Coordinated Capacitor Voltage Balancing Method for Cascaded H-bridge Inverter with Supercapacitor and DC-DC Stage

Cascaded H-bridge inverter(CHBI) with supercapacitors(SCs) and dc-dc stage shows significant promise for medium to high voltage energy storage applications. This paper investigates the voltage balance of capacitors within the CHBI, including both the dc-link capacitors and SCs. Balance control over the dc-link capacitor voltages is realized by the dcdc stage in each submodule(SM), while a hybrid modulation strategy(HMS) is implemented in the H-bridge to balance the SC voltages among the SMs. Meanwhile, the dc-link voltage fluctuations are analyzed under the HMS. A virtual voltage variable is introduced to coordinate the balancing of dc-link capacitor voltages and SC voltages. Compared to the balancing method that solely considers the SC voltages, the presented method reduces the dc-link voltage fluctuations without affecting the voltage balance of SCs. Finally, both simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the presented method.

Model Predictive Control for Cascaded H-Bridge PV Inverter with Capacitor Voltage Balance

We designed an improved direct-current capacitor voltage balancing control model predictive control(MPC)for single-phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel photovoltaic(PV)inverters.Compared with conventional voltage balanc-ing control methods,the method proposed could make the PV strings of each submodule operate at their maximum power point by independent capacitor voltage control.Besides,the predicted and reference value of the grid-connected current was obtained according to the maximum power output of the maximum power point tracking.A cost function was con-structed to achieve the high-precision grid-connected control of the CHB inverter.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed control method was verified through a semi-physical simulation platform with three submodules.

THD Analysis of Cascaded H-Bridge Inverter with Fuzzy Logic Controller

In recent days, the multilevel inverter technology is widely applied to domestic and industrial applications for medium voltage conversion. But, the power quality issues of the multilevel inverter limit the usage of much sensitive equipment like medical instruments. The lower distortion level of the output voltage and current can generate a quality sinusoidal output voltage in inverters and they can be used for many applications. The harmonics can cause major problems in equipments due to the nonlinear loads connected with the power system. So, it is necessary to minimize the losses to raise its overall efficiency. In this paper, a new topology of seven level asymmetrical cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter with a Fuzzy logic controller had been implemented to reduce the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) and to improve the overall performance of the inverter. The proposed model is well suited for use with a solar PV application. In this topology, only six IGBT switches are used with three different voltage ratings of PV modules (1:2:4). The lower number of semiconductor switches leads to minimizing overall di/dt ratings and voltage stress on each switches and switching losses. The gate pulses generated by Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) technique with a Fuzzy logic controller are also introduced. A buck-boost converter is used to maintain the constant PV voltage level integrated by an MPPT technique followed by Perturb and Observer algorithm is also implemented. The MPPT is used to harness the maximum power of solar radiations under its various climatic conditions. The new topology is evaluated by a Matlab/Simulink model and compared with a hardware model. The results proved that the THD achieved by this topology is 1.66% and realized that it meets the IEEE harmonic standards.

Capacitor Pattern H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter (CPHMLI) Using Phase Diposition Pulse Width Modulation for Grid Applications

This work presents an implementation of an innovative single phase multilevel inverter using capacitors with reduced switches. The proposed Capacitor pattern H-bridge Multilevel Inverter (CPHMLI) topology consists of a proper number of Capacitor connected with switches and power sources. The advanced switching control supplied by Pulse Width Modulation (PDPWM) to attain mixed staircase switching state. The charging and discharging mode are achieved by calculating the voltage error at the load. Furthermore, to accomplish the higher voltage levels at the output with less number of semiconductors switches and simple commutation designed using CPHMLI topology. To prove the performance and effectiveness of the proposed approach, a set of experiments performed under various load conditions using MATLAB tool.

