A Grid Connected Current Source Inverter.

N. Vzquez, H. Lpez, C. Hernndez, E. Rodrguez, R. Orosco, J. Arau*

Electronics department
Instituto Tecnolgico de Celaya, Celaya, Mexico
*Cenidet, Cuernavaca, Mexico

Abstract-- In Co-generation systems are required converters these type of converters are very complex to control (Fig. 3).
able to inject current with low harmonic content, traditionally
the inverters are considered. In this paper is proposed to use the
current source inverter instead of voltage source inverter, this
type of inverters can accept a low input voltage to inject current
to the ac mains. The operation, simulation results are presented.
Sx Sy
Index TermsCurrent Source Inverter, Multilevel
converters, Alternative energy sources, Current injection.
Sy
Sy Sx
I. INTRODUCTION
The converters connected to the grid are traditionally
voltage source inverters (VSI), because they are able to inject
Fig. 1. Topology with dc/dc boost converter and VSI
current with a low harmonic content; however in low power
systems the input voltage is normally lower that the utility
line voltage, and then more stages are required.

As example a photovoltaic system produces a DC bus

voltage with 12V. If it is required a higher DC bus, the
connection of many photovoltaic arrays is used. The current
injection to the grid is possible with the VSI, but the DC Bus
must be higher than the utility line.

In [1-7] are presented different topologies able to be

connected to the grid. A dc/dc boost converter plus a high
frequency VSI is proposed in [1-2], the dc/dc conversion is
required to boost the input voltage, and the high frequency
operation of the inverter permits to inject the current with a
low harmonic content (Fig. 1).

Multiple isolated dc/dc converters and a cascade

multilevel VSI is considered in [3], the multiple dc/dc
converters are used to produce the different voltages required
for the multilevel inverter, and the inverter can inject the
current with a low harmonic content (Fig 2.).
Fig. 2. Topology with multiple dc/dc converters and a multilevel VSI.
In [4] a dc/dc boost converter with a VSI operated at low
frequency and additional bidirectional switches is proposed,
this scheme also requires the boosting function and the
inverter to inject the current.

In [5-7] are described different topologies suitable for grid

connection, almost all the topologies use a dc/dc converter to
boost the input voltage and a VSI; other topologies consider
one high frequency VSI, but with the possibility to boost and
invert the input voltage (called boost inverter), however

_______________________________________________
This work was sponsored by FONINV under project 06-09-A-040 Fig. 3. Topology with a boost inverter.
FOMIX GTO-2006-C01-31724

978-1-4244-2544-0/08/$20.00 2009 IEEE 439

 In this paper is proposed a current source inverter (CSI)
instead of a VSI, this type of inverter can inject current to the
grid without any additional dc/dc converter, if it is operated
at high frequency a low harmonic content is obtained easily.
But, if in addition the CSI is a multilevel type, then a low
harmonic content can be obtained with a reduced switching
frequency. In this paper a novel multilevel CSI is presented.
The paper is organized as follows: in section two the
operation of the proposed converter is discussed, in section
three the simulations results are presented; and finally the
conclusions are given.
II. THE CURRENT SOURCE INVERTER CONNECTED TO THE
GRID
The current source inverter is able to inject current to the
grid without any extra converter; this is because the
converter operates in a similar way as a dc/dc boost
converter. The traditional CSI is shown in Fig. 4
the input current is considered as a current source; when the
switches S1, S2, and S3 are on the other switches are off, if
fact the control signal of S1 is exactly the opposite of Sa and
so for the others switches. The converter operates as follows:
1. If S1, S2 and S3 are on, the equivalent subcircuit is
shown in the Fig. 7(a), then a cero current is injected
to the grid. Also a cero current is produced when S1,
S2 and S3 are off.
2. If S1 is on and S2 and S3 are off the equivalent
subcircuit is shown in the Fig. 7(b), then a positive
current is injected to the grid.
3. If S1 and S2 are on, and S3 is off the equivalent
subcircuit is shown in the Fig. 7(c), then a double
magnitude positive current is injected to the grid.
4. If S1 is off and S2 and S3 are on, then a negative
current is injected to the grid.
5. If S1 and S2 are off, and S3 is on, then a double

The converter can be modulated with a traditional PWM

technique like the sinusoidal; then the produced current is Sa
shown in the Fig. 5 as Io, if a second order filter is used a S1 S2 Sb
sinusoidal current is obtained and injected to the grid as Is
(Fig. 5).
S3 Io Is Sc
The proposed novel CSI is shown in the Fig. 6; this CSI is
a multilevel type, with this type of converter a low harmonic
content can be injected to the grid, with a low switching Fig. 6. The proposed multilevel CSI.
frequency. In the Fig. 6 is shown a five level inverter;
however the system can be easily extrapolated to more
levels.

In order to explain the operation of the proposed converter

Io Is

(a) Subcircuit for zero current

Io Is

Io Is

Fig. 4. The traditional CSI.

