Patent ID: 8953350
Filing Date: 2015-02-10
Classification: H02J,H02M,Y02E

Abstract:
1. A method for use in operating a solar power converter including a first stage for coupling to a photovoltaic module and outputting a direct current (DC) power, a second stage for coupling to an output of the first stage and outputting an alternating current (AC) power, and a DC link coupled between the first and second stage, said method comprising: sampling a DC link voltage of the DC link during a first cycle of an alternating output voltage of the second stage at one instance when the alternating output voltage is crossing zero volts in a first direction; determining a voltage difference between the DC link voltage sampled during the first cycle and a DC link voltage sampled during a previous cycle when the alternating output voltage was crossing zero volts in the first direction; estimating a DC link power based at least in part on the determined voltage difference, and determining a DC link voltage target as a function of the estimated DC link power; and controlling the AC power output by the second stage in a second cycle after the first cycle based at least in part on the estimated DC link power and the DC link voltage target.