This digest presents a method of using supercapacitor modules in the input loop, to reduce the input losses of a typical inverter system used in solar applications. It is an extension of the supercapacitor-assisted loss management principle (SCALoM), where supercapacitors act as lossless droppers and energy buffers at the input end with a very low frequency switching scheme with reduced dynamic losses in switches compared to switched capacitor-inverter systems. The technique uses a set of micro-inverters, with the same total power capability as a single inverter, combined with a set of supercapacitor banks switching at a low frequency to reduce the voltage stress and current through the H-bridge input stages of the inverters, enhancing the end-to-end efficiency of the overall system. The proposed technique does not require a re-design of the commercially available inverters and adds DC-UPS capability to the system. General theoretical foundations for efficiency improvement are presented with experimental data for a two-inverter configuration. The four inverter configuration will be further discussed in the final paper.
