Power Quality Improvement with Seven Level Packed-E Cell for Renewable Applications

A new seven-level packed E cell (PEC) solar photovoltaic (PV) converter is introduced for grid integration. The three-phase system is modeled with relevant equations for positive and negative half-cycles. The switching states utilize the three PV arrays perfectly to generate seven-level at the converter output. This converter is tested with harmonic standards under different carrier patterns. These carrier patterns provide the different power quality performances. The presented converter is tested with different carrier arrangements like phase disposition(PD), phase opposition disposition (POD), and alternate phase opposition disposition (APOD) with six carriers arranged in level bands. The best performance is investigated for the PEC converter and implemented for the improved power control. A DC link controller for each phase is presented to regulate the voltages. The ratio between the upper U
1a
and bottom B
1a
-
2a
PV arrays is ternary (1:3) in nature. This system is tested in dynamic solar irradiances to showcase its viability for renewable energy applications.