• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.512-521
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• 2016

Cascaded H-bridge multilevel (CHBML) inverters usually include a large number of isolated dc-voltage sources. Some faults in the dc-voltage sources result in unequal cell dc voltages. Unfortunately, the conventional phase-shifted carrier (PSC) PWM method that is widely used for CHBML inverters cannot eliminate low frequency sideband harmonics when the cell dc voltages are not equal. This paper analyzes the principle of sideband harmonic elimination, and proposes an improved PSCPWM that can eliminate low frequency sideband harmonics under the condition of unequal dc voltages. In order to calculate the carrier phases, it is necessary to solve transcendental equations for low frequency sideband harmonic elimination. Therefore, an approach based on the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is presented in this paper. The proposed PSCPWM method enhances the reliability of CHBML inverters. The proposed PSCPWM is not limited to CHBML inverters. It can also be applied to other types of multilevel inverters. Simulation and experimental result obtained from a prototype CHBML inverter verify the theoretical analysis and the achievements made in this paper.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.946-956
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• 2014

Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) converters can be directly connected to medium-voltage grids without using transformers and they possess the advantages of large capacity and low harmonics. They are significant tools for providing grid connections in large-capacity renewable energy systems. However, the reliability of a grid-connected CHB converter can be seriously influenced by the number of power switching devices that exist in the structure. This paper proposes a fault-tolerant control strategy based on double zero-sequence voltage injection and DC voltage optimization to improve the reliability of star-connected CHB converters after one or more power units have been bypassed. By injecting double zero-sequence voltages into each phase cluster, the DC voltages of the healthy units can be rapidly balanced after the faulty units are bypassed. In addition, optimizing the DC voltage increases the number of faulty units that can be tolerated and improves the reliability of the converter. Simulations and experimental results are shown for a seven-level three-phase CHB converter to validate the efficiency and feasibility of this strategy.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1088-1096
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• 2017

Load variations on a distribution line result in voltage fluctuations at the point of common coupling (PCC). In order to keep the magnitude of the PCC voltage constant at its rated value and obtain zero voltage regulation (ZVR), a D-STATCOM is installed for voltage correction. Moreover, the ZVR mode of a D-STATCOM can also be used to balance the source current during unbalanced loading. For medium voltage and high power applications, a D-STATCOM is realized by the cascaded H-bridge topology. In the ZVR mode, the D-STATCOM may draw unbalanced current and in this process is required to handle different phase powers leading to deviations in the cluster voltages. Zero sequence voltage needs to be injected for ZVR mode, which creates circulating power among the phases of the D-STATCOM. The computed zero sequence voltage and the individual DC capacitor balancing controller help the DC cluster voltage follow the reference voltage. The effectiveness of the control scheme is verified by modeling the system in MATLAB/SIMULINK. The obtained simulations are further validated by the experimental results using a dSPACE DS1106 and five-level D-STATCOM experimental set up.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1317-1326
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• 2017

The cascaded H-bridge (CHB) multilevel converter is a promising topology for large-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems. The output voltage over-modulation derived by the inter-module active power imbalance is one of the key issues for CHB PV systems. This paper proposed a dynamic power distribution strategy to eliminate the over-modulation in a CHB PV system by suitably redistributing the reactive power among the inverter modules of the CHB PV system. The proposed strategy can effectively extend the operating region of the CHB PV system with a simple control algorithm and easy implementation. Simulation and experimental results carried out on a seven-level CHB grid-connected PV system are shown to validate the proposed strategy.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.321-324
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• 2000

멀티-레벨 인버터 구조는 크게 세 가지가 있다 NPC 구조, 플라잉 커패시터 구조, 그리고 H-bridge 단위 인버터 셀을 종속적으로 연결한 cascaded 구조가 그것이다. 이중에서 cascaded 구조는 지금까지 홀수 레벨만 존재하는 것으로 알려졌다 본 논문에서는 이것을 짝수 레벨로 확장한 새로운 구조를 제안하고 홀수 짝수 레벨 모두에 적용이 가능한 새로온 PWM 기법을 제안하고자 한다. 제안한 기법은 컴퓨터 시뮬레이션 및 실험으로 그타당성을 입증하고자 한다.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.487-496
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• 2019

