Showing papers on "Inverter published in 2019"

Optimal Design of a New Cascaded Multilevel Inverter Topology With Reduced Switch Count

Abstract: Multilevel inverters (MLIs) are a great development for industrial and renewable energy applications due to their dominance over conventional two-level inverter with respect to size, rating of switches, filter requirement, and efficiency. A new single-phase cascaded MLI topology is suggested in this paper. The proposed MLI topology is designed with the aim of reducing the number of switches and the number of dc voltage sources with modularity while having a higher number of levels at the output. For the determination of the magnitude of dc voltage sources and a number of levels in the cascade connection, three different algorithms are proposed. The optimization of the proposed topology is aimed at achieving a higher number of levels while minimizing other parameters. A detailed comparison is made with other comparable MLI topologies to prove the superiority of the proposed structure. A selective harmonic elimination pulse width modulation technique is used to produce the pulses for the switches to achieve high-quality voltage at the output. Finally, the experimental results are provided for the basic unit with 11 levels and for cascading of two such units to achieve 71 levels at the output.

Switched-Capacitor-Based Single-Source Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter Featuring Boosting Ability

Abstract: Cascaded multilevel inverter (CMI) is one of the most popular multilevel inverter topologies. This topology is synthesized with some series-connected identical H-bridge cells. CMI requires several isolated dc sources which brings about some difficulties when dealing with this type of inverter. This paper addresses the problem by proposing a switched-capacitor (SC)-based CMI. The proposed topology, which is referred to as switched-capacitor single-source CMI (SCSS-CMI), makes use of some capacitors instead of the dc sources. Hence, it requires only one dc source to charge the employed capacitors. Usually, the capacitor charging process in a SC cell is companied by some current spikes which extremely harm the charging switch and the capacitor. The capacitors in SCSS-CMI are charged through a simple auxiliary circuit which eradicates the mentioned current spikes and provides zero-current switching condition for the charging switch. A computer-aid simulated model along with a laboratory-built prototype is adopted to assess the performances of SCSS-CMI, under different conditions.

An Extensive Practical Investigation of FPSO-Based MPPT for Grid Integrated PV System Under Variable Operating Conditions With Anti-Islanding Protection

Abstract: Maximum power point trackers (MPPT) are required in order to obtain optimal photovoltaic power. To achieve this task, an intelligent fuzzy particle swarm optimization (FPSO) MPPT algorithm has been proposed in this paper. Also an inverter control strategy has been gated with a ripple factor compensation-based modified space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) method. The proposed system performance is verified under varying sun irradiance, partial shadow, and loading conditions. For load bus voltage regulation, the buck-boost Zeta converter is selected due to least ripple voltage output. The experimental responses verify the efficiency and improved system performance, which is realized through a MATLAB/Simulink interfaced dSPACE DS1104 real-time board. The proposed MPPT and inverter current controller provides high tracking efficiency and anti-islanding protection with superior dynamic control of the system performance by injecting sinusoidal inverter current to the utility grid. The novelty of this paper is experimental implementation and verification of FPSO-based hybrid MPPT as well as modified SVPWM inverter control has neither been discussed nor implemented before using dSPACE platform by the author's best review.

Three-Stage Robust Inverter-Based Voltage/Var Control for Distribution Networks With High-Level PV

Abstract: This paper proposes a novel three-stage robust inverter-based voltage/var control (TRI-VVC) approach for high photovoltaic (PV)-penetrated distribution networks. The approach aims at coordinating three different control stages from centralized to local VVC to reduce energy loss and mitigate voltage deviation. In the first stage, capacitor banks and an on-load tap changer are scheduled hourly in a rolling horizon. In the second stage, PV inverters are dispatched in a short time-window. In the third stage, the inverters respond to real-time voltage violation through local droop controllers. A new PV inverter model for voltage control is developed to support both the centralized var dispatch and the local var droop control. To address uncertain PV output and load demand, a robust optimization (RO) model is proposed to optimize the first two stages while taking into account the droop voltage control support from the third stage. A linearized distribution power flow model with power loss is developed and applied in the RO. The simulation results show high efficiency and robustness of the proposed TRI-VVC strategy.

