Design of a single-phase grid tied inverter optimized for reactive power support

When reactive power is not locally compensated, the demand over transmission lines causes active power line losses. Single phase inverters can be used for local reactive power compensation in addition to DC to AC conversion, but typically these devices are optimized for near unity power factor outputs. Inverter hardware can be optimized for full reactive power support to allow for a full power factor range of operation. Large output filter inductors add additional reactive power load, which increases the energy storage requirements of the twice line frequency energy buffer. A flying capacitor multilevel (FCML) inverter topology can be utilized to increase the effective switching and decrease the unfiltered voltage ripple of the inverter to limit the size of the output inductor and DC bus capacitor. A scaled design of a four-level FCML was constructed and the performance was characterized across a large power factor range. The experimental prototype demonstrated a peak efficiency of 98.67% and an optimal loss to output apparent power ratio of 0.0135-0.015 W/VA.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical & Computer Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Johanesen, Mackenzie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Stillwell, Andrew R

• Flying Capacitor Multilevel Inverter
• Inverter
• Reactive Power
• Single Phase Inverter
• Power Electronics

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Mackenzie Johanesen

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115805

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F115805