Abstract
This paper briefly reviews virtual space vector pulse width modulation (VSVPWM) for the diode-clamped multilevel inverter (DCMLI). Based on the universal modulation model of the DCMLI with N-level, a modulation strategy named as full range capacitor voltage balance PWM (FRCVBPWM) is proposed, which has similar capacitor voltage balance characteristics as VSVPWM. The characteristic of FRCVBPWM is that there are respectively zero, N − 1 and N − 2 switching actions for the three phases of the DCMLI. Therefore, the total switching actions are greatly decreased compared with VSVPWM. The switching loss comparison between FRCVBPWM and VSVPWM is conducted by comprehensive simulations. Finally, the feasibility and superiority of FRCVBPWM over VSVPWM is verified by experiments.
Highlights
Power electronic technology has rapidly developed in large capacity and low loss applications
A PWM strategy for a diode-clamped multilevel inverter (DCMLI) that achieves the same goals as virtual space vector pulse width modulation (VSVPWM), but overcomes the shortcoming of VSVPWM, is presented in this paper
The phase corresponding to umax has the switching sequence composed of levels 1, . . . , N − 1; the phase corresponding to umin has the switching sequence composed of levels 0, . . . , N − 2; and the phase corresponding to umid has the switching sequence composed of levels 0, . . . , N − 1
Summary
Power electronic technology has rapidly developed in large capacity and low loss applications. When the level number of the DCMLI is more than three, there are few PWM strategies for capacitor voltage control. For a five-level DCMLI, improved PWM strategies or an additional capacitor voltage control circuit can Electronics 2020, 9, 1263; doi:10.3390/electronics9081263 www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics. To achieve capacitor voltage balance over the full range of the PF and the MI, a virtual SVPWM (VSVPWM) strategy is proposed [20]. This modulation strategy exhibits excellent characteristics in capacitor voltage balance control. A PWM strategy for a DCMLI that achieves the same goals as VSVPWM, but overcomes the shortcoming of VSVPWM, is presented in this paper Under this strategy, the full range capacitor voltage balance control can be realized. There are 2N − 3 switching actions for the three phases, which significantly reduce the switching losses compared to VSVPWM
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