PWM-VSI Fault Diagnosis for a PMSM Drive Based on the Fuzzy Logic Approach

Abstract: For the purpose of increasing the reliability in a hostile environment, techniques of fault diagnosis have been reported for a three-phase voltage-source inverter (VSI). Based on the average current Park's vector method, this paper proposes a fuzzy-based fault diagnosis method for the VSI in the three-phase permanent-magnet synchronous motor drive. By utilizing the phase current information, the fault symptom variables are calculated by using the average current Park's vector method. The fuzzy logic approach is applied to process the fault symptom variables and obtain the faulty information of power switches. Compared with other fuzzy logic methods, the fuzzy logic design, fuzzy inputs, and fuzzy rules are different. The proposed fault diagnosis method can detect and locate not only the single or multiple open-circuit faults, but also the intermittent faults in power switches, which can improve the reliability of the motor drive system. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by both simulation and experiments.

An Adaptive Fuzzy Logic Control Strategy for Performance Enhancement of a Grid-Connected PMSG-Based Wind Turbine

Abstract: Wind power installations are rapidly increasing worldwide, leading to a huge level of permeation into electricity supply networks. Enormous efforts are spent to improve the performance of the wind turbine generator systems. This paper proposes a novel adaptive fuzzy logic control strategy for performance improvement of a grid-tied wind generator system. The variable-speed wind turbine driven permanent-magnet synchronous generator is tied to the electricity network by a full-capacity power converter. A cascaded adaptive fuzzy logic control strategy is proposed as the control methodology for the generator- and the grid-side converter/inverter. The adaptive technique depends on a continuous mixed $p$ -norm algorithm, which on-line updates the scaling factors of the fuzzy logic controllers (FLCs) at a high convergence speed. For the sake of preciseness, real wind speed data measured in the Zaafarana wind farm, Egypt, are considered in the analyses. The effectiveness of the proposed adaptive FLC is compared to that achieved using particle swarm optimization algorithm based an optimal proportional-integral controller, considering severe grid disturbances. Extensive simulation analyses, which are done using MATLAB/Simulink software, are presented to validate the efficiency of the adaptive fuzzy logic control strategy.

Dual-T-Type Seven-Level Boost Active-Neutral-Point-Clamped Inverter

Abstract: The conventional three-level active-neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) inverter requires high dc-link voltage at least twice the peak of ac output. To reduce the dc-link voltage, a recent topology that enhanced the voltage gain from half to unity has been presented. In this letter, an alternative ANPC topology is established by using two T-type inverters. Two floating capacitors with self-voltage balancing capability are integrated to achieve a voltage-boosting gain of 1.5. In addition, the proposed topology is capable of generating seven voltage levels. Its operation is validated through circuit analysis followed by experimental results of a prototype.

LQR-Based Adaptive Virtual Synchronous Machine for Power Systems With High Inverter Penetration

Abstract: This paper presents a novel virtual synchronous machine controller for converters in power systems with a high share of renewable resources. Using a linear quadratic regulator-based optimization technique, the optimal state feedback gain is determined to adaptively adjust the emulated inertia and damping constants according to the frequency disturbance in the system, while simultaneously preserving a tradeoff between the critical frequency limits and the required control effort. Two control designs are presented and compared against the open-loop model. The proposed controllers are integrated into a state-of-the-art converter control scheme and verified through electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulations.

A soft ring oscillator

Abstract: Periodic actuation of multiple soft, pneumatic actuators requires coordinated function of multiple, separate components. This work demonstrates a soft, pneumatic ring oscillator that induces temporally coordinated periodic motion in soft actuators using a single, constant-pressure source, without hard valves or electronic controls. The fundamental unit of this ring oscillator is a soft, pneumatic inverter (an inverting Schmitt trigger) that switches between its two states ("on" and "off") using two instabilities in elastomeric structures: buckling of internal tubing and snap-through of a hemispherical membrane. An odd number of these inverters connected in a loop produces the same number of periodically oscillating outputs, resulting from a third, system-level instability; the frequency of oscillation depends on three system parameters that can be adjusted. These oscillatory output pressures enable several applications, including undulating and rolling motions in soft robots, size-based particle separation, pneumatic mechanotherapy, and metering of fluids. The soft ring oscillator eliminates the need for hard valves and electronic controls in these applications.

