• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.578-586
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• 2012

In this paper a single-phase Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) inverter for photovoltaic (PV) applications is presented. Based on the presented mathematical analysis, a novel controller is introduced which adjusts the inverter power factor (PF) and manipulates the distribution of the reactive power between the cells to enhance the operating range of the CHB inverter. The adopted control strategy enables tracking of the maximum power point (MPP) of distinct PV strings and allows independent control of the dc-link voltages. The proposed controller also enables the inverter to operate under heavily unbalanced PV conditions. The performance of the CHB inverter and the proposed controllers are evaluated in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment. A seven-level CHB-based grid connected laboratory prototype is also utilized to verify the system performance.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.507-518
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• 2014

This paper presents a new cascaded asymmetrical single phase multilevel converter with a lower number of power semiconductor switches and isolated DC sources. Therefore, the number of power electronic devices, converter losses, size, and cost are reduced. The proposed multilevel converter topology consists of two H-bridges connected in cascaded configuration. One H-bridge operates at a high frequency (high frequency inverter) and is capable of developing a two level output while the other H-bridge operates at the fundamental frequency (low frequency inverter) and is capable of developing a multilevel output. The addition of each power electronic switch to the low frequency inverter increases the number of levels by four. This paper also introduces a hybrid switching algorithm which uses very simple arithmetic and logical operations. The simplified hybrid switching algorithm is generalized for any number of levels. The proposed simplified switching algorithm is developed using a TMS320F2812 DSP board. The operation and performance of the proposed multilevel converter are verified by simulations using MATLAB/SIMULINK and experimental results.

• 대한전기학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한전기학회 2011년도 제42회 하계학술대회
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• pp.1163-1164
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• 2011

Cascaded H-bridge 멀티레벨인버터의 구동을 위해서는 독립된 입력전압원의 확보가 필요하다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 Cascaded H-bridge 멀티레벨 인버터의 구조적 제약을 극복하기 위해 Buck-boost 컨버터와 Flyback 컨버터의 결합을 이용한 단일입력전원 구동 방법을 제안한다. 제안된 회로의 이론적 분석을 수행하고 시뮬레이션을 통하여 타당성을 검증한다.

• 전력전자학회:학술대회논문집
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• 전력전자학회 2017년도 전력전자학술대회
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• pp.387-388
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• 2017

Cascaded H-bridge 멀리레벨인버터는 출력전압 레벨 수를 증가시켜 고전압 응용이 가능하도록 하는 전력변환장치로 모듈화 특성이 우수하여 그 활용 범위를 넓혀가고 있다. 출력 전압레벨 수를 증가시켜 보다 정현파에 가까운 양질의 출력전압을 생성하기 위해서는 스위칭 소자와 입력 전압원 개수의 증가로 인해 회로구조와 제어방법이 복잡해지는 문제가 발생한다. 하지만 스위칭 여유율(Redundancy)에 따른 대체 스위칭 패턴의 적용으로 전체 시스템의 신뢰성을 개선시킬 수도 있다. 본 논문에서는 고장나무 분석을 통해 Cascaded H-bridge 멀티레벨 인버터의 위험도를 계산하고 스위칭 여유율과의 관련성을 분석하고자 한다.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.937-945
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• 2014

This paper presents an optimized space vector pulse-width modulation (OSVPWM) technique for a five-level cascaded H-bridge (CHB) inverter. The space vector diagram of the five-level CHB inverter is optimized by resolving it into inner and outer two-level space vector hexagons. Unlike conventional space vector topology, the proposed technique significantly reduces the involved computational time and efforts without compromising the performance of the five-level CHB inverter. A further optimized (FOSVPWM) technique is also presented in this paper, which significantly reduces the complexity and computational efforts. The developed techniques are verified through MATLAB/SIMULINK. Results are compared with sinusoidal pulse-width modulation (SPWM) to prove the validity of the proposed technique. The proposed simulation system is realized by using an XC3S400 field-programmable gate array from Xilinx, Inc. The experiment results are then presented for verification.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.296-303
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• 2013

