Modified Reduced Switch Converter for Grid Interfaced Systems

In this work, a modified packed U-cell (MPUC) converter is compared to packed U-cell converter (PUC), which is interfaced to the grid. Here, there are two DC sources one solar photovoltaic (PV) array and another is DC link capacitor. The main difference between PUC and MPUC based converter is that MPUC has reduced DC link voltage value. Here, segregation of each cell is done in three different parts whose structure is in U-shape. Each U-shape cell has two active switches and in total there are six active switches. It is better way than conventional multilevel converters as MPUC requires less count of switches to produce output voltage levels for grid interfaced system. Moreover, MPUC feasibility for proper voltage regulation, make MPUC an appropriate solution for the grid interfaced system, which is cost effective by usage less active switches in order to obtain desired voltage levels. Power quality can be quantified in terms of total harmonic distortion (THD) of grid current and converter voltage under the limits of the IEEE-519 standard.