High density control circuit integration for low cost grid tied inverter

Integration of functions and features into silicon circuits is very important for a new power circuit design in order to reduce the electronic bill of material´s (eBOM) cost and component count. These eBOM reductions increase the reliability and decrease the cost and size of a product. A low cost power micro-inverter using two application specific integrated circuits, analog power manager (APM) and micro-inverter control (IXC), was built and characterized. This micro-inverter incorporates an algorithm for maximum power point tracking and converts power directly from photovoltaic, (PV), panels for use in solar power generating systems. The eBOM cost and component count and cost for the micro-inverter is decreased by 58% and 38.5% respectively compared to commercially available mirco-inverters with similar power level. The California Energy Commission (CEC) weighted efficiency of the low micro-cost inverter is higher than 96.3%. Total current demand distortion (TDD) is lower than 1% up to the 39th harmonic.