Improving Inverter Efficiency at Low Power Using a Reduced Switching Frequency
Date
2015-09-14
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Abstract
The inverter is a major component of a renewable energy system and its performance affects the overall performance of the system. For typical household applications in rural areas, often there is need to operate at low power conditions where inverter efficiency can drop dramatically. Efficient operation at low power is important especially for stand-alone solar systems in developing countries where system cost must be kept low. In this thesis, the impact of switching frequency upon switching loss for a SPWM inverter is investigated. Results, from mathematical modeling, simulation and experimental implementation, show the same trend that reducing the switching frequency reduces switching loss at low power levels thus improves inverter efficiency. This may result in a reduced PV module size requirement and thus lower system cost. The inverter proposed in the thesis operates efficiently at low power (e.g. 9W) as well as at rated power conditions (e.g. 200W).
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Keywords
Energy, Engineering--Electronics and Electrical, Engineering--Mechanical
Citation
Hossain Loba, T. (2015). Improving Inverter Efficiency at Low Power Using a Reduced Switching Frequency (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26489