Power loss analysis of solar photovoltaic integrated model predictive control based on-grid inverter

Abstract

This paper presents a finite control-set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) based technique to reduce the switching loss and frequency of the on-grid PV inverter by incorporating a switching frequency term in the cost function of the model predictive control (MPC). In the proposed MPC, the control objectives (current and switching frequency) select an optimal switching state for the inverter by minimizing a predefined cost function. The two control objectives are combined with a weighting factor. A trade-off between the switching frequency (average) and total harmonic distortion (THD) of the current was utilized to determine the value of the weighting factor. The switching, conduction, and harmonic losses were determined at the selected value of the weighting factor for both the proposed and conventional FCS-MPC and compared. The system was simulated in MATLAB/Simulink, and a small-scale hardware prototype was built to realize the system and verify the proposal. Considering only 0.25% more current THD, the switching frequency and loss per phase were reduced by 20.62% and 19.78%, respectively. The instantaneous overall power loss was also reduced by 2% due to the addition of a switching frequency term in the cost function which ensures a satisfactory empirical result for an on-grid PV inverter.