(b) Subcircuit for a positive current

Io

Is

Io Is

Fig. 5. The waveforms of a traditional CSI. Top to down: CSI current, (c) Subcircuit for a double positive current
filtered current.
Fig. 7. Subcircuits of the proposed multilevel CSI.

440
 magnitude negative current is injected to the grid.
In table 1 are shown all the combinations to produce the
different levels of the converter. To produce a zero current
there are two combinations, for one level current also there
are two combinations, and for the two level current only one
combination exists.
In the Fig. 8 is shown the form of the current generated by
the multilevel CSI. It is shown the current obtained with and
without the second order filter.
see clearly the operation of the converter.
The current produced by the inverter is shown in the Fig.
12, with and without the current filter. The filtered current is
injected to the grid. As it can be observed the current is near
to a sinusoidal waveform and the output filter is too small. In
Fig. 13 is illustrated the harmonic content of the current
without and with the current filter, as it can be observed the
requirements of the current filter is with a high cutoff
frequency.

In the Fig. 14 is shown again the injected current, but also

A. Modulation technique
the utility line, the injection is made in phase with the
voltage.
The modulation of the CSI can be made in a similar way
of the traditional multilevel VSI. One technique is to IV. CONCLUSIONS
compare a sinusoidal waveform with more that one The converters connected to the grid are traditionally
triangular waveform, however there different techniques that voltage source inverters (VSI), because they are able to inject
can be used. Then the control signals of the switches can be
obtained considering the table I and comparing the triangular
waveforms with a sinusoidal reference. R
Vp
S 2S
In figure 9 is shown the modulation employed, it is shown
the rectified reference and the triangular waveforms used. S S 5S
6 2 6
The resultant signals of the comparison, two auxiliary signals
and the table I is used to obtain the actual control signals of R Carriers
the switches. The auxiliary signals are the sign of the Vt
reference and a signal to switch between levels of the
converter (Fig. 10). ` 12 V
t

III. SIMULATION RESULTS

A prototype of the converter was designed and simulated, Fig. 9. Modulation technique used. Top to down: Reference signal ,
Rectified reference compared with the carrier signals.
the input voltage is 120V, the current filter is implemented
with an inductor and capacitor of L= 1mH C= 1uF. L1
In the Fig. 11-14 the simulations are shown. The control
signal of the multilevel CSI and the injected current are
shown in the Fig. 11, this test was made at low frequency to
R
Table I Combinations to produce the output

Positive semicycle Negative semicycle

S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3
Zero Current 1 1 1 1 1 1 Fig. 10. Auxiliary signals.

0 0 0 0 0 0
1 level current 1 0 0 1 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 1
2 level current 1 1 0 0 0 1

Io

Is

Fig. 11. Control signals and injected current at low frequency. Top to down:
Fig. 8. Waveforms of the proposed CSI. Control signal of S1, Control signal of S3, Control signal of S2 and current
produced by the inverter.

441

Fig. 12. Injected current with and without the current filter.
Fig. 13. Harmonic content of the injected current without and with the
current filter.
Fig. 14. Utility line and the injected current.
442
current with a low harmonic content; however in low power
systems the input voltage is normally lower that the utility
line voltage, and then more stages are required.
In this paper a current source inverter is suggested instead
of a VSI, this type of converter can inject the current
without the use of additional stages. In the paper is also
proposed a novel multilevel current source inverter, which
permits to inject the current to the grid reducing the
switching frequency of the semiconductors.
The operation and simulation results are presented. In the
final version experimental results will be presented.
REFERENCES
[1] F. Antunes, A. M. Torres. A three-phase grid connected PV system
IEEE Industrial Electronics Conference 2000, IECON 00. Pp. 723-728
[2] S. H. Song, S. I. Kang, N- K. Hahm. Implementation and Control of
Grid Connected AC-DC-AC Power Converter for Variable Speed Wind
Energy Conversion System. IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference
and Exposition APEC 2003. pp154-158.
[3] H. Ertl, J. W. Kolar, and F. C. Zach, A Novel Multicell DCAC
Converter for Applications in Renewable Energy Systems, IEEE
Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 49, No. 5, October 2002, p.
1048, 1057
[4] G. M. Martins, J. A. Pomilio, S. Buso, G. Spiazzi Three-Phase Low-
Frequency Commutation Inverter for Renewable Energy Systems, IEEE
Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 53, No. 5, October 2006, pp.
1522-1528
[5] F. Blaabjerg, Z. Chen, and S. B. Kjaer, G. M. Martins, Power
Electronics as Efficient Interface in Dispersed Power Generation Systems,
IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 19, No. 5, September 2004.
Pp. 1184-1194
[6] Y. Xue, L. Chang, S. B. Kjr, J. Bordonau, T. Shimizu. Topologies
of Single-Phase Inverters for Small Distributed Power Generators: An
Overview, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 19, No. 5,
September 2004, pp. 1305-1314
[7] I. E. Colling, I. Barbi. A Sliding Mode Control of an Active Power
Filter, IEEE Industrial Electronics Conference IECON 2003, pp. 1056-
1060