Design of an Active Power Filter in Cascaded Power Converters for Harmonic Mitigation

Abstract

The most important and growing problem in the Microgrid is the power quality issues. As an excellent solution to the power quality, energy crisis, and environmental pollution, solar energy has drawn more attention. Power converters are used to integrate these renewable energy sources into the grid. The DC input energy is extensively transformed to AC output power by a two-stage conversion system consisting of a DC-DC converter at the front end followed by a DC-AC inverter. When the DC-DC converter and the DC-AC inverter are connected in a cascaded configuration, this cascaded configuration will generate harmonics in the system due to the inverter's pulsating output power. These harmonics flow in the system, affect the source (Solar PV), and significantly impact the voltage variation. This paper proposes to design power converters that will convert the DC power of solar PV into AC output power while producing minimum harmonics at the input. This research paper will employ an active power filter to reduce or eliminate harmonics in the cascaded power converters to increase solar PV lifetime.