Packed E-Cell (PEC) converter topology operation and experimental validation

Abstract: This paper proposes a novel single-dc-source multilevel inverter called Packed E-Cell (PEC) topology to achieve nine levels with noticeably reduced components count, while dc capacitors are actively balanced. The nine-level PEC (PEC9) is composed of seven active switches and two dc capacitors that are shunted by a four-quadrant switch to from the E-cell, and it makes use of a single dc link. With the proper design of the corresponding PEC9 switching states, the dc capacitors are balanced using the redundant charging/discharging states. Since the shunted capacitors are horizontally extended, both capacitors are simultaneously charged or discharged with the redundant states, so only the auxiliary dc-link voltage needs to be sensed and regulated to half of the input dc source voltage, and consequently, dc capacitors' voltages are inherently balanced to one quarter of the dc bus voltage. To this end, an active capacitor voltage balancing integrated to the level-shifted half-parabola carrier PWM technique has been designed based on the redundant charging/discharging states to regulate the dc capacitors voltages of PEC9. Furthermore, using the E-cell not only reduces components count but also the proposed topology permits multi ac terminal operation. Thus, five-level inverter operation can be achieved during the four-quadrant switch fault, which confers to the structure high reliability. The theoretical analysis as well as the experimental results are presented and discussed, showing the basic operation, multi-functionality, as well as the superior performance of the proposed novel PEC9 inverter topology.

A Novel Nine-Level Quadruple Boost Inverter With Inductive-Load Ability

Abstract: A novel single-phase nine-level switched-capacitor inverter (9LSCI) is presented with quadruple boost ability and reduced components. The proposed topology with single dc source employs only eight switches to realize nine-level output, self-voltage balance of capacitors, quadruple boost and inductive-load ability, thus, the effective cost is cut down compared to other switched-capacitor multilevel inverters (SCMLIs). Different from other SCMLIs, the proposed 9LSCI has no need for back-end H-bridge, of which four switches need to withstand the peak voltage of output. Hence, total standing voltage can be reduced. The operation principles containing the self-voltage balance of capacitors are described in detail. The quantitative comparisons, modified cost function, as well as the loss evaluations are examined in depth. Finally, multicarrier phase disposition pulsewidth modulation method is adopted and a laboratory prototype is implemented with the rated output of 220 V–500 W. The experimental results also verify the feasibility of the proposed topology.

New Family of Boost Switched-Capacitor Seven-Level Inverters (BSC7LI)

Abstract: This paper proposes a new family of multilevel inverter topology that is able to generate seven voltage levels by utilizing one or two floating capacitors and 10 power switches. This novel boost switched-capacitor seven-level inverter possesses voltage boosting capability with an achievable maximum voltage level 1.5 times the input direct current (dc) voltage. The generation of higher output voltage does not incur high-voltage stress on any power switch in this topology, as the peak inverse voltages of all power switches do not exceed the input source voltage. In addition, capacitor voltage balancing is not essential since the floating capacitors are effectively balanced during the charging and discharging processes. Furthermore, the proposed topology eliminates the need for multiple isolated dc sources, and a single dc source is sufficient in both its single-phase and three-phase topologies. The operating principle and steady-state analysis of the proposed topology are elaborated. Experimental results from a single-phase prototype are then presented to verify the validity of the proposed topology.

A New Coil Structure and Its Optimization Design With Constant Output Voltage and Constant Output Current for Electric Vehicle Dynamic Wireless Charging

Abstract: Dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) is a promising solution to address electric vehicle range anxiety and to reduce the capacity and the cost of the on-board batteries. In the traditional DWPT system, the mutual inductances among the transmitters make the design of compensation networks very complex. Besides, the power null phenomenon and the power pulsation phenomenon cause a fluctuating dc output voltage or current on the receiver side. To address these issues, this paper proposes a new magnetic coupler. Unipolar and bipolar coils are laid alternately to form segmented transmitters, which are turned on or off according to the position of the overhead receiver coil. LCC compensations, whose inputs are connected in parallel to a common inverter for cost reduction, are adopted. At the receiver side, unipolar and bipolar coils are overlapped in the same plate in order to effectively smooth out the mutual inductance variations and, hence, reduce the output voltage or current fluctuations. Also, a configurable resonant circuit is designed on the receiver side to achieve constant voltage charging and constant current charging. Moreover, an optimization design by using finite-element analysis software Maxwell is developed to choose the best turns of the receiver coil to further improve the output quality. A laboratory prototype with 4-A charging current and 96-V charging voltage, using 85 kHz operation frequency, is constructed to verify the proposed DWPT system. The experimental results show that constant and stable output voltage and current can be achieved with only ±2% fluctuation, and the overall efficiency is 90.37%.

