Power Quality Improvement of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems Using Trans-Z-Source Inverter under Partial Shading Condition

Voltage-source inverter has been used widely in traditional photovoltaic systems which have limitations. To overcome, Z-source inverter has been introduced. In spite of all the features introduced in Z-source inverter, its configuration has been improved over the years, like trans-Z-source inverter which has added advantages compared to traditional inverters, namely buck–boost feature, lesser passive elements, and higher voltage boost gain. In this paper, photovoltaic arrays are connected to the grid via the trans-Z-source inverter with the aim of improving its power quality. Moreover, the shootthrough duty ratio is kept constant in the switching control method to add features like lower voltage stress (higher reliability), lower total harmonic distortion (lower maintenance cost), and higher voltage boost ratio. To evaluate the precision of the proposed system, the photovoltaic system is simulated on a standard grid and under partial shading condition which brings about voltage sag, and hence, a dynamic voltage restorer is used to mitigate voltage sag. Simulation results are presented to verify the validation of the proposed photovoltaic system in terms of voltage and current THD reducing 78.2% and 19.7%, respectively.

Keywords: PV system, Trans-Z-source inverter, THD, Partial shading, Voltage sag, DVR