5. DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF SOLID STATE TRANSFORMER FOR SMART GRID

Since solid-state transformers (SSTs) may get around a number of the drawbacks of traditional low-frequency transformers, they are becoming more and more significant in contemporary power systems. SSTs offer significant advantages like decreased size and w eight, greater controllability, bidirectional power flow, higher power quality, and simple integration with smart grids and renewable energy sources by substituting power-electronic - based high-frequency conversion stages for heavy magnetic cores. This pape r presents the design, development, and experimental evaluation of a low-voltage, three-stage Solid-State Transformer prototype implemented using Arduino microcontrollers. The proposed system follows a classical three-stage SST structure consisting of an A C – DC rectification stage, a high-frequency isolated DC – DC conversion stage employing a ferrite-core transformer, and a DC – AC inverter stage that delivers a regulated 50 Hz AC output. To improve modularity and ensure reliable real-time performance, the cont rol system is divided between two Arduino UNO boards. One microcontroller is dedicated to generating high-frequency and low-frequency PWM signals, while the second handles voltage and current measurement, protection features, and IoT-based monitoring. The prototype effectively illustrates key SST characteristics such galvanic isolation, high-frequency operation, digital control, and modular expandability while operating at safe laboratory voltage levels below 48 V. This study promotes future research in sop histicated control techniques and wide-bandgap semiconductor technology while offering an inexpensive and instructive platform for comprehending SST ideas.