An Integrated Step-Up Inverter Without Transformer and Leakage Current for Grid-Connected Photovoltaic System

Abstract: In this paper, an integrated step-up inverter without transformer is investigated for photovoltaic (PV) power generation. The proposed topology can be derived by combining a traditional boost converter with a single-phase full bridge dc–ac converter. The main features of the integrated inverter are: First, the leakage current caused by the solar cell array-to-ground parasitic capacitance can be theoretically reduced to zero due to the characteristics of the converter configuration, which can improve the efficiency and the reliability of the PV generation system; second, the output ac voltage of the proposed inverter can be higher than the input dc voltage, which is capable of connecting low voltage PV panels to the grid; third, only five active switches are used in the presented inverter, and those switching devices can be synchronously driven by various sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation methods based on the carrier; therefore, the proposed inverter is compact and with curtailed cost. The working principle and analysis of the proposed integrated inverter are elaborated. Finally, simulation and experimental results are obtained in a lab prototype, which agree well with the theoretical analysis.

A Boost-Type Nine-Level Switched Capacitor Inverter

Abstract: A new boost-type multilevel inverter using switched capacitor structure is proposed. The main feature of the proposed inverter is boosting and multilevel output with small number of components. Due to the passive voltage balancing of each capacitor maintains a constant voltage without additional control. In this paper, the operation principle, the modulation method, the voltage/current stresses on switches and the determination of capacitances, the simulation results with MATLAB/Simulink R2015a, the experimental results, and the 2-kW simulation are shown. The simulation and the experiments were conducted under resistive load and inductive load conditions. In addition, the load variation was conducted in the experiment. Under both resistive load and inductive load conditions, the obtained waveforms by simulation and experiment agreed well with the theory. In the load variation experiment, the obtained waveforms were not distorted and the capacitor voltages maintained constant.

A New DC–DC Converter for Photovoltaic Systems: Coupled-Inductors Combined Cuk-SEPIC Converter

Abstract: An enhanced DC–DC converter is proposed in this paper, based on the combination of the Cuk and SEPIC converters, which is well-suited for solar photovoltaic (PV) applications. The converter uses only one switch (which is ground-referenced, so simple gate drive circuitry may be used), yet provides dual outputs in the form of a bipolar DC bus. The bipolar output from the DC–DC converter is able to send power to the grid via any inverter with a unipolar or bipolar DC input, and leakage currents can be eliminated if the latter type is used without using lossy DC capacitors in the load current loop. The proposed converter uses integrated magnetics cores to couple the input and output inductors, which significantly reduces the input current ripple and hence greatly improves the power extracted from the solar PV system. The design methodology along with simulation, experimental waveforms, and efficiency measurements of a 4-kW DC–DC converter are presented to prove the concept of the proposed converter. Furthermore, a 1-kW inverter is also developed to demonstrate the converter's grid-connection potential.

An ant colony optimized mppt for standalone hybrid pv-wind power system with single cuk converter

Abstract: This research work explains the practical realization of hybrid solar wind-based standalone power system with maximum power point tracker (MPPT) to produce electrical power in rural places (residential applications). The wind inspired Ant Colony Optimization (ACO)-based MPPT algorithm is employed for the purpose of fast and accurate tracking power from wind energy system. Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC) inverter controlling strategy is adopted in this presented work compared to classical proportional-integral (PI) control. Moreover, single Cuk converter is operated as impedance power adapter to execute MPPT functioning. Here, ACO-based MPPT has been implemented with no voltage and current extra circuit requirement compared to existing evolutionary algorithms single cuk converter is employed to improve conversion efficiency of converter by maximizing power stages. DC-link voltage can be regulated by placing Cuk converter Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG) linked rectifier and inverter. The proposed MPPT method is responsible for rapid battery charging and gives power dispersion of battery for hybrid PV-Wind system. ACO-based MPPT provides seven times faster convergence compared to the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for achievement of maximum power point (MPP) and tracking efficiency. Satisfactory practical results have been realized using the dSPACE (DS1104) platform that justify the superiority of proposed algorithms designed under various operating situations.

