Control of Three-Phase Cascaded Voltage Source
Inverter for Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems
Bailu Xiao, Lijun Hang, Leon M. Tolbert
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
The University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-2250, USA
bxiao@utk.edu
Abstract— A three-phase cascaded voltage source inverter
(VSI) for a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system is
proposed in this paper. The topology consists of three
traditional two-level six-switch VSIs interconnected through
inductors. Each VSI unit is fed by a string of PV panels. To
realize the central control of the proposed system, the
equivalent model and average model of the three-phase
cascaded VSI are established. To harvest more solar energy, a
control scheme with maximum power point tracking (MPPT)
control is proposed. Phase-shifted discontinuous PWM (PS-
DPWM) is applied to control the switching devices of each VSI
unit. Simulation and experimental results are presented to
validate the proposed ideas.
I. INTRODUCTION
Photovoltaic (PV) systems are ideally distributed
generation (DG) units, and they offer the advantages of being
pollution free, little maintenance and emitting no noise. Due
to the increasing efficiency and decreasing cost of solar cells
as well as the improvements of manufacturing technology in
solar panels, grid-connected PV systems are gaining more
attention [1-4]. Utilities are adapting to solar as their fastest
growing electricity source. In 2011, utilities in the US
interconnected over 62,500 PV systems, and conservative
forecasts indicate that this number will grow to more than
150,000 interconnections in 2015 [5].
To convert DC power from the solar panels into AC
power to be fed into the grid, a PV inverter is a necessary
and important element in the grid-connected PV system.
Many different types of PV inverters have been proposed
and studied [6-9]. The modularity of cascaded H-bridge
multilevel converters would position them as a candidate for
the next generation of efficient, robust, and reliable grid-
connected solar power electronics [10-13]. However, the
three-phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter employs
a large number of both electrical and mechanical
components, resulting in the increase of systematic volume
and labor cost. In addition, the size of the dc-link capacitor
is large due to the single-phase pulsating power, and this
978-1-4673-4355-8/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE
capacitor is the main limiting factor of the inverter lifetime,
which should be kept as small as possible.
Thus, a three-phase cascaded VSI composed of three
conventional three-phase two-level VSIs is applied to the
grid-connected PV system. The topology was first proposed
in [14] and applied in medium and high voltage variable
speed motor drive systems. The inverter keeps many
advantages of the cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter,
and more importantly, it needs fewer switches and reduces
the size of the dc-link capacitor [15].
The proposed grid-connected PV system is first
presented. The equivalent model and average model of the
system is then established. Based on the model, a central
controller with individual MPPT control is designed, and
phase-shifted DPWM is applied to control the switching
devices of each VSI unit.
A three-phase cascaded VSI prototype has been built in
the laboratory. Each VSI unit is fed by a short string of PV
panels. Simulation and experimental results are provided to
verify the proposed ideas.
II. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The topology of the proposed three-phase grid-
connected PV system is shown in Fig. 1. The three-phase
cascaded VSI consists of three traditional three-phase two-
level VSI units, which are interconnected in a delta to
generate higher output voltage. The circulating current in
the delta can be limited by placing inductors Ld, which are
small at the practical switching frequency. Each VSI unit is
connected to a string of PV panels. The three-phase
cascaded VSI is connected to the grid through filter L.
As shown in Fig. 1, the output line voltage of the three-
phase cascaded VSI consists of line voltages of two adjacent
VSI units, and the voltage across the current-limiting
inductor. By applying the cascaded topology, the three-
phase cascaded VSI provides 7-level output line voltage,
which reduces voltage stresses on the semiconductor
switches in each VSI unit, and enables the reduction of
291
 Fig. 1. Topology for the proposed grid-connected PV system.

harmonics in the synthesized current, reducing the output VSI, and then phase-shifted SPWM modulation technique
filters. can be applied to the three VSI units.
In grid-connected PV applications, the three-phase According to Fig. 1, we have
cascaded VSI topology keeps the advantages of the
cascaded multilevel inverter, and much fewer switches are ⎧u AB = ua1b1 + ub1a 2 + ua 2b 2 = ( jω L + R )ia1 + v AB − ( jω L + R )ib 2
used compared to the three-phase cascaded H-bridge ⎪
⎨u BC = ub 2 c 2 + uc 2b 3 + ub 3c 3 = ( jω L + R )ib 2 + vBC − ( jω L + R)ic 3
multilevel inverter. In addition, the number and size of the ⎪u = u
dc-link capacitor are also reduced. ⎩ CA c 3 a 3 + ua 3c1 + uc1a1 = ( jω L + R )ic 3 + vCA − ( jω L + R )ia1

