Renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics (PVs) or fuel cells (FCs) are not fitted for direct power grid connection because they deliver DC voltage and current. This is why a power electronic interface is needed, consisting usually of a current-mode operated step-up DC/DC converter with/without isolation that boosts the voltage at a level that can be processed by a DC/AC inverter. This paper presents the implementation of a three-phase power electronic interface for PV/FCs that uses a single conversion stage approach based on a current source inverter (CSI) topology that would need only six reverse blocking IGBTs. In order to overcome the poor switching behavior of this device, a new way of implementing the CSI is proposed, which is proved to be more efficient. A new cost-effective CSI topology for multiple DC sources independently controlled is also proposed.The performance is assessed both in simulation and experimental.
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