Students' Projects

Smart Solar Inverter
Department Power Electronics
Year 2020-21
Budget 42000
Students Satyam Shriraj , Arvind Mishra, Rutvik Laljibhai Ambaliya, Harshkumar Kumanbhai Thumar, Kartik Hareshbhai Kakadiya, Jay Maheshkumar Parekh
Mentor Prof. V. G. Patel
Abstract The term solar smart inverter has become a buzzword in the electronics industry which is a blending of multilevel inverter, solar tracking and solar charging. Inverters are predominantly classified as single level inverters and multilevel inverters. Minimum harmonic distortion, reduced EMI/RFI generation are the major advantages of multilevel inverters as compared to single level inverters. Multilevel inverters can operate on various voltage levels. Multipurpose applications such as active power filters, machine drives for sinusoidal and trapezoidal current applications can be realized by multi-stage inverter. By incorporating Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) or sometimes just power point tracking (PPT)) to maximize power extraction under all conditions. PV solar systems exist in many different configurations with regard to their relationship to inverter systems, external grids, battery banks, or other electrical loads. Regardless of the ultimate destination of the solar power, though, the central problem addressed by MPPT is that the efficiency of power transfer from the solar cell depends on both the amount of sunlight falling on the solar panels, the temperature of the solar panel and the electrical characteristics of the . As the amount of sunlight and temperature of the solar panel vary, the load characteristic that gives the highest power transfer efficiency changes, so that the efficiency of the system is optimized when the load characteristic changes to keep the power transfer at highest efficiency. This load characteristic is called the maximum power point (MPP) and MPPT is the process of finding this point and keeping the load characteristic there. Electrical circuits can be designed to present arbitrary loads to the photovoltaic cells and then convert the voltage, current, or frequency to suit other devices or systems, and MPPT solves the problem of choosing the best load to be presented to the cells in order to get the most usable power out. Smart inverters are an emerging technology that can enable more efficient integration of distributed energy resources (DERs). Like traditional inverters, smart inverters convert the direct current output of solar panels into the alternating current that can be used by consumers in their homes and business.