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.

A distributed VSG control method for a battery energy storage system with a cascaded H-bridge in a grid-connected mode

With the high penetration of renewable energy,new challenges,such as power fluctuation suppression and inertial support capability,have arisen in the power sector.Battery energy storage systems play an essential role in renewable energy integration.In this paper,a distributed virtual synchronous generator(VSG)control method for a battery energy storage system(BESS)with a cascaded H-bridge converter in a grid-connected mode is proposed.The VSG is developed without communication dependence,and state-of-charge(SOC)balancing control is achieved using the distributed average algorithm.Owing to the low varying speed of SOC,the bandwidth of the distributed communication networks is extremely slow,which decreases the cost.Therefore,the proposed method can simultaneously provide inertial support and accurate SOC balancing.The stability is also proved using root locus analysis.Finally,simulations under different conditions are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

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.

Simplified Cluster Voltage Balancing Control Based on Zero-sequence Voltage Injection for Star-connected Cascaded H-bridge STATCOM

The cluster DC voltage balancing control adopting zero-sequence voltage injection is appropriate for the starconnected cascaded H-bridge STATCOM because no zerosequence currents are generated in the three-phase three-wire system.However,as the zero-sequence voltage is expressed in trigonometric form,traditional control methods involve many complicated operations,such as the square-root,trigonometric operations,and inverse tangent operations.To simplify cluster voltage balancing control,this paper converts the zero-sequence voltage to the dq frame in a DC representation by introducing a virtually orthogonal variable,and the DC components of the zero-sequence voltage in the dq frame are regulated linearly by proportional integral regulators,rather than being calculated from uneven active powers in traditional controls.This removes all complicated operations.Finally,this paper presents simulation and experimental results for a 400 V±7.5 kvar star-connected STATCOM,in balanced and unbalanced scenarios,thereby verifying the effectiveness of the proposed control.

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.

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.

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.

Finite-time robust control for transformerless H-bridge cascaded STATCOM with star configuration

This article presents a finite-time robust control(FTRC)of a transformerless STATCOM based on a cascaded multilevel H-bridge converter(CMHC)with star configuration.The FTRC is first proposed for the current loop control of a CMHC-based transformerless STATCOM by using the finite time robust control theory.Taking the parameters,perturbations and external disturbances into account and using coordinate transformation method,the nonlinear dynamic model of the CMHC-based transformerless STATCOM is transformed into a standard nonlinear port-controlled dissipative Hamiltonian(PCDH)structure.Based on the PCDH structure,an FTRC is designed for the CMHC-based transformerless STATCOM to improve the transient stability and oscillation damping of power system.Finally,the simulation results demonstrate that the FTRC has better dynamic performance and strong robustness in comparison with the passivity-based control of the CMHC-based transformerless STATCOM.

Fault Recognition of Multilevel Inverter Using Artificial Neural Network Approach

This paper focuses on the development of a diagnostic tool for detect-ing insulated gate bipolar transistor power electronic switchflaws caused by both open and short circuit faults in multi-level inverter time-frequency output voltage specifications.High-resolution laboratory virtual instrument engineering work-bench software testing tool with a sample rate data collection system,as well as specialized signal processing and soft computing technologies,are used in this proposed method.On a single-phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter,simu-lation and experimental investigations of both open and short issues of the insu-lated gate bipolar transistor components are performed out.In all conceivable switch issues,the output voltage signals are evaluated for different modulation index values.Fast fourier transform and discrete wavelet transform methods are used to investigate the frequency domain properties of output voltage signals.In the artificial neural network,the back propagation training technique was employed,and the generated neural parameter values were used in the Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench real-time fault diagnosis model.

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.

Hybrid Modular Smart Transformer for Asymmetrically Bidirectional Power Flow Operation

The presence of renewable energy resources in LV distribution networks may lead to a distribution transformer,also known as a Smart Transformer(ST),experiencing the bidirectional power flow.Therefore,the ST must have the capability to operate in both directions.However,the reverse power is less as compared to the forward power,thus the design of ST with the same capacity in both directions increases the hardware cost and decreases the system efficiency.This paper proposes a Hybrid-modular-ST(H-ST),composed of a mixed use of single active bridge-based series resonant converter and dual active bridge instead of complete use of uni-or bi-directional converter adopted in the conventional solid-state-transformer.Based on the proposed H-ST,the impacts of power imbalance among cascaded modules in reverse operation mode are analyzed and then an effective solution based on reactive power compensation combined with the characteristics of the proposed architecture is adopted.The simulation and experimental results clearly validate the effectiveness and feasibility of the theoretical analyses.