The modular multilevel converter (MMC) has been a subject of increasing importance for medium/high-power energy conversion systems. Over the past few years, significant research has been done to address the technical challenges associated with the operation and control of the MMC. In this paper, a general overview of the basics of operation of the MMC along with its control challenges are discussed, and a review of state-of-the-art control strategies and trends is presented. Finally, the applications of the MMC and their challenges are highlighted.

Operation, Control, and Applications of the Modular Multilevel Converter: A Review

Modular multilevel converters have several attractive features such as a modular structure, the capability of transformer-less operation, easy scalability in terms of voltage and current, low expense for redundancy and fault tolerant operation, high availability, utilization of standard components, and excellent quality of the output waveforms. These features have increased the interest of industry and research in this topology, resulting in the development of new circuit configurations, converter models, control schemes, and modulation strategies. This paper presents a review of the latest achievements of modular multilevel converters regarding the mentioned research topics, new applications, and future trends.

Circuit topologies, modeling, control schemes, and applications of modular multilevel converters

This paper presents a modular cascaded H-bridge multilevel photovoltaic (PV) inverter for single- or three-phase grid-connected applications. The modular cascaded multilevel topology helps to improve the efficiency and flexibility of PV systems. To realize better utilization of PV modules and maximize the solar energy extraction, a distributed maximum power point tracking control scheme is applied to both single- and three-phase multilevel inverters, which allows independent control of each dc-link voltage. For three-phase grid-connected applications, PV mismatches may introduce unbalanced supplied power, leading to unbalanced grid current. To solve this issue, a control scheme with modulation compensation is also proposed. An experimental three-phase seven-level cascaded H-bridge inverter has been built utilizing nine H-bridge modules (three modules per phase). Each H-bridge module is connected to a 185-W solar panel. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Modular Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel PV Inverter With Distributed MPPT for Grid-Connected Applications

With wide-spread application of power electronic converters in high power systems, there has been a growing interest in system reliability analysis and fault-tolerant capabilities. This paper presents a comprehensive review of conventional fault-tolerant techniques regarding power electronic converters in case of power semiconductor device failures. These techniques can be classified into four categories based on the type of hardware redundancy unit: switch-level, leg-level, module-level, and system-level. Also, various fault-tolerant methods are assessed according to cost, complexity, performance, etc. The intent of this review is to provide a detailed picture regarding the current landscape of research in power electronic fault-handling mechanisms.

Survey on Fault-Tolerant Techniques for Power Electronic Converters

Modular multilevel converter (MMC) is one of the most promising topologies for medium to high-voltage high-power applications. The main features of MMC are modularity, voltage and power scalability, fault tolerant and transformer-less operation, and high-quality output waveforms. Over the past few years, several research studies are conducted to address the technical challenges associated with the operation and control of the MMC. This paper presents the development of MMC circuit topologies and their mathematical models over the years. Also, the evolution and technical challenges of the classical and model predictive control methods are discussed. Finally, the MMC applications and their future trends are presented.

Evolution of Topologies, Modeling, Control Schemes, and Applications of Modular Multilevel Converters

This paper proposed an improved phase disposition pulse width modulation (PDPWM) for a modular multilevel inverter which is used for Photovoltaic grid connection. This new modulation method is based on selective virtual loop mapping, to achieve dynamic capacitor voltage balance without the help of an extra compensation signal. The concept of virtual submodule (VSM) is first established, and by changing the loop mapping relationships between the VSMs and the real submodules, the voltages of the upper/lower arm's capacitors can be well balanced. This method does not requiring sorting voltages from highest to lowest, and just identifies the MIN and MAX capacitor voltage's index which makes it suitable for a modular multilevel converter with a large number of submodules in one arm. Compared to carrier phase-shifted PWM (CPSPWM), this method is more easily to be realized in field-programmable gate array and has much stronger dynamic regulation ability, and is conducive to the control of circulating current. Its feasibility and validity have been verified by simulations and experiments.

Modular Multilevel Inverter with New Modulation Method and Its Application to Photovoltaic Grid-Connected Generator

This paper presents an improved phase disposition pulsewidth modulation (PWM) (PDPWM) for the modular multilevel converter (MMC) which is based on the selective loop bias mapping (SLBM) method. Its main idea is to change the bias of the PDPWM carrier wave cycling according to the balance situation of the system. This new modulation method can operate at symmetric condition to generate an output voltage with as many as 2N + 1 levels, and by SLBM, the voltages of the upper/lower arm capacitors can be well balanced. Compared to carrier phase-shifted PWM, this method is more easily to be realized and has much stronger dynamic regulation ability. Specially, this method has no issues of sorting, which makes it suitable for MMC with a large number of submodules in one leg. With simulation and experiments, the validity of the proposed method has been shown.

A New Selective Loop Bias Mapping Phase Disposition PWM With Dynamic Voltage Balance Capability for Modular Multilevel Converter

A particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm-based staircase modulation strategy for modular multilevel converters (MMC) is proposed. To reduce switching losses and device stress, the staircase modulation method has been adopted in high-voltage and high-power energy conversion applications. In particular, the selection of the appropriate iterative initial values of switching angles is a significant step to realize a staircase modulated MMC. The proposed method is able to find the optimum initial values of switching angles, while it has the advantages of global optimization and quadratic convergence, which benefit from the PSO algorithm and Newton method, respectively. The paper presents analytical discussion of the voltage balancing control approach with rotation of switching angles. The main benefit of the efficient switching patterns is that the MMC has lower switching losses and minimum dV/dt stress. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the practical feasibility of the proposed scheme for the MMC.

Elimination of Harmonics in a Modular Multilevel Converter Using Particle Swarm Optimization-Based Staircase Modulation Strategy

A single-phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter for a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system with nonactive power compensation is presented in this paper. To maximize the solar energy extraction of each PV string, an individual maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control scheme is applied, which allows the independent control of each dc-link voltage. A generalized nonactive power theory is applied to generate the nonactive current reference. Within the inverter's capability, the local consumption of nonactive power is provided to realize power factor correction. A single-phase modular cascaded multilevel inverter prototype has been built. Each H-bridge is connected to a 195 W solar panel. Simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the proposed ideas.

Jun Mei

Papers

Modular Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel PV Inverter With Distributed MPPT for Grid-Connected Applications

Modular Multilevel Inverter with New Modulation Method and Its Application to Photovoltaic Grid-Connected Generator

A New Selective Loop Bias Mapping Phase Disposition PWM With Dynamic Voltage Balance Capability for Modular Multilevel Converter

Elimination of Harmonics in a Modular Multilevel Converter Using Particle Swarm Optimization-Based Staircase Modulation Strategy

Control of cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter with individual MPPT for grid-connected photovoltaic generators