There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Multilevel inverter technology has emerged recently as a very important alternative in the area of high-power medium-voltage energy control. This paper presents the most important topologies like diode-clamped inverter (neutral-point clamped), capacitor-clamped (flying capacitor), and cascaded multicell with separate DC sources. Emerging topologies like asymmetric hybrid cells and soft-switched multilevel inverters are also discussed. This paper also presents the most relevant control and modulation methods developed for this family of converters: multilevel sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation, multilevel selective harmonic elimination, and space-vector modulation. Special attention is dedicated to the latest and more relevant applications of these converters such as laminators, conveyor belts, and unified power-flow controllers. The need of an active front end at the input side for those inverters supplying regenerative loads is also discussed, and the circuit topology options are also presented. Finally, the peripherally developing areas such as high-voltage high-power devices and optical sensors and other opportunities for future development are addressed.

Multilevel inverters: a survey of topologies, controls, and applications

DC and AC Microgrids are key elements to integrate renewable and distributed energy resources as well as distributed energy storage systems. In the last years, efforts toward the standardization of these Microgrids have been made. In this sense, this paper present the hierarchical control derived from ISA-95 and electrical dispatching standards to endow smartness and flexibility to microgrids. The hierarchical control proposed consist of three levels: i) the primary control is based on the droop method, including an output impedance virtual loop; ii) the secondary control allows restoring the deviations produced by the primary control; and iii) the tertiary control manage the power flow between the microgrid and the external electrical distribution system. Results from a hierarchical-controlled microgrid are provided to show the feasibility of the proposed approach.

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Hierarchical control of droop-controlled DC and AC microgrids — a general approach towards standardization

The use of distributed energy resources is increasingly being pursued as a supplement and an alternative to large conventional central power stations. The specification of a power-electronic interface is subject to requirements related not only to the renewable energy source itself but also to its effects on the power-system operation, especially where the intermittent energy source constitutes a significant part of the total system capacity. In this paper, new trends in power electronics for the integration of wind and photovoltaic (PV) power generators are presented. A review of the appropriate storage-system technology used for the integration of intermittent renewable energy sources is also introduced. Discussions about common and future trends in renewable energy systems based on reliability and maturity of each technology are presented

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Power-Electronic Systems for the Grid Integration of Renewable Energy Sources: A Survey

Multilevel converters have been under research and development for more than three decades and have found successful industrial application. However, this is still a technology under development, and many new contributions and new commercial topologies have been reported in the last few years. The aim of this paper is to group and review these recent contributions, in order to establish the current state of the art and trends of the technology, to provide readers with a comprehensive and insightful review of where multilevel converter technology stands and is heading. This paper first presents a brief overview of well-established multilevel converters strongly oriented to their current state in industrial applications to then center the discussion on the new converters that have made their way into the industry. In addition, new promising topologies are discussed. Recent advances made in modulation and control of multilevel converters are also addressed. A great part of this paper is devoted to show nontraditional applications powered by multilevel converters and how multilevel converters are becoming an enabling technology in many industrial sectors. Finally, some future trends and challenges in the further development of this technology are discussed to motivate future contributions that address open problems and explore new possibilities.

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Recent Advances and Industrial Applications of Multilevel Converters

A new neutral-point-clamped pulsewidth modulation (PWM) inverter composed of main switching devices which operate as switches for PWM and auxiliary switching devices to clamp the output terminal potential to the neutral point potential has been developed. This inverter output contains less harmonic content as compared with that of a conventional type. Two inverters are compared analytically and experimentally. In addition, a new PWM technique suitable for an ac drive system is applied to this inverter. The neutral-point-clamped PWM inverter adopting the new PWM technique shows an excellent drive system efficiency, including motor efficiency, and is appropriate for a wide-range variable-speed drive system.

A New Neutral-Point-Clamped PWM Inverter

The conventional reactive power in single-phase or three- phase circuits has been defined on the basis of the average value concept for sinusoidal voltage and current waveforms in steady states. The instantaneous reactive power in three-phase circuits is defined on the basis of the instantaneous value concept for arbitrary voltage and current waveforms, including transient states. A new instantaneous reactive power compensator comprising switching devices is proposed which requires practically no energy storage components.