This paper proposes a high efficiency three-phase cascaded phase shifted H-bridge multi-level inverter without DC/DC converters for grid-tied multi string photovoltaic (PV) applications. The cascaded H-bridge topology is suitable for PV applications since each PV module can act as a separate DC source for each cascaded H-bridge module. The proposed phase shifted H-bridge multi-level topology offers advantages such as operation at a lower switching frequency and a lower current ripple when compared to conventional two level topologies. It is also shown that low ripple sinusoidal current waveforms are generated with a unity power factor. The control algorithm permits the independent control of each DC link voltage with a maximum power point for each string of PV modules. The use of the controller area network (CAN) communication protocol for H-bridge multi-level inverters, along with localized PWM generation and PV voltage regulation are implemented. It is also shown that the expansion and modularization capabilities of the H-bridge modules are improved since the individual inverter modules operate more independently. The proposed topology is implemented for a three phase 240kW multi-level PV power conditioning system (PCS) which has 40kW H-bridge modules. The experimental results show that the proposed topology has good performance.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.1504-1512
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• 2016

This paper presents a new single-phase asymmetrical cascaded multilevel DC-link inverter. The proposed inverter comprises two stages. The main stage of the inverter consists of multiple similar cells, each of which is a half-bridge inverter consisting of two switches and a single DC source. All cells are connected in a cascaded manner with a fixed neutral point. The DC source values are not made equal to increase the performance of the inverter. The second circuit is a folded cascaded H-bridge circuit operating at a line frequency. One of the main advantages of this proposed topology is that it is a modular type and can thus be extended to high stages without changing the configuration of the main stage circuit. Two control schemes, namely, low switching with selective harmonic elimination and sinusoidal pulse width modulation, are employed to validate the proposed topology. The detailed approach of each control scheme and switching pulses are discussed in detail. A 150W prototype of the proposed system is implemented in the laboratory to verify the validity of the proposed topology.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.56-69
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• 2018

In this paper, an improved Space Vector Modulation (SVM) based fault tolerant operation on a nine-level Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) inverter with an additional backup circuit is proposed. Any type of fault in a power converter may result in a power interruption and productivity loss. Three different faults on H-bridge modules in all three phases based on the SVM approach are investigated with diagrams. Any fault in an inverter phase creates an unbalanced output voltage, which can lead to instability in the system. An additional auxiliary unit is connected in series to the three phase cascaded H-bridge circuit. With the help of this and the redundant switching states in SVM, the CHB inverter produces a balanced output with low harmonic distortion. This ensures high DC bus utilization under numerous fault conditions in three phases, which improves the system reliability. Simulation results are presented on three phase nine-level inverter with the automatic fault detection algorithm in the MATLAB/SIMULINK software tool, and experimental results are presented with DSP on five-level inverter to validate the practicality of the proposed SVM fault tolerance strategy on a CHB inverter with an auxiliary circuit.

• 대한전기학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한전기학회 2011년도 제42회 하계학술대회
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• pp.1167-1168
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• 2011

두 대의 동일한 H-bridge 모듈로 구성되는 Cascaded H-bridge 멀티레벨인버터는 출력전압에 5-레벨을 형성할 수 있으며 출력전압의 THD를 개선시키기 위해 PWM 스위칭을 적용할 수 있다. 출력필터 사이즈를 줄이기 위해 PWM 스위칭 주파수를 높일 수 있지만 스위칭 손실이 증가하게 된다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 경우 스위칭 손실을 저감시킬 수 있는 변형된 스위칭 패턴을 제안한다. Cascaded H-bridge 멀티레벨인버터의 특성을 고려하여 하단 H-bridge 모듈의 스위치는 기본 출력전압 레벨을 형성하도록 동작시키며, 상단 H-bridge 모듈 스위칭에 의한 출력값이 기본 전압레벨에 가감되어 PWM 출력전압 형성하도록 동작시킨다. 제안된 스위칭 패턴을 Cascaded H-bridge 멀티레벨인버터에 적용하여 기존 스위칭 방법과 비교 분석한다.

• 전력전자학회:학술대회논문집
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• 전력전자학회 2015년도 전력전자학술대회 논문집
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• pp.323-324
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• 2015

Recently, asymmetrical cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter started to be highlighted as an alternative for the symmetrical cascaded H-bridge. The topology has a small number of part count compared to the symmetrical with higher number of levels. However, it has a drawback of the modulation index limitation which is relatively higher than its symmetrical counterpart, which causes a necessity of an extra voltage pre-regulator. In this paper, the single-sourced pre-regulator is unified with an inner single switch DC/DC converter isolated by coupled inductor. It leads to cost and size reduction. The proposed topology is verified using simulation results.