Modeling and Analysis of Variable Frequency Inverted Sine PWM Technique for a Hybrid Cascaded Multilevel Inverter

In cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter, a variable frequency inverted sine PWM technique is modeled for hybrid electric vehicles. It has a particular advantage of increasing power which is achieved using series connection of H-bridge and also this topology is capable to produce superior spectral quality with considerable improvement of fundamental voltage. The variable frequency inverted sine PWM technique produces lesser torque ripple and enhances the fundamental output voltage mainly at lower modulation index ranges. The topologies of multilevel inverter are flying capacitor, diode clamped and cascaded inverter. In the paper, we will discuss about the cascaded multilevel inverter based on inverted sine PWM technique. The two switching strategies widely used to control multilevel inverters are constant frequency inverted sine PWM (CF-ISPWM) and variable frequency inverted sine PWM (VF-ISPWM). This implies that switch utilization substantially reduces 32.35% of the constant frequency inverted sine PWM switching technique. The performance of the technique is validated in terms of Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) and Torque ripple which significantly reduces when compared to constant frequency ISPWM. The analysis of conventional triangular PWM inverter and inverted sine PWM inverter using constant and variable switching scheme is done in MATLAB Simulink and verified experimentally by FPGA Spartan 3E processor.

Applications of cascade multilevel inverters

Cascade multilevel inverters have been developed for electric utility applications. A cascade M level inverter consists of (M 1)/2 H bridges in which each bridge's dc voltage is supported by its own dc capacitor. The new inverter can: (1) generate almost sinusoidal waveform voltage while only switching one time per fundamental cycle; (2) dispense with multi pulse inverters' transformers used in conventional utility interfaces and static var compensators; (3) enables direct parallel or series transformer less connection to medium and high voltage power systems. In short, the cascade inverter is much more efficient and suitable for utility applications than traditional multi pulse and pulse width modulation (PWM) inverters. The authors have experimentally demonstrated the superiority of the new inverter for power supply, (hybrid) electric vehicle (EV) motor drive, reactive power (var) and harmonic compensation. This paper summarizes the features, feasibility, and control schemes of the cascade inverter for utility applications including utility interface of renewable energy, voltage regulation, var compensation, and harmonic filtering in power systems. Analytical, simulated, and experimental results demonstrated the superiority of the new inverters.

Neural Network and Fuzzy Control Based 11-Level Cascaded Inverter Operation

This paper presents a combined control and modulation technique to enhance the power quality(PQ)and power reliability(PR)of a hybrid energy system(HES)through a single-phase 11-level cascaded H-bridge inverter(11-CHBI).The controller and inverter specifically regulate the HES and meet the load demand.To track optimum power,a Modified Perturb and Observe(MP&O)technique is used for HES.Ultra-capacitor(UCAP)based energy storage device and a novel current control strategy are proposed to provide additional active power support during both voltage sag and swell conditions.For an improved PQ and PR,a two-way current control strategy such as the main controller(MC)and auxiliary controller(AC)is suggested for the 11-CHBI operation.MC is used to regulate the active current component through the fuzzy controller(FC),and AC is used to regulate the dc-link voltage of CHBI through a neural network-based PI controller(ANN-PI).By tracking the reference signals fromMC and AC,a novel hybrid pulse widthmodulation(HPWM)technique is proposed for the 11-CHBI operation.To justify and analyze the MATLAB/Simulink software-based designed model,the robust controller performance is tested through numerous steady-state and dynamic state case studies.

A Cascade Multilevel Inverter Using a Single DC Source

3.SWITCHING ANGLES If the nominal capacitor voltage is chosen as Vdc/2, then one can compute the switching anglesθ1,θ2,andθ3.Following the development,the Fourier series expan- sion of the(staircase)output voltage waveform of the multilevel inverter as shown in Fig.2(a)

A New Structure of Multilevel Inverter with Reduced Number of Switches for Electric Vehicle Applications

Both Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) need a traction motor and a power in-verter to drive the traction motor. The requirements for the power inverter include high peak power, opti-mum consumption of energy, low output harmonics and inexpensive circuit. In this paper, a new structure of multilevel inverter with reduced number of switches is proposed for electric vehicle applications. It consists of an H-bridge and an inverter in each phase which produces multilevel voltage by switching the dc voltage sources in series. As the number of switches are reduced, both conduction and switching losses will be de-creased, which leads to increase the efficiency of converter. The size and power consumption of driving cir-cuits are also reduced. The proposed three phase inverter can produces more number of voltage levels in the same number of the voltage source and reduced number of switches compared to the conventional inverters. This structure minimizes the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the output voltage waveforms. The structure of proposed multilevel inverter, modulation method, switching losses, THD calculation and simulation re-sults with PSCAD/EMTDC software are shown in this paper.