Compared to the conventional three-phase two-level PV
inverter, the three-phase cascaded VSI topology helps to
reduce the output filters and voltage stresses on the
semiconductor switches. Meanwhile, the three-phase two-
level PV inverter, where PV strings are connected in parallel
through string diodes to reach high power level, includes
some severe limitations, such as mismatch losses between
the PV strings, and losses in the string diodes [6]. The three-
phase cascaded VSI PV system will not have these issues.
III. CONTROL SYSTEM
(2)
where uAB, uBC, and uCA are the output line-line voltages of
the three-phase cascaded VSI; uaibi, ubici, and uciai are the
line-line voltages of VSI unit i (i=1, 2, 3); ub1a2, uc2b3, and
ua3c1 are the current-limiting inductor voltages; vAB, vBC, and
vCA are the line-line voltages of the grid.
To get the equivalent model, a balanced system is
considered. The three VSI units will have the same
modulation index, and the vector uab (or ubc, uca) in three
VSI units will be the same. Thus, we can define

A. Modeling of Three-Phase Cascaded VSI ⎧u A′B ′ = ua1b1 + ua 2b 2

⎪
Due to the structure of the three-phase cascaded VSI, the ⎨u B′C ′ = ub 2 c 2 + ub 3c 3 (3)
line currents of each VSI are unbalanced. The relationship ⎪u = u
⎩ C ′A′ c 3 a 3 + uc1a1
of line currents is analyzed in [15], and the current vector
diagram of the three-phase cascaded VSI is shown in Fig. 2.
Take VSI unit 1 as an example,
1
ib1 = ic1 = ia1 (1)
3
where ia1, ib1, and ic1 are the output currents of VSI unit 1.
If each VSI unit is controlled independently, the
coordination operation among three VSIs needs to be
considered, and the whole control system is complicated.
Therefore, the equivalent model of the system is needed to
help design a central controller of the three-phase cascaded Fig. 2. Current vector diagram.

292
 According to (2), (3), and the current vector diagram, the dq coordinates is obtained and shown in Fig. 4. Thus, the
equivalent model of the three-phase cascaded VSI can be control method used in conventional VSIs can be easily
obtained introduced to the three-phase cascaded VSI.

⎧u A′B′ = ( jω L′ + R )iA + v AB − ( jω L′ + R)iB B. Control Scheme

⎪ According to the average model of the three-phase
⎨uB′C ′ = ( jω L′ + R)iB + vBC − ( jω L′ + R)iC (4)
⎪u = ( jω L′ + R )i + v − ( jω L′ + R)i cascaded VSI, the control scheme used in the traditional
⎩ C ′A′ C CA A three-phase system can be easily introduced, and central
control of the whole system can be achieved. A control
where
scheme with individual MPPT control for the three-phase
L ′ = L + Ld / 3 (5) cascaded VSI for the grid-connected PV system is proposed,
as shown in Fig. 5.
The equivalent circuit model can be drawn from (3) and
(4), as shown in Fig. 3. According to (3), the equivalent dc- To maximize the solar energy extraction, an MPPT
link voltage V’dc is two times of the average dc-link voltage, controller is added to generate the dc-link voltage reference
while the equivalent capacitance C’dc is half of the dc-link of each VSI unit. Each dc-link voltage is compared to the
capacitance C. corresponding voltage reference, and the sum of the three
voltage errors is controlled through a PI controller that
The average model of the three-phase cascaded VSI in determines the current reference Idref. As the classic control
scheme in three-phase systems, the grid currents in abc
coordinates are converted to dq coordinates and regulated
through PI controllers to generate the modulation index in
dq coordinates, which is then converted back to three-phase.
Phase-shifted DPWM is then applied to control the
switching devices of the three-phase cascaded VSI. In the
cascaded multilevel converter, phase-shifted PWM
Fig. 3. Equivalent circuit model of three-phase cascaded VSI. technique has been widely used. It only needs one carrier to
generate all the switching signals, and helps to reduce
id L' L'ω ⋅ iq harmonics in the produced multilevel voltage.
R
Phase-shifted technique can also be applied in this case.
d d ⋅V 'dc Each VSI unit adopts a DPWM controller, and the carrier
vsd corresponding to each unit is shifted by Ts/3 in sequence,
d d ⋅ id where Ts is the switching period. Phase-shifted DPWM is
d q ⋅ iq easily implemented, and helps to reduce the switching loss
iq
V 'dc C'dc R L' L' ω ⋅ id of each unit [16].
Many MPPT methods have been developed and
d q ⋅ V 'dc vsq implemented [17]. The incremental conductance method has
been used in this paper. It lends itself well to digital control,
which can easily keep track of previous values of voltage
and current, and make all the decisions.
Fig. 4. Average model of three-phase cascaded VSI in dq coordinates.

Fig. 5. Control scheme for three-phase cascaded VSI.

293
 IV. RESULTS
Simulation and experimental tests aree carried out to iA iB iC
10
validate the proposed ideas. A three-phasse cascaded VSI

