Comparative Study of Different Topologies of Grid-Tied Photovoltaic Generation with PWM Power Factor Corrector

To reduce the emissions of polluting gases and fulfill the increasing demand for electricity, a green energy source like the Photovoltaic (PV) system is getting more popular. In this work, the modeling and control of single-stage and two-stage grid-connected photovoltaic systems based on perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm with grid-connected power factor corrector (PFC) followed by a DC load are carried out using MATLAB/Simulink. The maximum power is extracted from the PV array under varying environmental conditions using a conventional P&O algorithm. Though both topologies intelligently track the maximum power, single-stage topology shows better performance. However, two-stage topology provides more consistent DC output voltage than single-stage topology. Since DC loads have become ubiquitous in every human’s life, a grid-connected DC load is further analyzed here. When the DC load is connected via an uncontrolled rectifier, the grid current becomes distorted and the system power factor reduces. So, a PWM rectifier has been chosen which makes the system almost unity power factor and keeps the harmonic content within the allowable range of 2.54%.