20-kW Zero-Voltage-Switching SiC- mosfet Grid Inverter With 300 kHz Switching Frequency

Abstract: Although SiC- mosfet has significant advantages on switching performance over traditional Si-IGBT, the switching loss of SiC- mosfet devices at hard switching rises quickly with the increment in the switching frequency. This has narrowed down further possibilities of improving efficiency and power density of the grid inverter. Zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) space-vector-modulation (SVM) technique is introduced to further push the power density of SiC- mosfet inverter. This paper focuses on the impact of applying the ZVS-SVM to three-phase two-level SiC- mosfet inverter. With the same efficiency requirement the ZVS-SVM SiC inverter can operate at a much higher switching frequency, which gives the opportunity to further reduce the size of passive components. The loss distributions, conversion efficiencies, and volumes of passive components of both a 20-kW SiC- mosfet hard-switching inverter and a 20-kW SiC- mosfet ZVS-SVM inverter have been compared under switching-frequency range from 50 to 300 kHz. Meanwhile, a new metric called “efficiency stiffness” is proposed to compare different inverters with respect to the efficiency performance against switching-frequency characteristics. In addition, high voltage overshoot of SiC- mosfet and high thermal stress of resonant inductor are the two critical issues in the SiC- mosfet ZVS-SVM inverter with high switching frequency. A power module including seven SiC- mosfet bare dies with low stray inductance is designed for ZVS-SVM inverter instead of the existing seven discrete TO-247 package SiC- mosfet s to reduce the voltage overshoots on the switches. Besides, to reduce the power loss of the resonant inductor caused by large amplitude of current at hundreds of kHz excitation frequency, design of the inductor with distributed air gap and optimal winding thickness are studied. A 20-kW SiC- mosfet ZVS-SVM grid inverter prototype is built to verify the proposed design.

Seven-Level Inverter With Self-Balanced Switched-Capacitor and Its Cascaded Extension

Abstract: A switched-capacitor based seven-level inverter is proposed in this work. It consists of two capacitors, two diodes, and eight transistors. The eight transistors form two H-bridges resulting in a simple structure and easy design of gate drivers. Capacitors' voltages are balanced automatically as they operate in parallel with the input voltage source a few times during each cycle of output voltage. Voltage ripples and power loss are analyzed in detail. To obtain more output levels, the cascaded structure of the seven-level inverter is also investigated and a power balancing strategy is used to simplify design work. Finally, the effectiveness of the work is experimentally demonstrated by both the seven-level and 13-level prototypes. It indicates that the proposed inverter is capable of powering different types of loads, and its efficiency is up to above 97%.

Analysis, Design, and Implementation of WPT System for EV's Battery Charging Based on Optimal Operation Frequency Range

Abstract: Charging electric vehicles wirelessly is promising because of its convenience as well as saving of charging cables. However, the existing wireless power transfer systems suffer from high resonant peaks and poor efficiency. Therefore, zero voltage switching (ZVS) operation of inverter should be achieved especially in high transfer power. Based on the variable frequency phase shift control strategy (VFPSC), this paper presents an optimal operation frequency range (OOFR) where the wireless power transfer (WPT) system can realize the required output and ZVS operation of inverter simultaneously without extra dc–dc converters. Meanwhile, based on OOFR, an optimized electrical parameter design method based on VFPSC is proposed with the multiple boundary conditions. Moreover, a novel three-loop control strategy (TLCS) is proposed to make the system operate at any points of OOFR. Especially, an implementation method of the TLCS is proposed, which can dynamically adjust frequency and phase shift to make the system always operate at the preset ZVS angle and realize the required output simultaneously. Finally, a 500-W WPT system is built to verify the correctness of theoretical analysis. The experimental results show that a very high overall efficiency is achieved in the whole charging process and the maximum efficiency can achieve 94.9% with $k$ = 0.2.

A Megawatt-Scale Medium-Voltage High-Efficiency High Power Density “SiC+Si” Hybrid Three-Level ANPC Inverter for Aircraft Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Systems

Abstract: A hybrid-electric propulsion system is an enabling technology to make the aircraft more fuel saving, quieter, and lower carbide emission. In this article, a megawatt (MW) scale power inverter based on a three-level active neutral-point-clamped (3L-ANPC) topology will be developed. To achieve high efficiency, the switching devices operating at carrier frequency in the power converter are configured by the emerging silicon carbide (SiC) metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors, while the conventional silicon (Si) insulated-gate bipolar transistors are selected for switches operating at the fundamental output frequency. To obtain high power density, dc bus voltage is increased from the conventional 270 V to medium voltage of 2.4 kV to reduce cable weight. Also, unlike the traditional 400 Hz dominated aircraft ac systems, the rated fundamental output frequency here is boosted to 1.4 kHz to drive the high-speed motor, which helps further to reduce the motor weight. Main hardware development and control modulation strategies are presented. Experimental results are presented to verify the performance of this MW-scale medium-voltage “SiC+Si” hybrid 3L-ANPC inverter. It is shown that the 1-MW 3L-ANPC inverter can achieve a high efficiency of 99% and a high power density of 12 kVA/kg.

