Three-Phase Power Conversion System for Utility Interconnected PV Applications: Phase I Technical Progress Report, 1 October 1995 - 17 April 1997

This report describes work performed by Omnion Power Corporation under Phase I of a two-phase subcontract. During this phase, Omnion researchers: designed an advanced product specification to guide prototype design and development; analyzed field failure data with Omnion's hard-switched Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor technology hardware to better understand where design improvements wereneeded; presented and reviewed product specifications with key customers/users; drafted a working product specification to serve as a baseline in developing the new power conversion system; developed the core-resonant converter technology in conjunction with Soft Switching Technologies Corp.; designed a 100-kW prototype power conversion system; designed a prototype system package; initiatedinteraction with vendors to optimize component selection and specifications; initiated the preparation of design documentation; built the prototype core-resonant converter and initiated preliminary testing; and initiated the assembly of a 1-kW prototype power conversion system. This work has demonstrated the potential of the soft-switching resonant DC link (RDCL) inverter and its application toa three-phase utility-interconnected PV power conversion system. The RDCL inverter has demonstrated its advantage over hard-switching pulse-width modulated inverters in terms of efficiency and audible noise. With proper package design and manufacturing process design and implementation, the RDCL power conversion system has the potential to be low-cost and reliable with superior performance.