Hardware Design of a 150kW/1500V All-SiC Grid-forming Photovoltaic Synchronous Generator (PVSG)

Abstract

Synchronous generators are being gradually replaced by power electronics based renewable energy generations. However, this may reduce the power system stability and resiliency due to a reduced inertia support to the grid. A viable solution is to change the inverter from grid-following to grid-forming which provides grid inertia. An ideal grid forming PV inverter should operate at the maximum power point to maximize the energy production while providing the inertia and other grid forming functions. This paper presents the design of a 150kW/1500V silicon carbide grid-forming Photovoltaic Synchronous Generator (PVSG). The developed PVSG integrates a 150kW three-phase PV inverter, a 100kW DC-DC converter and a 2.4F supercapacitor energy storage for inertia support. An inverter peak efficiency of 99.1% and a DC-DC converter efficiency of 99.5% are predicted or tested.