• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1986-1995
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• 2018

In this paper, a novel neutral-point voltage balancing scheme for NPC three-level inverters using carrier-based sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) method is developed. The new modulation approach, based on the obtained expressions of zero sequence voltage in all six sectors, can significantly suppress the low-frequency voltage oscillation in the neutral point at high modulation index and achieve a fast voltage-balancing dynamic performance. The implementation of the proposed method is very simple. Another attractive feature is that the scheme can stably control any voltage difference between the two dc-link capacitors within a certain range without using any extra hardware. Furthermore, the presented scheme is also applicable to the single-phase NPC three-level inverter. It can maintain the neutral-point voltage balance at full modulation index and improve the voltage-balancing dynamic performance of the single-phase NPC three-level inverter. The performance of the proposed strategy and its benefits over other previous techniques are verified experimentally.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.459-462
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• 2019

This work presents methods for reducing overshoot voltages across the drain-source of silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs in grid-connected hybrid active neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) inverters. Compared with 3-level NPC-type inverter, the hybrid ANPC inverter can realize the high efficiency. However, SiC MOSFETs conduct its switching operation at high frequencies, which cause high overshoot voltages in such devices. These overshoot voltages should be reduced because they may damage switching devices and result in electromagnetic interference (EMI). Two major strategies are used to reduce the overshoot voltages, namely, adjusting the gate resistor and using a snubber capacitor. In this paper, advantages and disadvantages of these methods will be discussed. The effectiveness of these strategies is verified by experimental results.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.504-517
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• 2015

This paper presents a novel switching voltage model and an offset-based pulse width modulation (PWM) scheme for multilevel inverters with unbalanced DC sources. The switching voltage model under a DC voltage imbalance will be formulated in general form for multilevel neutral-point-clamped topologies. Analysis of the reference switching voltages from active and non-active switching voltage components in abc coordinates can enable voltage implementation for an unbalanced DC-source condition. Offset voltage is introduced as an indispensable variable in the switching voltage model for multilevel voltage-source inverters. The PWM performance is controlled through the design of two offset components in a subsequence. One main offset may refer to the common mode voltage, and the other offset restricts its effect on the quality of PWM control in related DC levels. The PWM quality can be improved as the switching loss is reduced in a discontinuous PWM mode by setting the local offset, which is related to the load currents. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified by experimental results.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.727-743
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• 2019

This paper presents a pulse-width modulation strategy to eliminate the common mode voltage (CMV) with reduced CMV spikes in multilevel inverters since a high CMV magnitude and its fast variations dv/dt result in bearing failure of motors, overvoltage at motor terminals, and electromagnetic interference (EMI). The proposed method only utilizes the zero CMV states in a space vector diagram and it is implemented by a carrier-based pulse-width modulation (CBPWM) method. This method is generalized for odd number levels of inverters including neutral-point-clamped (NPC) and cascaded H-bridge inverters. Then it is extended to the over-modulation mode. The over-modulation mode is implemented by using the two-limit trajectory principle to maintain linear control and to avoid look-up tables. Even though the CMV is eliminated, CMV spikes that can cause EMI and bearing current problems still exist due to the deadtime effect. As a result, the deadtime effect is analyzed. By taking the deadtime effect into consideration, the proposed method is capable of reducing CMV spikes. Simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.3-4
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• 2011

This paper presents a survey of floating power supply based on bootstrap operation for three-level voltage-source inverters. The floating power supply for upper switches is achieved by the bootstrap capacitor charged during on-time of the switch underneath. Hence, a large number of bulky isolated DC/DC power supplies for each gate driver are reduced. The Pspice simulation results show the behavior of bootstrap devices and the performance of bootstrap capacitor voltage.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1997.11a
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• pp.42-45
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• 1997

A synchronous solid-state var compensator(SSVC) system which employs a three-phase neutral-point-darned (NPC) inverter is presented and analyzed for high voltage and high power applications. The proposed SSVC system can compensate for leading and lagging displacement factor. An optimal pulse-width-modulation (PWM) is used as a means of reducing the size of reactive components. A equivalent model is obtained using DQ-transform, and the characteristic of open-loop system are archived from DC and AC analyzes. A $\alpha$ phase-shift control is suggested using a self-controlled dc bus.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2012.07a
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• pp.315-316
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• 2012

Three-level neutral point clamping (NPC) converter has been widely applied in high power drive system. And in this paper, a novel method is proposed to realize this algorithm based on FPGA, And the system is consist of two parts, the DSP part and FPGA part, the DSP part includes the control algorithms and the FPGA part works to generate and putout 12 PWM pulses. And the system is tested and verified using both simulation and experimentation.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.70-80
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• 2018

A novel strategy based on a zero common mode voltage pulse-width modulation (ZCMV-PWM) technique and zero-sequence circulating current (ZSCC) feedback control is proposed in this study to eliminate ZSCCs between three-level neutral point clamped (NPC) voltage source inverters, with common AC and DC buses, that are operating in parallel. First, an equivalent model of ZSCC in a three-phase three-level NPC inverter paralleled system is developed. Second, on the basis of the analysis of the excitation source of ZSCCs, i.e., the difference in common mode voltages (CMVs) between paralleled inverters, the ZCMV-PWM method is presented to reduce CMVs, and a simple electric circuit is adopted to control ZSCCs and neutral point potential. Finally, simulation and experiment are conducted to illustrate effectiveness of the proposed strategy. Results show that ZSCCs between paralleled inverters can be eliminated effectively under steady and dynamic states. Moreover, the proposed strategy exhibits the advantage of not requiring carrier synchronization. It can be utilized in inverters with different types of filter.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.155-156
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• 2018

This paper presents a control method for grid-connected Active-NPC inverter systems. NPC (Neutral Point Clamped) is widely used in power conversion systems. NPC has a loss of switching elements and voltage imbalance. Active NPC has been proposed to overcome these drawbacks. ANPC changed the neutral diode to IGBT to reduce the switching loss. This paper modeled a grid-connected Acitve-NPC inverter systems and analyzed its performance. DSOGI PLL was used as a phase control method for precise control of grid link voltage. The proposed method is verified by PSIM simulation.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1233-1242
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• 2014

A new inverter topology for single-phase photovoltaic (PV) systems is proposed in this study. The proposed inverter offers a four-level voltage in its output terminals. This feature results in easier filtering in comparison with other conventional two-level or three-level inverters. In addition, the proposed four-level inverter (PFLI) has a transformer-less topology, which decreases the size, weight, and cost of the entire system and increases the overall efficiency of the system. Although the inverter is transformer-less, it produces a negligible leakage ground current (LGC), which makes this inverter suitable for PV grid-connected applications. The performance of the proposed inverter is compared with that of a four-level neutral point clamped inverter (FLNPCI). Theoretical analysis and computer simulations verify that the PFLI topology is superior to FLNPCI in terms of efficiency and suitability for use in PV transformer-less systems.