Delta-connected Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Photovoltaic Converters

Multilevel cascaded H-bridge converters are becoming popular for next generation large-scale photovoltaic power converters. However, the power generation levels in the three phases can be significantly unequal, especially in a large plant, owing to the non-uniform irradiance levels and/or ambient temperatures. This paper proposes the delta-connected cascaded H-bridge converter for large-scale photovoltaic farms. Compared to the existing star connection, the delta connection reduces the converter overrating required. Experimental results obtained from a 430 V, 10 kW, three-phase, seven-level, delta connected cascaded H-bridge converter prototype are provided to demonstrate the superiority of the delta connection.