tech Design & Development Department of Integrated Microelectronics Incorporated (IMI)- Singapore. References: "Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics until 2014 (May 2010 update)" by European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) "Photovoltaic Energy: Electricity form the sun" by European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) "Solar Energy Industry Statistics: Growth" by Solarbuzz. "Solar Inverter cost projection" by Navigant Consulting Inc. (NCI) To download the PDF version of this article, click here.

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