Chacabucogod said:
I have just begun my power electronics class, but have already seen what an inverter is. My question is: is there a difference between the topologies that function with photovoltaic systems and wind energy ones?
Thankyou
I guess it depends on what level of abstraction you're considering. At the highest level, they're both just
grid-tie inverters, so, in that respect, they're not any different.
The differences come into play when you start looking at the "sub-topologies" used to implement the stages of grid-tie inverters for PV and wind turbine systems and how they're controlled. There can, for instance, be large differences in the implementation of grid-tie inverters for residential PV systems and those designed for wind turbines, mainly due to their large difference in DC-link voltage and power rating. Flyback topologies, for example, aren't typically that great when you start exceeding 5-10 kW, but they're very popular below that due to their simplicity and low cost. There are other considerations as well, e.g. the power output of a wind turbine can change rapidly in time, which the inverter has to be designed to handle.
Control-wise, there's a difference in how the inverter should present itself as a load to the PV system or wind turbine generator. For PV systems, you generally want it to track the
maximum power point of your PV array. For a wind turbine generator, you generally want it to be aware that there's a huge block of copper and iron rotating furiously at its other end.
I can't really say much more without knowing the specifics of what you're after.