• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.555-562
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• 2010

This paper presents the development of a hardware simulator for a 3-parallel grid-connected PMSG wind power system. With the development of permanent magnetic materials in recent years, the capacity of a PMSG based wind turbine system, which requires a full-scale power converter, has been raised up to a few MW. Since it is limited by the available semiconductor technology, such large amounts of power cannot be delivered with only one power converter. Hence, a parallel connecting technique for converters is required to reduce the ratings of the converters. In this paper, a hardware simulator with 3-parallel converters is described and its control issues are presented as well. Some experimental results are given to illustrate the performance of the simulator system.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.563-571
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• 2010

A model of an advanced aircraft electric power system is developed and studied under variable-speed constant-frequency (VSCF) operation. The frequency of the generator's output voltage is varied from 400-Hz to 800-Hz for different loading scenarios. Power conversions are obtained using 12-pulse power converters. To reduce the harmonic contents of the generator output waveforms, two high-pass passive filters are designed and installed one at a time at the generator terminals. The performance of the two passive filters is compared according to their losses and effectiveness. The power quality characteristics of the studied VSCF aircraft electric power system are presented and the effectiveness of the proposed filter is demonstrated through compliance with the newly published aircraft electrical standards MIL-STD-704F.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.528-537
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• 2010

A novel decision reference based method for the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of PV arrays is presented in this paper. The proposed decision reference was derived from a simplified solar cell model. This method solves the problems of conventional MPPT algorithms, such as oscillation of the operating point at the steady state and confusion under rapidly changing insolation. It is shown by simulation and experimental results that the method properly tracks a rapidly changing insolation profile. The signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the new decision reference is also higher than those of conventional P&O and INC methods. An updating subroutine was included in the proposed MPPT algorithm to compensate for temperature and aging effects.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.538-547
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• 2010

This paper deals with a stand-alone wind energy conversion system (WECS) with an isolated asynchronous generator (IAG) and voltage and frequency (VF) control feeding three-phase four-wire loads. The reference generator currents are estimated using the instantaneous symmetrical component theory to control the voltage and frequency of an IAG system. A three-leg voltage source converter (VSC) with an isolated star/delta transformer is used as an integrated VSC. An integrated VSC with a battery energy storage system (BESS) is used to control the active and reactive powers of the WECS. The WECS is modeled and simulated in MATLAB using the Simulink and the Sim Power System (SPS) toolboxes. The proposed VF controller functions as a voltage and frequency regulator, a load leveler, a load balancer and a harmonic eliminator in the WECS. A comparison is made on the rating of the VSC with and without ac capacitors connected at the terminals of an IAG. Simulation and test results are presented to verify the control algorithm.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.461-467
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• 2010

This paper proposes a new soft-switched Sepic converter. It has low switching losses and low conduction losses due to its auxiliary communicated circuit and synchronous rectifier operation, respectively. Because of its positive and buck/boost-like DC voltage transfer function (M=D/(1-D)), the proposed converter is desirable for use in distributed power systems. The proposed converter has versions both with and without a transformer. The paper also suggests some design guidelines in terms of the power circuit and the control loop for the proposed converter.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.572-578
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• 2010

This paper discusses a transformerless shunt static compensator (STATCOM) based on a modular multilevel converter (MMC). It introduces a new time-discrete appropriate current control algorithm and a phase-shifted carrier modulation strategy for fast compensation of the reactive power and harmonics, and also for the balancing of the three-phase source side currents. Analytical formulas are derived to demonstrate the accurate mechanism of the stored energy balancing inside the MMC. Various simulated waveforms verify that the MMC based STATCOM is capable of reactive power compensation, harmonic cancellation, and simultaneous load balancing, while controlling and balancing all of the DC mean voltages even during the transient states.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.1223-1234
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• 2018

In this paper, a new three-port multidirectional DC-DC converter is proposed for integrating an energy storage system (ESS) to a bipolar DC microgrid (BPDCMG). The proposed converter provides a voltage-balancing function for the BPDCMG and adjusts the charge of the ESS. Thanks to the multi-functional operation of the proposed converter, the conversion stages of the system are reduced. In addition, the efficiency and weight of the system are improved. Therefore, this converter has a significant capability when it comes to use in portable BPDCMGs such as electric DC ships. The converter modes are analyzed and small-signal models of the converter in each of the independent modes are extracted. Finally, comprehensive simulation studies are carried out and a BPDCMG laboratory prototype is implemented in order to verify the performance of the proposed voltage balancer using the burst mode control scheme.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.1037-1050
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• 2018

This paper presents a novel reconfigurable selective harmonic elimination technique to control harmonics over a wide range of Modulation Indexes (MI) in Multi-Level Inverter (MLI). In the proposed method, the region of the MI is divided into various sectors and expressions are formulated with different switching patterns for each of the sectors. A memetic BBO-MAS (Biogeography Based Optimization - Mesh Adaptive direct Search) optimization algorithm is proposed for solving the Selective Harmonic Elimination - Pulse Width Modulation (SHE-PWM) technique. An experimental prototype is developed using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and their FFT spectrums are analyzed over a wide range of MI using a fluke power logger. Simulation and experimental results have validated the performance of the proposed optimization algorithms and the reconfigurable SHE-PWM technique. Further, the sensitivity of the harmonics has been analyzed considering non-integer variations in the magnitude of the input DC sources.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.1235-1244
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• 2018

The application of shunt capacitor banks and underground cables typically induces resonance in power distribution systems. In this study, the propagation of resonance in a microgrid (MG) with inverter-based distributed generators (IBDGs) is investigated. If resonances are not properly damped, then the output current of the inverters may experience distortion via resonance propagation due to the adverse effect of resonances on MG power quality. This study presents a conceptual method for identifying resonances and related issues in multi-inverter systems. For this purpose, existing resonances are identified using modal impedance analysis. However, some resonances may be undetectable when this method is used. Thus, the resonances are investigated using the proposed method based on the frequency response of a closed-loop MG equivalent circuit. After analyzing resonance propagation in the MG, an effective virtual impedance damping method is used in the IBDG control system to damp the resonances. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in compensating for existing resonances.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.985-996
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• 2018

The implementation and performance evaluation of an interleaved boundary conduction mode (BCM) boost power factor correction (PFC) converter is presented in this paper by employing three wide band-gap switching devices: a super junction silicon (Si) MOSFET, a silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET and a gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). The practical considerations for adopting wide band-gap switching devices to BCM boost PFC converters are also addressed. These considerations include the gate drive circuit design and the PCB layout technique for the reliable and efficient operation of a GaN HEMT. In this paper it will be shown that the GaN HEMT exhibits the superior switching characteristics and pronounces its merits at high-frequency operations. The efficiency improvement with the GaN HEMT and its application potentials for high power density/low profile BCM boost PFC converters are demonstrated.