Current Control Design for a Grid Connected Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell DC-AC Inverter

In this paper, a current controller design method for a DC-AC inverter in a grid-connected photovoltaic or fuel cell power conditioning system (PCS) is proposed. A state feedback current controller using a sine reference function tracking algorithm and I-P(Integral-Proportional) outer DC-link voltage controller using a 120Hz notch filter are proposed to control the output current to be in-phase with the grid voltage and to regulate the input DC-link voltage. Since the analysis and design are performed in the time domain using the state equations, the current loop controller can be systematically designed for the required system specification using the pole placement technique. Also, the 120Hz notch filter for DC-link voltage regulation can enhance the dynamic performance by increasing the voltage loop bandwidth. The design guideline of each controller is provided using the stability analysis. For a design example, the prototype two-stage PCS hardware with a TMS320F2812 DSP and a real 200W solar array has been experimented to validate the proposed digital control scheme.