A New Phase-Shifted Cascade High Voltage Inverter

This paper presents a unique novel design of the phase-shifted cascade high voltage inverter. Thehigh voltage inverter utilizes fewer power switches and supplies a balance load. The usage of phase shifttransformer and phase shifting SPWM ensures that input and output harmonic wave content is low and outputvoltage change (du/dt) has a low rate, meeting all the requirements of the power authorities. The most out-standing feature is the energy saving with very fast cost recovery.

Minimization of Switching Devices and Driver Circuits in Multilevel Inverter

The various configurations of multilevel inverter involve the use of more numbers of switching devices, energy storage devices and/or unidirectional devices. Each switching unit necessitates the add-on driver circuit for proper functionality. Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter requires overlapped switching pulses for the switching devices in positive and negative arms of the bridge which may lead to short circuit during the device failure. This work addresses the problems in different configurations of multilevel inverter by using reduced number of switching and energy storage devices and driver circuits. In the present approach Single Switch is used for each stair case positive output and single H-Bridge for phase reversal. Driver circuits are reduced by using the property of body diode of the MOSFET. Switching pulses are generated by Arduino Development Board. The circuit is simulated using Matlab. More so, through experimental means, it is physically tested and results are analyzed for the 5-step inverter and thereby simulation is fully validated. Consequently, cycloconverter operation of the circuit is simulated using Matlab. Moreover, half bridge configuration of the multilevel inverter is also analyzed for high frequency induction heating applications.

Performance Metric of Z Source CHB Multilevel Inverter FED IM for Selective Harmonic Elimination and THD Reduction

This paper focuses on a Z source cascaded multilevel inverter which is designed to minimize harmonics in the output voltage. A balanced dc-link peak voltage can be achieved. The power generation module is built by PV panels which are connected to Z-Source Cascade H-bridge inverter. Cascaded multilevel inverter can achieve the distributed maximum power point tracking to increase the system efficiency and achieve high voltage/high power grid tie without a transformer. This paper analyzes the different PWM switching scheme and the operating states of a ZSI module and comparison is made with different PWM and total harmonic distortion of various PWM schemes.

A New Phase-shifted Cascade High Voltage Inverter

This paper presents the characteristic and structure of phase-shifted cascade high voltage inverter. The high voltage inverter utilizes fewer power switches and has a balance load, a good linearity between input and output and a perfect control feature.

Evaluation of 1.2 kV SiC MOSFETs in Multilevel Cascaded H-bridge Three-phase Inverter for Medium-voltage Grid Applications

A study is conducted to evaluate 1.2 kV silicon-carbide(SiC)MOSFETs in a cascaded H-bridge(CHB)three-phase inverter for medium-voltage applications.The main purpose of this topology is to remove the need for a bulky 60 Hz transformer normally used to step up the output signal of a voltage source inverter to a medium-voltage level.Using SiC devices(1.2-6.5 kV SiC MOSFETs)which have a high breakdown voltage,enables the system to meet and withstand the medium-voltage stress using only a minimal number of cascaded modules.The SiC-based power electronics when used in the presented topology considerably reduce the complexity usually encountered when Si devices are used to meet the medium-voltage level and power scalability.Simulation and preliminary experimental results on a low-voltage prototype verifies the nine-level CHB topology presented in this study.

H桥级联多电平逆变器旁路方法研究与应用

单元级联H桥逆变器因具有良好的输出电压和电流性能,在中高压变频器中逐渐得到广泛的应用,然而可靠的H桥功率单元故障旁路方法是级联H桥逆变器长期稳定运行的保证。当前逆变器应用现场要求具有高平均无故障时间(MTBF)需求,首先对级联H桥功率单元箱多电平逆变器传统旁路方法的优缺点进行分析;接着根据传统旁路方法的缺陷提出一种有着高可靠性级联H桥多电平逆变器的双重旁路方法;最后详细设计了满足双重旁路方法功能的电路并对该方法进行试验验证。试验结果表明此处所提方法能够实现级联H桥多电平逆变器的双重旁路,具有非常巨大的工程实际应用价值和意义。