Switched-Capacitor-Based Quadruple-Boost Nine-Level Inverter

Abstract: This letter describes a novel nine-level inverter based on switched capacitors (SCs) with quadruple-boost ability requiring reduced components. The structure of the proposed topology relies on the series/parallel connection of SCs. It consists of 12 switches and two SCs. As opposed to similar SC-based inverters, the proposed topology does not employ a back-end H-bridge and the voltage stress of all the switches does not exceed twice the input dc voltage. A simple logic-gate-based pulsewidth-modulation scheme is developed for gating the switches of the proposed topology. A comprehensive comparison against the state-of-the-art topologies in terms of the required number of components is performed to attest the outperforming merits of the proposed topology. Finally, various experimental results are presented to validate the feasibility and operability of the proposed topology.

An Adaptive Virtual Impedance Control Scheme Based on Small-AC-Signal Injection for Unbalanced and Harmonic Power Sharing in Islanded Microgrids

Abstract: To address the unbalanced and harmonic power sharing issue among parallel inverters caused by feeder impedance mismatch in islanded microgrids, an adaptive virtual impedance control method is proposed based on the injection of an extra small ac signal (SACS) in the output voltage of each inverter. Similar to the principle of active power–frequency droop, the frequency of the injected signal droops with the output unbalanced and harmonic power, while the active power produced by the injected SACS is detected to adjust the virtual impedance at the fundamental negative sequence and selected harmonic frequencies, which will tune the distribution of unbalanced and harmonic power in the system. When the injected SACSs of each inverter synchronize with each other and reach a common frequency in steady state, the virtual impedance of each inverter will be matched to each other for evenly sharing the unbalanced and harmonic power. This proposed method requires neither communication links among parallel inverters nor feeder impedance information. Furthermore, the control parameter design method based on modeling and stability analysis of the proposed control structure is discussed in detail. Finally, simulation and experimental results are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Impedance-Based Analysis of DC-Link Voltage Dynamics in Voltage-Source Converters

Abstract: This paper addresses the stability issues caused by the dc-link voltage control of grid-connected voltage-source converters. An analytical impedance model is developed first for capturing the interactions between the dc-link voltage control and ac current control of converters, which enables to identify different stability impacts of the dc-link voltage control in the rectifier and inverter operation modes of converters. The impedance model is further transformed from the $dq$ -frame to the $\alpha \beta $ -frame, which allows characterizing the frequency-coupling effects of the dc-link voltage control dynamics. The impedance-based analysis reveals that the dc-link voltage control may cause low-frequency oscillations in the rectifier mode and high-frequency oscillations in the inverter mode. Case studies on the rectifier and inverter operation modes are presented, and subsequently validated by using time-domain simulations and experimental tests. The close correlations between the measured results and theoretical analysis demonstrate the effectiveness of the impedance model and stability analysis.

A Novel Seven-Level Active Neutral-Point-Clamped Converter With Reduced Active Switching Devices and DC-Link Voltage

Abstract: This paper presents a novel seven-level inverter topology for medium-voltage high-power applications. It consists of eight active switches and two inner flying capacitor (FC) units forming a similar structure as in a conventional active neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) inverter. This unique arrangement reduces the number of active and passive components. A simple modulation technique reduces cost and complexity in the control system design without compromising reactive power capability. In addition, compared to major conventional seven-level inverter topologies, such as the neutral point clamped, FC, cascaded H-bridge, and ANPC topologies, the new topology reduces the dc-link voltage requirement by 50%. This recued dc-link voltage makes the new topology appealing for various industrial applications. Experimental results from a 2.2-kVA prototype are presented to support the theoretical analysis presented in this paper. The prototype demonstrates a conversion efficiency of around 97.2% ± 1% for a wide load range.

