Design and Evaluation of Solar Inverter for Different Power Factor Loads

Abstract

This paper analyzes and compares the performance of a new inverter topology with two types of input sources: 1) Solar PV source and 2) Ideal dc source (battery). The simulation is done in SIMULINK/MATLAB Software. It is shown that when the solar panel is connected, spikes are obtained in output voltage waveforms. These spikes are eliminated by inserting a capacitor. The capacitor is chosen for a particular power factor which is optimum with respect to cost, size and power quality. Total Harmonic Distortion, Active Power, Reactive Power, RMS Voltage and RMS Current are measured for different load power factor. Finally these results are compared with those obtained using battery with same input voltage magnitude. This Paper shows that for Solar Panel Circuit, THD, P and Q are less for 0.8 and above power factor, however below 0.8 PF, the THD, active and reactive power transfer are more. This means that the performance of Solar Panel in the proposed circuit topology is seen to be better as compared to the same circuit with battery within a range of power factor.