Method and apparatus for controlling an inverter using pulse mode control
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for controlling a photovoltaic module inverter, the method comprising:
- determining an output frequency of the inverter;
determining a pulse width value for an output waveform of the inverter, the pulse width value being less than a half-wave period of a full-cycle sinusoidal waveform at the output frequency; and
generating a sinusoidal output pulse waveform comprising a plurality of pulses having a pulse width equal to the pulse width value.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling an inverter includes operating the inverter in a one of a normal run mode or a pulse mode depending on one or more criteria. When operating in the pulse mode, the inverter generates a sinusoidal output pulse waveform including a plurality of pulses having a determined pulse width. The pulse width is less than a half-wave period of a full-cycle sinusoidal waveform and may be determined as function of, for example, the output power of the inverter, a grid voltage, and/or other criteria.
245 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for controlling a photovoltaic module inverter, the method comprising:
-
determining an output frequency of the inverter; determining a pulse width value for an output waveform of the inverter, the pulse width value being less than a half-wave period of a full-cycle sinusoidal waveform at the output frequency; and generating a sinusoidal output pulse waveform comprising a plurality of pulses having a pulse width equal to the pulse width value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
11. The method of 1, further comprising:
-
determining a voltage of a direct current (DC) bus of the inverter; and determining an amplitude of the sinusoidal output pulse as a function of the voltage of the DC bus to maintain the DC bus at a reference voltage level.
-
-
15. An inverter for converting direct current (DC) power received from a renewable energy source to an alternating current (AC) power, the inverter comprising:
-
an output converter to generate an output waveform at an output frequency in response to a plurality of switching signals; and an output converter controller coupled to the output converter and configured to; (i) determine a pulse width value for the output waveform of the inverter, the pulse width value being less than a half-wave period of the output frequency, and (ii) generate the plurality of switching signals to cause the output converter to generate a sinusoidal output pulse having a pulse width equal to the pulse width value. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. An apparatus comprising:
-
a solar panel comprising a plurality of solar cells configured to generate a direct current (DC) power output in response to receiving an amount of sunlight; and an inverter coupled to the solar cell panel and configured to convert the DC power output to an AC power output, the inverter comprising; a converter circuit to generate an output waveform at an output frequency; and a converter control circuit to control the operation of the converter circuit, the converter control circuit configured to; (i) determine an output power of the inverter; (ii) operate the inverter in a normal run mode to cause the converter circuit to generate a full-cycle sinusoidal output waveform at the output frequency in response to the output power being equal to or greater than a reference output power threshold; and (iii) operate the converter circuit in a pulse mode to cause the converter circuit to generate a sinusoidal pulse output waveform having a pulse width less than a half-wave period of the full-cycle sinusoidal output waveform in response to the output power being less than the reference threshold.
-
Specification