Presentation Description: The crisis of global warming combined with the rising cost of fossil fuel energy has accelerated the growth and adoption of renewable energy sources. Among a variety of renewable energy sources, solar energy has been proven to be the most cost effective, efficient and easiest to harness. This is evident in the exponential increase of residential rooftop solar systems installation. In the last few years, advancement in the battery technology has enabled a Hybrid Inverter System for residential application. These systems consist of solar panels, optimizer, battery, battery bi-directional power supply and a grid tied inverter. This enables the homeowner to store excess solar energy into the battery and move closer towards independence from utility grid energy consumption. One of the key elements of a Hybrid Inverter System is the Inverter, and the HERIC has been a popular topology due to low common mode EMI and high efficiency. The goal of this project is to demonstrate the capabilities of SiC devices in the power stage and a coupled inductor design along with optimized thermal management to capture the highest efficiency and value of the HERIC topology. A closed loop digital controller is realized with a microcontroller to achieve tight line and load regulation, excellent transient response and supporting reactive loads over a wide range of power factors.
