Space vector pulse width modulated inverter for grid coupled Photovoltaic system at the distribution level

Growing energy demand and proportionately increasing use of the fossil fuels has led to the problem of air pollution, global warming concerns. Also, high usage of fossil fuels may create a crisis for power in near future as they are in a stage of depletion. As an impact of this, renewable energy resources (RES) are being considered as an alternative sources of energy all over the world. Generally, these are connected at the distribution systems by using power electronic converters. However, utilizing these converters causes the harmonics in the system. Consequently, power quality (PQ) gets affected. A novel control scheme of carrier based pulse width modulation (PWM) is proposed here to improve the effectiveness of the power being supplied by the inverter of grid tied Photovoltaic (PV) system. This scheme yields the results of space vector method. In this modulating signals are integrated with offset voltage. Distinguishing between resultant signals and carriers gives rise to gating pulses for the inverter. Unlike the conventional method of space vectors, the proposed scheme is free from sector checking. Also, switching time calculations for each sector is not required. Objective of this paper is to use PWM modulated inverter for lowering the total harmonic distortions (THD). The concept is manifested using MATLAB/Simulink and the THD results of the corresponding system are analyzed.