Design, Simulation and Performance of a CSI Converter for Grid-Connected or Islanded Microgrids with High Step-Up Capability in PV Applications

In the context of energy conversion from renewable sources to distribution grids (insulated or not), a converter is often required to transfer energy from a low voltage source towards three-phase grids. This paper presents the HW design, the simulation results, and the conversion performance of a CSI converter intended to interface low-voltage renewable sources to three-phase grids. The main focus of this paper is to obtain the best performance in terms of voltage increase towards the output stage while maximizing the conversion efficiency. In comparison with the currently used energy conversion systems for small photovoltaic systems, hereafter some solutions were adopted to level and maximize the energy flow from the source to the DC-link and improve the quality of current supplied in terms of harmonic distortion. The proposed system is composed of two conversion stages: the first, voltage-to-current, the second current-to-current via a three-phase CSI bridge modulated with the SVM technique. The stages are not completely decoupled from an electrical point of view; therefore, in order to mitigate the effects of these interactions, synchronization strategies have been adopted.