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Photovoltaic string inverters with transformerless grid-connected architecture are the most commonly used solar converters owing to their appliance-friendly and cost-effective benefits. A novel circuit configuration for these converters is presented in this article, which seeks to address the shortcomings of most of the conventional topologies such as the problem of leakage current, voltage ratio transformations, and power quality. The proposed structure is based on the series–parallel switching conversion of the switched-capacitor (SC) cell and is comprised of only six unidirectional power switches with a common-grounded (CG) feature. Through the use of the SC cell and the CG connection of active and passive used elements, not only is the number of output voltage level enhanced by up to five but also a two times voltage boosting feature with a single-stage operation as well as elimination of the leakage current is acquired. Herein, to inject a tightly controlled current into the grid, a peak current controller approach has been used which can handle both the active and reactive power supports modes. Theoretical analysis, design guidelines, comparative study, and some experimental results are also given to corroborate the feasibility and accurate performance of the proposed topology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new scheme of single-phase transformerless grid-connected inverter is presented in this article. By employing the series–parallel switching conversion of the integrated switched-capacitor module in a packed unit, some attractive features for the proposed inverter can be obtained. Such promising features can be quantified as more than 97% overall efficiency for a wide range of output power, two-time boosting ability within a single-stage operation and almost total suppression of the leakage current through using the common grounding technique. In this case, a peak current controller strategy is used in order to trigger the gate of power switches and control both the active and reactive powers. Therefore, a tightly controlled current with an appropriate quality can be injected to the grid from a single source renewable energy resource. Operating procedure, design consideration, comparison study, and a 513 W built prototype results are also given to prove the correctness and feasibility of the proposed circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new fundamental structure of a single-phase transformer-less grid connected multilevel inverter based on a switched-capacitor structure is presented in this study. By employing the series-parallel switching conversion of the integrated switched-capacitor module in a packed unit, attractive features for the proposed inverter can be obtained such as high efficiency and boosting ability within a single stage operation. Also, using a common grounding technique provides an additional advantage of reducing the leakage current. Moreover, the presented structure generates a multilevel waveform at the output voltage terminals which reduces the harmonics in the system. A peak current controller is utilized for triggering the gate of the power switches and controlling both the active and reactive powers. This results in a tightly controlled current with an appropriate quality that can be injected to the grid using a single source renewable energy resource. Operating procedures, design considerations, comparison studies and test results of a 620 W prototype are also presented to validate the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed multilevel inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This article proposes a new Zeta‐based switched‐capacitor (SC) dc‐dc converter, which has many advantages such as increased voltage gain, decreased duty‐cycle, lower voltage stress on components such as its capacitors and input switch, and increased output power over traditional dc‐dc converter structures. In traditional converters such as Zeta converter, there is only one coupling capacitor, which works as a medium for transferring the power between input and the output. However, in the proposed Zeta‐based converter, there are multiple coupling capacitors, which are used based on dc‐dc SC converter principles. By using these switched coupling capacitors, the mentioned advantages are obtained for the proposed structure, which in turn make this converter more applicable for industrial applications. The analysis has been validated by comprehensive and precise comparisons and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a developed structure is proposed for high step-up nonisolated noncoupled inductor based multiport dc–dc converters. The voltage gain per number of devices of the proposed topology is higher than that of similar topologies. This means that, by using the same number of devices, the proposed topology can generate higher gains than other structures. In other words, the proposed topology utilizes less number of devices for producing the same voltage gain, which leads to less total cost, size, weight, and complexity. Despite high voltage gain, the normalized peak inverse voltage (NPIV) on switches/diodes is low. Higher number of input ports leads to higher gains and lower NPIVs on devices. The load energy can be absorbed and stored in first input unit. Modularity, simple structure, continuous input currents, and low input current ripple are the other profits of proposed topology. Low/medium power applications are suggested for the proposed structure. Proposed topology has been explained and operational modes along with steady-state analysis have been discussed. For better verification, the proposed topology has been compared with several multiport high gain converters. Comparison results confirm the advantages of the proposed topology. Finally, the proper performance of the proposed topology has been validated by experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an improved non-isolated single-inductor multiple-input buck DC–DC converter, with reduced number of components. Less component count can reduce the size, mass and cost of converter. Simultaneous or independent power transfer capability has been provided for input sources. The bidirectional power flow capability has also been provided through usage of a battery without any additional switches. This makes the topology very suitable for hybrid energy systems or hybrid electric vehicle/electric vehicle applications. Different operational modes of proposed topology have been presented. Then, a generalised relationship has been proposed for calculation of critical inductance (as an important design parameter) of proposed n-input buck topology. To make a better judgement, the proposed topology has been compared with recently presented novel topologies. Also, a simple proportional–integral based controller has been applied to regulate output voltage and assign the portion of power that each input source should provide. To confirm the validity of proposed topology and theoretical concepts, the three-input version has been modelled and simulated in PSCAD/EMTDC software and implemented experimentally. Simulation and experimental results validate proper performance of proposed topology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates a multiple input buck dc-dc converter. Different operational modes of the converter for two-, three- and four-input sources are studied then, for each item the relation of critical inductance between continuous conduction mode and discontinuous conduction mode is calculated. Finally, a generalised relationship is proposed for calculation of critical inductance of n-input topology, which is true for any number of input sources. Experimental and simulation results in power systems computer-aided design/EMTDC are presented to validate the theoretical concepts and proposed generalised relation of converter critical inductance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, initially a new dc/dc converter is proposed which can produce boosted multiple dc link voltages by using the novel switched-capacitor converter (SCC) and with reduced number of switches. In the proposed SCC, voltage of all capacitors is charged by binary asymmetrical pattern as self-balancing and without using any auxiliary circuits. The proposed SCC will boost the input dc power supply voltage without transformer by switching the capacitors in series and in parallel. Next, a new single phase switched-capacitor multilevel inverter (SCMLI) topology which uses the proposed SCC units as virtual dc links have been proposed. The proposed topologies reduce the number of power switches, diodes, isolated dc power supplies, size, and the cost of the system in comparison with conventional similar topologies. For example, by contribution of proposed SCMLI structure, 49 and 137 output voltage levels are made by only 14 and18 power switches and 3 and 4 isolated dc power supplies, respectively. To confirm the performance of proposed topology, various simulation results by PSCAD/EMTDC software and experimental tests are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present a new structure for switched-capacitor multilevel inverters (SCMLIs) which can generate a great number of voltage levels with optimum number of components for both symmetric and asymmetric values of dc-voltage sources. The proposed topology consists of a new switched-capacitor dc/dc converter (SCC) that has boost ability and can charge capacitors as self-balancing by using the proposed binary asymmetrical algorithm and series–parallel conversion of power supply. The proposed SCC unit is used in new configuration as a submultilevel inverter (SMLI) and then, these proposed SMLIs are cascaded together and create a new cascaded multilevel inverter (MLI) topology that is able to increase the number of output voltage levels remarkably without using any full H-bridge cell and also can pass the reverse current for inductive loads. In this case, two half-bridge modules besides two additional switches are employed in each of SMLI units instead of using a full H-bridge cell that contribute to reduce the number of involved components in the current path, value of blocked voltage, the variety of isolated dc-voltage sources, and as a result, the overall cost by less number of switches in comparison with other presented topologies. The validity of the proposed SCMLI has been carried out by several simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]