Grid current (A)

prototype has been built in the laboratory. E
Each VSI unit has 5
a short string of PV panels connected as the isolated DC
source. Fig. 6 shows the solar panels (185 W Astronergy 0
CHSM-5612M) used in the experiment. -5
To verify the proposed control schem me, a three-phase
-10
cascaded VSI for the grid-connected PV V system is first
simulated. Each VSI unit is fed by a shoort string of PV 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.32
panels, which has four 185 W PV paneels connected in t (s)
series. PV panels are operated under the irr
rradiance S=1000
W/m2 and temperature T=25 ˚C. The dc-llink capacitor of posed PV system.
Fig. 8. Grid current of the prop
each VSI unit is 2700 µF, the connection iinductor L is 3.5
mH, the current-limiting inductor Ld is 1.5 m
mH, and the grid
resistor R is 0.1 ohm. The switching freqquency is 4 kHz.
The three-phase cascaded VSI is connectedd to the grid, and
the phase voltage of the grid is 120 Vrms.
Due to the structure of the three-phase ccascaded VSI, the
output line currents of each VSI are uunbalanced. For
instance, the unbalanced line current of VSI unit 1 is shown
in Fig. 7, which verifies the relationshiip given in (1).
However, with the proposed control sccheme, the grid
current is balanced, as shown in Fig. 8. Thee THD of the grid Fig. 9. THD of the grid
d current.
current is 3.17%, as shown in Fig. 9, whichh is less than 5%
400
and meets the power quality standard.
Line voltage (V)

200

-200

-400
0.26 0.28 0.3 0.32
t (s)
Fig. 10. Output line voltage uAB of thrree-phase cascaded VSI.

The output line voltage uAB of the

t three-phase cascaded
VSI is shown in Fig. 10. The 7-leevel voltage enables the
reduction of harmonics in the synth hesized current, reducing
the output filters. The grid voltage and
a current waveforms of
phase a are shown in Fig. 11. The grid
g current has the same
Fig. 6. Solar panels Astronergy CHSM-55612M phase as the voltage, which meeans unity displacement
power factor has been achieved. Fig. 12 shows the dc-link
voltage of VSI unit 1. It can be seeen that four PV panels in
Line current of VSI unit 1 (A)

10
ia1 ib1 ic1 that string are operated at the MPP voltage
v 36.4 V.

5
To compare the three-phase casccaded VSI topology with
the conventional three-phase two-level inverter, a three-
0 phase two-level grid-connected PV inverter is also
simulated. Same output filters and switching frequency are
-5 chosen. The grid current waveform ms are shown in Fig. 13.
-10 The THD of the grid current is 15 5.3%, which is far more
than 5%. However, as shown in Fig g. 9, the THD of the grid
0.26 0.28 0.3
3 0.32 current in the three-phase cascaded
d VSI PV system is only
t (s) 3.17%. Thus, the three-phase cascaaded VSI topology helps
to reduce harmonics in the synthesizzed current.
Fig. 7. Line current of VSI unit 1..

294
 Fig. 16 shows the line currents of one VSI unit. As
Grid voltage (V) and current (A)

200 vA 10*iA discussed before, they are not balanced. Fig. 17 shows the
grid voltage and current waveforms of phase a. It can be
100 seen that the grid current has the same phase as the grid
voltage and has unity displacement power factor.
0
V. CONCLUSIONS
-100
In this paper, a three-phase cascaded voltage source
-200 inverter for a grid-connected PV system is proposed. The
0.38 0.4 0.42 0.44
t (s)
Fig. 11. Grid voltage and current of phase a.
iA iB iC
150
DC-link voltage (V)

148

146

144

142

140
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6
t (s)
Fig. 12. DC-link voltage of VSI unit 1.
Fig. 14. Experimental three-phase grid current.
15 THD = 4.9% [Fundamental = 3.8 ARMS (5.4 MAX)]
iA iB iC 4
Magnitude ( % of Fundamental)

10
Grid current (A)

5 3
0

-5 2

-10
1
-15
0.25 0.26 0.27 0.28 0.29 0.3 0.31 0.32
t (s)
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Fig. 13. Grid currents of three-phase two-level PV inverter. Harmonic Order

A three-phase cascaded VSI prototype has been built. Fig. 15. THD of the grid current.
The MOSFET IRFSL4127 is selected as inverter switches
operating at 4 kHz. The control signals to the inverters are
sent by a dSPACE ds1103 controller. Each VSI unit has two
PV panels connected in series as the DC source. The three-
phase cascaded VSI is connected to the grid through a iA (ia1)
transformer, and the phase voltage of the secondary side is
ib1 ic1
60 Vrms. The connection inductor L is 2.5 mH, and the
current-limiting inductor Ld is 1.5 mH.
The experimental results are presented in Figs. 14-17.
Fig. 14 shows the three-phase grid current. With the
proposed control scheme, the grid current is balanced, and
the THD is 4.9%, as shown in Fig. 15. The experimental
setup was tested in winter, and the solar irradiance on PV
panels was not high enough. Thus, the experimental grid
current is only 3.8 Arms. With higher solar irradiance, the
input PV power would be higher, which results in a larger
grid current, and the THD of the grid current can be further Fig. 16. Line currents of VSI unit 1.
reduced.

295

vA
iA
Fig. 17. Grid voltage and current waveforms of phase a.
equivalent model and average model of the proposed system
are given to realize the central controller. To harvest more
solar energy, a control scheme with MPPT is proposed.
Simulation and experimental results are given to validate the
feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed ideas.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work made use of Engineering Research Center
Shared Facilities supported by the Engineering Research
Center Program of the National Science Foundation and
DOE under NSF Award Number EEC-1041877 and the
CURENT Industry Partnership Program.
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