Engineering topics

Hasnain, Arafat

Publications and source records attributed to Hasnain, Arafat.

4 records

DOE OSTI2023

Compact and Low-cost Microinverter for Residential Systems

Concerns regarding climate change from the use of fossil fuels have expedited the growth of renewable energy sources. One such form of renewables, solar energy, is already playing and will continue to play a major role in meeting U.S clean energy targets. Expanding solar power usage in residential networks is a critical step in the decarbonization and clean electricity movement. To achieve a carbon-free grid by promoting solar power to the general public, an aggressive cost reduction in solar power systems is essential. The power density of the equipment used in the solar power system is necessary to solve the challenges of solar power installation. This project aims to research, explore, and assess the possibility of reducing the microinverter cost and volume to achieve the next generation microinverters (NGMs) targets for residential solar photovoltaic applications.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Optimal Modulation and DM Filter Design for a High Switching Frequency Single-Stage Microinverter

This paper presents an optimal modulation and systematic filter design approach for a single-stage dual-active-bridge (DAB) based dc-ac microinverter to achieve improved differential-mode (DM) noise performance for electromagnetic interference (EMI) tests. As DM filters contribute significantly to the overall converter volume, the main objective of this work is to leverage the degrees of freedom in the DAB converters to effectively attenuate the EMI noise. In addition, the DM filter design method needs to ensure near unity power factor converter operation. To achieve these targets, this paper analyzes three modulation strategies based on fixed or variable switching frequency operation where the different control modulation variables are varied to find the simulated DM noise spectrum. Based on the required DM attenuation, a constrained optimization problem is formulated to determine minimal DM filter parameters. Simulation results show that a spread spectrum approach with variable switching frequency is shown to minimize the DM EMI attenuation effort by spreading the noise profile. A fully GaN 400 W hardware prototype demonstrated the spread-sprectrum approach.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Controller Verification of a Smart-Grid Compatible 200 kHz Single-stage Photovoltaic Microinverter

This paper presents control system design, implementation, and experimental validation of a single-stage 400 W, 200 kHz solar photovoltaic (PV) microinverter using hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and hardware testing. The selected circuit topology is based on a Gallium Nitride (GaN) direct-matrix based dual active bridge (DAB) converter with a low voltage active power decoupler (APD) circuit. Control performance is verified, smart-grid compatibility is tested, and circuit operation is confirmed. Controller HIL (CHIL) is shown to aid in a complex power electronics system design by 1) enabling detailed control development prior to hardware implementation, 2) expanding the use of automated testing, and 3) increasing confidence in control performance prior to prototype testing. Altogether, these factors make HIL a valuable tool in complex power electronic designs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Comparison of CCM- and CRM-Based Boost Parallel Active Power Decoupler for PV Microinverter

Single-phase inverter or rectifier systems often make use of an active power decoupler (APD) to balance the mismatch between constant dc power and fluctuating ac power. This article deals with the comparison of continuous conduction mode (CCM) and critical conduction mode (CRM) operation-based design of a parallel boost-type APD for photovoltaic microinverter applications. From a design perspective, multiobjective analysis of efficiency, volume, and cost is explored within a decision space including planar inductors, gallium nitride based devices, film capacitors, switching frequency, and modulation (CCM vs. CRM). The theoretical study analyzes all possible design configurations within CCM and CRM and identifies Pareto-optimal designs, from which the selected CRM design can achieve reduced system volume and lower cost with the use of smaller inductor core, while operating with similar California Energy Commission efficiency drop as the selected CCM design. From a control perspective, a pulsewidth modulation based control strategy is proposed to implement closed-loop CRM modulation that does not rely on zero-crossing detection. Furthermore, closed-loop systems are designed for the optimal CCM and CRM realizations, and the final system characteristics are compared. Experimental results, obtained using two separate 40-V, 400-W hardware prototypes for CCM and CRM, are presented to verify the analyses.

42 ENGINEERING↗