Research on the Filters for Dual-Inverter Fed Open-End Winding Transformer Topology in Photovoltaic Grid-Tied Applications

Owing to the necessity of the transformer for the multi-parallel inverters connected to the medium-voltage (MV) grid, the conventional multi-parallel inverter topology can be reconfigured to the dual-inverter fed open-end winding transformer (DI-OEWT) topology to obtain lower output voltage harmonics, which can reduce the requirement of the filter inductance. However, due to the special structure of the DI-OEWT topology, the arrangement scheme of the filter can be more than one kind, and different schemes may affect the filter performance. In this paper, research on the existing two kinds of filters, as well as a proposed one, for the DI-OEWT topology used in photovoltaic grid-tied applications is presented. The equivalent circuits of these filters are derived, and based on this, the harmonic suppression capability of these filters is analyzed and compared. Furthermore, a brief parameter design method of these filters is also introduced, and based on the design examples, the inductance and capacitance requirements of these filters are compared. In addition, these filters are also evaluated in terms of the applicability for fault tolerance. At last, the analysis is verified through an experiment on a 30 kW dual-three-level inverter prototype.