Capacitor-Current Proportional-Integral Positive Feedback Active Damping for LCL -Type Grid-Connected Inverter to Achieve High Robustness Against Grid Impedance Variation

Abstract: Capacitor-current-feedback active damping has been widely used in LCL -type grid-connected inverters. However, the damping performance is deteriorated due to the negative equivalent resistance resulted by the digital control delays, and thus the grid-connected inverter is apt to be unstable under the grid impedance variation. To address this issue, this paper proposes the capacitor-current proportional-integral (PI) positive feedback active damping method that can ensure a positive equivalent resistance almost within the Nyquist frequency, i.e., the full controllable frequency range. In theory, the proposed damping method can be implemented by feeding back the capacitor current through a PI function. However, the integral term will continuously accumulate the noise and dc bias arising from the feedback signal. To overcome this drawback, a more practical implementation solution is drawn in this paper. Furthermore, a straightforward design procedure is presented for the convenience of selecting the proper controller parameters. With the proposed damping method and its practical implementation, high inverter robustness against the grid impedance variation can be achieved. Experiments are performed on a 6-kW prototype and the experimental results are in well agreement with the theoretical expectations.

Robust Volt/VAr Control With Photovoltaics

Abstract: The new IEEE 1547-2018 standard includes dynamic Volt/VAr control for photovoltaic (PV) smart inverters. While recent research has addressed the problem of optimal inverter dispatch, the interaction between inverters and the classical Volt/VAr control (VVC) regulation system needs further study. This paper proposes an approach that builds on the classical VVC solution with PVs, by computing for each inverter a rule that modulates the smart inverter reactive power in function of its real power. Two approaches are presented for computing the inverter's reactive power equation slope: the first approach is based on the robust minimization of the absolute voltage magnitude deviation via a linear program, whereas the second approach yields closed-form solutions inspired from distributionally robust chance constraints. Numerical results are presented on weakly meshed distribution networks having up to 3146 nodes; they demonstrate that the voltage violations due to intermittent real power variations are significantly reduced by the decision rules as compared to maintaining the last computed VVC set-points, even when the inverters operate at constant power factor or with default Volt/VAr settings proposed in the literature; additionally, the reactive power decision rules maintain a network loss level that is close to the average from a centralized solution.

Low Switching Frequency Model Predictive Control of Three-Level Inverter-Fed IM Drives With Speed-Sensorless and Field-Weakening Operations

Abstract: This paper proposes a single-vector-based model predictive control (MPC) for an induction motor drive supplied by a three-level neutral-point-clamped inverter operating at a low switching frequency. Unlike the torque and flux control in the conventional MPC, the proposed MPC tries to minimize the error between the applied voltage vector and a reference voltage vector obtained based on the principle of deadbeat control, thereby reducing the number of weighting factors in the cost function. To reduce the computational burden and restrict the high jumps in both phase and line voltages, two switching tables are proposed and compared for the preselection of candidate voltage vectors. The neutral point potential fluctuation and switching frequency are also included in the cost function to achieve the balance between the upper and lower dc voltages and a relatively low switching frequency. Furthermore, a speed adaptive stator flux observer with a novel gain matrix is proposed to achieve speed-sensorless operation, which has a higher speed and flux estimation accuracy than conventional fixed gains. Finally, the proposed MPC is extended to the field-weakening operation by adjusting the torque and stator flux references online, which significantly widens the speed range and improves the practical value of the MPC. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by the experimental results obtained at an average switching frequency of less than 600 Hz.

Offline Parameter Self-Learning Method for General-Purpose PMSM Drives With Estimation Error Compensation

Abstract: Offline parameter identification of permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) is of great importance for general-purpose drives with sensorless control. This paper proposes an amplitude-auto-adjusting signal injection (ASI) method for the parameter self-learning of PMSMs at standstill considering inverter nonlinearities and the digital time-delay effect. The ASI method achieves the inductance identification process under various dq -axis currents and at the same time prevents the unexpected rotor rotation during the self-commissioning process. For the test PMSM, the spatial inductance maps of dq -axes and abc -phases concerning the magnetic saturation and cross-coupling effects are identified along with the stator resistance. To enhance the estimation accuracy, an error model of the inverter nonlinearities in dq -axes is established, and a compensation method independent of inverter parameters is proposed based on the Hermite interpolation. In addition, the influence of the digital time-delay effect is analyzed and compensated based on the transient model of the circuits. The effectiveness of the proposed parameter self-learning scheme is confirmed on a 2.2-kW PMSM drive. The accuracy of the experimental results is validated by finite element analysis on the test machine.