Instantaneous Reactive Power Compensators Comprising Switching Devices without Energy Storage Components

Preface. 1. Introduction. 1.1. Concepts and Evolution of Electric Power Theory. 1.2. Applications of the p-q Theory to Power Electronics Equipment. 1.3. Harmonic Voltages in Power Systems. 1.4. Identified and Unidentified Harmonic-Producing Loads. 1.5. Harmonic Current and Voltage Sources. 1.6. Basic Principles of Harmonic Compensation. 1.7. Basic Principles of Power Flow Control. References. 2. Electric Power Definitions: Background. 2.1. Power Definitions Under Sinusoidal Conditions. 2.2. Voltage and Current Phasors and the Complex Impedance. 2.3. Complex Power and Power Factor. 2.4. Concepts of Power Under Non-Sinusoidal Conditions -Conventional Approaches. 2.5. Electric Power in Three-Phase Systems. 2.6. Summary. References. 3 The Instantaneous Power Theory. 3.1. Basis of the p-q Theory. 3.2. The p-q Theory in Three-Phase, Three-Wire Systems. 3.3. The p-q Theory in Three-Phase, Four-Wire Systems. 3.4. Instantaneous abc Theory. 3.5. Comparisons between the p-q Theory and the abc Theory. 3.6. Summary. References. 4 Shunt Active Filters. 4.1. General Description of Shunt Active Filters. 4.2. Three-Phase, Three-Wire Shunt Active Filters. 4.3. Three-Phase, Four-Wire Shunt Active Filters. 4.4. Shunt Selective Harmonic Compensation. 4.5. Summary. References. 5 Hybrid and Series Active Filters. 5.1. Basic Series Active Filter. 5.2. Combined Series Active Filter and Shunt Passive Filter. 5.3. Series Active Filter Integrated with a Double-Series Diode Rectifier. 5.4. Comparisons Between Hybrid and Pure Active Filters. 5.5. Conclusions. References. 6 Combined Series and Shunt Power Conditioners. 6.1. The Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC). 6.2. The Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC). 6.3. The Universal Active Power Line Conditioner (UPLC). 6.4. Summary. References. Index.

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Instantaneous power theory and applications to power conditioning

Attention has been paid to active filters for power conditioning which provide the following multifunctions: reactive power compensation; harmonic compensation; flicker/imbalance compensation; and voltage regulation. Active filters in a range of 50 kVA-60 MVA have been practically installed in Japan. In the near future, the term "active filters" will have a much wider meaning than it did in the 1970s. For instance, active filters intended for harmonic solutions are expanding their functions from harmonic compensation of nonlinear loads into harmonic isolation between utilities and consumers, and harmonic damping throughout power distribution systems. This paper presents the present status of active filters based on state-of-the-art power electronics technology, and their future prospects and directions toward the 21st Century, including the personal views and expectations of the author.

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New trends in active filters for power conditioning

A modular multilevel converter (MMC) is one of the next-generation multilevel converters intended for high- or medium-voltage power conversion without transformers. The MMC is based on cascade connection of multiple bidirectional chopper-cells per leg, thus requiring voltage-balancing control of the multiple floating DC capacitors. However, no paper has made an explicit discussion on voltage-balancing control with theoretical and experimental verifications. This paper deals with two types of pulsewidth-modulated modular multilevel converters (PWM- MMCs) with focus on their circuit configurations and voltage-balancing control. Combination of averaging and balancing controls enables the PWM-MMCs to achieve voltage balancing without any external circuit. The viability of the PWM-MMCs, as well as the effectiveness of the voltage-balancing control, is confirmed by simulation and experiment.

Hirofumi Akagi

Papers

A New Neutral-Point-Clamped PWM Inverter

Instantaneous Reactive Power Compensators Comprising Switching Devices without Energy Storage Components

Instantaneous power theory and applications to power conditioning

New trends in active filters for power conditioning

Control and Experiment of Pulsewidth-Modulated Modular Multilevel Converters