US 12,355,364 B1
Modular photovoltaic string inverter system adapted for SiC MOSFETs
Robert W Erickson, Boulder, CO (US)
Assigned to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, A BODY CORPORATE, Denver, CO (US)
Filed by The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate, Denver, CO (US)
Filed on Oct. 19, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/073,796.
Application 17/073,796 is a continuation of application No. 16/377,012, filed on Apr. 5, 2019, granted, now 10,812,014.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/653,286, filed on Apr. 5, 2018.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H02M 1/12 (2006.01); H02M 7/49 (2007.01)
CPC H02M 7/49 (2013.01) [H02M 1/123 (2021.05)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An inverter comprising:
a pair of inverter input terminals;
a ground-balancing converter module comprising a pair of ground-balancing converter module input terminals coupled between the pair of inverter input terminals and ground and a pair of ground-balancing converter module output terminals, wherein the ground is disposed between each of the pair of inverter input terminals, the ground-balancing converter module comprises a first output terminal and a second output terminal; and
a plurality of converter modules coupled to the first output terminal and the second output terminal of the ground-balancing converter module, each of the plurality of converter modules providing an output ac phase of the inverter, and
a controller adapted to control the ground-balancing converter module such that the first output terminal and second output terminal have equal magnitudes and opposite polarities with respect to a ground voltage,
wherein at least one of the plurality of converter modules comprises a positive side module and a negative side module, the positive side module and the negative side module respectively supply a positive portion and a negative portion of an output ac sinusoid of the output ac phase of the at least one of the plurality of converter modules.