Improvement of Static Performance of Multilevel Inverter for Single-Phase Grid Connected Photovoltaic Modules

Photovoltaic power supplied to the utility grid is gaining more and more visibility while the world's power demand is increases. Growing demand, advancements in semiconductor technology and magnetic materials such as high frequency inductor cores, has a significant impact on PV inverter topologies and their efficiencies, on the improvement of the control circuits on the potential of costs reduction. The user naturally wants to operate the Photovoltaic (PV) array at its highest energy conversion output by continuously utilizing the maximum available solar power of the array. The electrical system PV modules are powered by solar arrays requires special design considerations due to varying nature of the solar power generated resulting from unpredictable and sudden changes in weather conditions which change the solar irradiation level as well as the cell operating temperature. This work gives an overview on single-phase grid converter based on seven level diode clamped multilevel inverter for photovoltaic system with maximum power tracking. Multilevel voltage source inverters offer several advantages compared to their conventional counterparts. By synthesizing the AC output terminal voltage from several levels of voltages, staircase waveforms can be produced, which approach the sinusoidal waveform with low harmonic distortion, thus reducing filter requirement. The need of several sources on the DC side of the converter makes multilevel technology attractive for photovoltaic applications.