Design and control of an improved Z‐H8 inverter for photovoltaic applications.

This paper proposes a new modified buck–boost converter entitled the basic Z‐H8 topology. The modified configuration is composed by adding two dc decoupling and non‐ideal compensation blocks across the dc‐input side of the conventional Z‐H buck converter. These blocks create some benefits such as buck–boost ability and lower stresses and ripples for passive and active elements by up to 50% compared to the traditional Z‐H structure. Moreover, the proposed topology can be used as a dc/dc, dc/ac, or ac/dc converter. Hence, various control techniques based on unipolar PWM and SPWM are proposed for the basic Z‐H8 configuration to act as an inverter. Other valuable advantages are providing galvanic isolation and reducing leakage current by two blocks, which can be extremely useful for photovoltaic (PV) applications. Thus, a grid‐connected single‐stage PV system with a proper model predictive control algorithm is proposed. Despite a continuous voltage on the Z‐H8 inverter output, other benefits of the proposed PV system are tracking the maximum power point, adjusting the injected powers to the grid, and increasing security and reliability. The operating principle of the proposed topologies and control methods are explained in detail with the relevant equations and are confirmed by the simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]