Development of power converters for grid integration of solar energy

Abstract

Renewable energy has seen growing demand due to climate changes and the depletion of fossil fuels. Specifically in Singapore, solar energy is seen as the key alternative to fossil fuels. However, high start up costs is still the huge factor against the change.

In this project, an alternative to the usual DC-DC and DC-AC 2 stage inverter is investigated.

Additionally, instead of using the widely researched Z-Source Inverter, the relatively newer Quasi-Z-Source Voltage Source Inverter (QZSI) is investigated. The theory and advantages of both forms of Z-source Inverters are presented and implemented in hardware for testing.