Design of an Optimum Single Phase Inverter for a Grid Tie PV System

Abstract

Power converter optimization by genetic algorithm (GA) is used to provide simpler and more reliable converter design for high efficiency, small size and low cost. This paper presents a Computer-Aided Design Optimization Tool based on GA to determine the optimal structure of single-phase voltage source inverter devoted to grid-connected photovoltaic applications. An accurate non-linear averaged model was used to model the power converter. The hysteresis technique was used to control the output sine wave current of the inverter while the Elitist Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm NSGA-II was used to search the Pareto optimal front and the best design in terms of efficiency, volume and cost under electrical constraints. The converter model and the NSGA-II algorithm are developed in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. The problem formulation was detailed. It was shown that the optimization of a power converter, working in a given application without the need of tedious and expensive experimental tests classically used to build this converter, is possible by mean of simulation. This will decrease time to market phase for manufacturers.