Development of simple PWM inverter using photovoltaic cells

This paper presents the development of a simple 1.5 kW single-phase sinusoidal pulse width modulation (PWM) inverter. This inverter is designed to be either a stand-alone or grid connected inverter from a direct supply of photovoltaic (PV) cells. The developed inverter unit converts the DC input supply from the PV cells into a clean sinusoidal voltage output. This power inverter is also capable of being a grid-connected PV system where the electricity produced by PV, which exceeds the load consumption, can be fed back to the grid. The inverter is of a full-bridge topology using a step-up transformer. The PWM signals, which feed the bridges, are generated by a dual ended PWM modulator, and isolated with the isolated gate driver. The L-C filter is implemented after the step-up transformer before the load to attenuate the harmonics component. The 1.5 kW designed prototype of the inverter was tested with the resistive loads and a fluorescent lamp and the total harmonic distortion (THD) for all load is about 2.7%.