For a solid-state transformer (SST), some factors, such as signal delay, switching loss and differences in the system parameters, lead to unbalanced DC-link voltages among the cascaded H-bridges (CHB). With a control method implemented in the ${\alpha}{\beta}$ frame, the DC-link voltages are balanced, and the reactive power is equally distributed among all of the H-bridges. Based on the ${\alpha}{\beta}$ frame control, the system can achieve independent active current and reactive current control. In addition, the control method of the high-voltage stage is easy to implement without decoupling or a phase-locked loop. Furthermore, the method can eliminate additional current delays during transients and get the dynamic response rapidly without an imaginary current component. In order to carry out the controller design, the vector refactoring relations that are used to balance DC-link voltages are derived. Different strategies are discussed and simulated under the unbalanced load condition. Finally, a three-cell CHB rectifier is constructed to conduct further research, and the steady and transient experimental results verify the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed method.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 2006

This paper describes experimental analysis of UPQC, which is composed of cascaded H-bridges and single-phase multi-winding transformers. The operational characteristic was analyzed through experimental works with a scaled model, and simulations with PSCAD/EMTDC. The UPQC proposed in this paper can be directly connected to the distribution line without series injection transformers. It has flexibility to expand the operation voltage by increasing the number of H-bridge modules. The analysis results can be utilized to design the actual UPQC system applicable for the actual distribution system.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.620-627
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• 2004

As h-bridge multilevel inverter is connected with series of single phase power cell, so it obtain high voltage using low voltage power semi-conductor and output voltage similar to sine wave. In this topology, the number of power cell increases in proportion to the output voltage level. Therefore, there are drawbacks that are responsibility against operating ability of main controller and signal wire increase. However, we can overcome this problems by the substitution of serial communication for the PWM signal in power cell control. Additionally, it has merits of reliability and maintenance. This paper deals with the synchronization and phase-shift method of power cell PWM using CAN(Controller Area Network) communication interrupt in H-bridge multilevel inverter. The advantages of proposed method are signal-line simplification using serial communication between main controller and cell controller, burden reduction in main controller, modularization of power cell, easy protection of each power cell, expandability improvement and reliability increase of control signal and power cell. This paper establishes propriety and reliability of proposed method through experiment of 13-level H-bridge multilevel inverter.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.239-246
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• 2006

This paper suggests a new modulation strategy for step pulse type multi-level inverter. The proposed strategy is simple to determine the switching angles without regard to increase of levels. Designed to extract the equivalent RMS value compared to ideal sine wave from inverter, it can be applied effectively to high level step pulse inverter. Also this paper proposed modulation strategy for modified H-bridge 13 level inverter which has different cell source voltages with simulation and experiment. The modulation characteristics from simulation and experiment, agreed very well with tracing sine wave about modified structure of cascaded H-bridge multi-level inverter.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.509-517
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• 2012

This paper presents control strategies for cascaded H-bridge multilevel active power filters (APFs). A current loop controller is implemented using a proportional-resonant (PR) regulator, which achieves zero steady-state error at target frequencies. The power balancing mechanism for the dc-link capacitor voltages is analyzed and a voltage balancing controller is presented. To mitigate the picket-fence effect of the conventional FFT algorithm under asynchronous sampling conditions, the Hanning Windowed-FFT algorithm is proposed for reference current generation (RCG). This calculates the frequency, amplitude and phase of individual harmonic components accurately and as a result, selective harmonic compensation (SHC) is achieved. Simulation and experimental results are presented, which verify the validity and effectiveness of the devised control algorithms.