面向直流微电网的混合级联多电平逆变器阶梯波控制策略研究

级联多电平变换器将数个全桥逆变模块以级联方式进行连接并予以控制,适用于中压大功率输出场景下的直流微电网,广泛应用于能量路由器、智能电能网关、固态变压器等电力电子装置中.传统级联多电平变换器所级联的每一路逆变模块的电压相同,限制了多电平输出电压的电平数量.为解决上述问题,将传统的母线电压相等的三路级联7电平逆变器改造成母线电压为2的倍数关系(20∶21∶22)的三路混合级联15电平逆变器,通过采用阶梯波控制方法,并针对最近电平逼近法进行了改良以产生开关器件的触发信号,可有效降低开关器件的开关频率和开关损耗,并将输出电压由7电平增加到15电平,有效降低谐波.从混合级联15电平逆变器工作原理、阶梯波调制方法、输出电压谐波等角度开展了理论分析与计算,最终搭建样机进行实验,有效验证了所提出的分析和研究.

Ⅱ型不对称三单元CHB逆变器的改进型调制策略

与对称型级联H桥逆变器相比,混合级联H桥逆变器具有使用较少级联H桥单元输出较多电平数的优点,但混合级联H桥逆变器在传统调制策略下存在电流倒灌及其导致的能量反馈问题,针对Ⅱ型不对称三单元混合级联H桥逆变器存在的此类问题,提出一种开关状态函数优化的调制策略,并对调制波进行二次优化,同时对所得脉冲进行逻辑运算及组合。所提策略剔除了存在电流倒灌的开关状态函数,解决了Ⅱ型不对称三单元逆变器在传统调制策略下存在的电流倒灌及能量反馈问题,降低了调制实现的难度,同时保证了输出电能质量。最后通过搭建直流电压比为1∶2∶4的Ⅱ型不对称三单元逆变器仿真模型及实验平台,分析并验证了所提调制策略的可行性及有效性。

三单元不对称级联H桥调制策略及推广

3:1:1型不对称级联H桥多电平逆变器输出电压谐波性能优异,但是在传统的调制策略下,存在高低压单元间电流倒灌问题,且传统调制策略仅仅适用于3:1:1型不对称级联H桥,不能推广应用。该文基于部分区间上高低压单元控制信号互补和移相载波调制策略提出了一种改进型混合频率载波调制策略。该文提出的调制策略不仅解决了传统调制策略下存在的高低压单元间的电流倒灌问题,而且可推广至n:1:1…型多电平逆变器的调制策略,同时给出各级联单元开关管控制信号的通用表达式,且可以实现所有低压单元间的功率均衡。仿真与实验结果证明了该调制策略的可行性,正确性与易推广性。

基于牛顿-蚁群算法与选择性谐波调制的电网功率放大器宽频控制策略

选择性谐波消除/生成脉宽调制技术能与多电平电力电子变换器相结合,实现低开关频率下的高频电网谐波功率复现。然而,为生成特定次谐波,需要求解非线性开关角方程,其求解精度受开关角初值选取约束,且实时性随着谐波次数的增加而降低。因此提出一种基于牛顿-蚁群算法的实时选择性谐波生成脉宽调制技术。通过建立开关角方程,利用蚁群算法求解初值,进一步结合牛顿算法获得不同开关频率及计算步长对应的最多谐波数目,并分析得到调制比-开关角对应关系。通过查找表获得初始开关角,并前馈至电压控制环路,实现对特定次谐波的无静差跟踪。最后以级联H桥多电平变换器为例,搭建仿真与实验平台,验证了理论分析的正确性与所提策略的可行性。

单相光伏级联多电平逆变器漏电流抑制与功率均衡控制综述

单相级联多电平逆变器(CMI)因其可实现组件级最大功率点跟踪(MPPT)、组件可关断、多电平输出电压谐波含量低、集优化器与并网逆变器为一体的结构等优势,近年来在光伏并网系统的研究领域受到关注。以单相非隔离型独立直流母线结构的光伏级联多电平逆变器(PV-CMI)为研究对象,针对其存在的两个问题进行综述:一是因缺少隔离环节可能导致的漏电流问题:二是单相PV-CMI各单元间相互独立的直流光伏输入可能导致的功率不均衡问题。这两个问题对单相PVCMI的安全稳定运行造成了威胁,从而极大地限制了单相PV-CMI的推广和应用。文中分析了单相PV-CMI的基本原理和拓扑特点,分别就其漏电流与光伏功率不均衡两大关键问题,综述现有的研究方案并进行了总结。最后,展望了PV-CMI未来的发展趋势及其存在的技术挑战,为后续研究提供了参考。