Abstract

The modularity and decreased filter size properties have made cascaded multilevel inverters (MLIs) more applicable than conventional two-level inverters, especially in high and medium power photovoltaic (PV) applications. However, partial shading of PV modules will affect negatively the output power of the unshaded modules. There are several existing solutions in the literature to address this challenge, however almost all of them suffer from complex implementations, low efficiency, and high cost. This paper presents a new simplified feedforward distributed maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method for three-phase grid-connected cascaded MLIs. The cascaded MLI provides a modular, and highly efficient single stage power conversion for PV systems. The proposed distributed MPPT method is depending on the phase-shift pulse width modulation (PS-PWM) method with a simplified implementation. The proposed method is developing a feedforward signal that is proportional to the maximum power of the individual module. Then, the current controller, and the modulating signal are multiplied with the proportionality factor of the module maximum power. Furthermore, a modified modulation compensation method without using proportional-integral (PI) controllers is introduced to solve the problem of the unbalanced three-phase PV output currents that results from PV power mismatches and shading. A case study is implemented for 15 kW PV system to investigate the performance of the proposed method. In addition, comprehensive comparisons with the previous attempts in the literature are provided to verify the superior performance of the new proposed control method.