• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1595-1607
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• 2018

In this paper, a hierarchical control strategy is introduced to control a new three-port multidirectional DC-DC converter 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 states of charge (SoC) of the ESS. Previous studies tend to balance the voltage of the BPDCMG buses with active sources or by transferring power from one bus to another. Furthermore, the batteries available in BPDCMGs were charged equally by both buses. However, this power sharing method does not guarantee efficient operation of the whole system. In order to achieve a higher efficiency and lower energy losses, a triple-layer hierarchical control strategy, including a primary droop controller, a secondary voltage restoration controller and a tertiary optimization controller are proposed. Thanks to the multi-functional operation of the proposed converter, its conversion stages are reduced. Furthermore, the efficiency and weight of the system are both improved. Therefore, this converter has a significant capability to be used in portable BPDCMGs such as electric DC ships. The converter modes are analyzed and small-signal models of the converter are extracted. Comprehensive simulation studies are carried out and a BPDCMG laboratory setup is implemented in order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed converter and its hierarchical control strategy. Simulation and experimental results show that using the proposed converter mitigates voltage imbalances. As a result, the system efficiency is improved by using the hierarchical optimal power flow control.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1347-1356
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• 2018

In a three-phase system, three-phase AC signals can be translated into two-phase DC signals through a coordinate transformation. Thus, the PI regulator can realize a zero steady-state error for the DC signals. In the control of a three-phase grid-connected inverter, the phase angle of grid is normally detected by a phase-locked loop (PLL) and takes part in a coordinate transformation. A novel control strategy for a three-phase grid-connected inverter with a frequency-locked loop (FLL) based on coordinate transformation is proposed in this paper. The inverter is controlled as a current supply. The grid angle, which takes part in the coordinate transformation, is replaced by a periodic linear changing angle from $-{\pi}$ to ${\pi}$. The changing angle has the same frequency but a different phase than the grid angle. The frequency of the changing angle tracks the grid frequency by the negative feedback of the reactive power, which forms a FLL. The control strategy applies to non-ideal grids and it is a lot simpler than the control strategies with a PLL that are applied to non-ideal grids. The structure of the FLL is established. The principle and advantages of the proposed control strategy are discussed. The theoretical analysis is confirmed by experimental results.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1545-1554
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• 2018

This paper proposes a modified control strategy to improve the performance of three-phase four-leg shunt active power filters (APFs) for the compensation of three phase unbalanced loads. Unbalanced current cannot be obtained accurately by a harmonic detector due to the lower frequency. The proposed control strategy eliminates conventional harmonic detectors by directly regulating the source current. Therefore, the computational complexity is greatly reduced and the performance of the APF is improved. A mathematic model has been developed based on the source currents. The corresponding controllers have been designed based on the sinusoidal internal model principle. The proposed control strategy can guarantee excellent compensation performance and stable operation after an extreme disturbance such as a short circuit fault. In addition, the proposed technique can selectively compensate specific harmonics. A 50kVA prototype APF is implemented in the laboratory to validate the feasibility and performance of the proposed control strategy.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1315-1324
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• 2018

A novel three-phase four-wire inverter topology is presented in this paper. This topology is equipped with a special capacitor balance grid without magnetic saturation. In response to unbalanced load and unequal split DC-link capacitors problems, a qusi-full-bridge DC/DC topology is applied in the balance grid. By using a high-frequency transformer, the energy transfer within the two split dc-link capacitors is realized. The novel topology makes the voltage across two split dc-link capacitors balanced so that the neutral point voltage ripple is inhibited. Under the condition of a stable neutral point voltage, the three-phase four-wire inverter can be equivalent to three independent single phase inverters. As a result, the three-phase inverter can produce symmetrical voltage waves with an unbalanced load. To avoid forward transformer magnetic saturation, the voltages of the primary and secondary windings are controlled to reverse once during each switching period. Furthermore, an improved mode chosen operating principle for this novel topology is designed and analyzed in detail. The simulated results verified the feasibility of this topology and an experimental inverter has been built to test the power quality produced by this topology. Finally, simulation results verify that the novel topology can effectively improve the inhibition of an inverter with a three-phase unbalanced load while decreasing the value of the split capacitor.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1458-1469
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• 2018

This paper proposes a novel common-mode voltage (CMV) elimination (CMV-EL) method based on model predictive control (MPC) to eliminate CMV for three-level T-type inverters (3LT2Is). In the proposed MPC method, only six medium and one zero voltage vectors (VVs) (6MV1Z) that generate zero CMV are considered as candidates to perform the MPC. Moreover, the influence of dead-time effects on the CMV of the MPC-based 6MV1Z method is investigated, and the candidate VVs are redesigned by pre-excluding the VVs that will cause CMV fluctuations during the dead time from 6MV1Z. Only three or five VVs are included to perform optimization in every control period, which can significantly reduce the computational complexity. Thus, a small control period can be implemented in the practical applications to achieve improved grid current performance. With the proposed CMV-EL method, the CMV of the $3LT^2Is$ can be effectively eliminated. In addition, the proposed CMV-EL method can balance the neutral point potentials (NPPs) and yield satisfactory performance for grid current tracking in steady and dynamic states. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1609-1618
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• 2015

DC microgrids are considered as prospective systems because of their easy connection of distributed energy resources (DERs) and electric vehicles (EVs), reduction of conversion loss between dc output sources and loads, lack of reactive power issues, etc. These features make them very suitable for future industrial and commercial buildings' power systems. In addition, the bipolar-type dc system structure is more popular, because it provides two voltage levels for different power converters and loads. To keep voltage balanced in such a dc system, a bidirectional dual buck-boost voltage balancer with direct coupling is introduced based on P-cell and N-cell concepts. This results in greatly enhanced system reliability thanks to no shoot-through problems and lower switching losses with the help of power MOSFETs. In order to increase system efficiency and reliability, a novel burst-mode control strategy is proposed for the dual buck-boost voltage balancer. The basic operating principle, the current relations, and a small-signal model of the voltage balancer are analyzed under the burst-mode control scheme in detail. Finally, simulation experiments are performed and a laboratory unit with a 5kW unbalanced ability is constructed to verify the viability of the bidirectional dual buck-boost voltage balancer under the proposed burst-mode control scheme in low-voltage bipolar-type dc microgrids.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1673-1681
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• 2015

A low dropout (LDO) regulator with a wide-bandwidth is proposed in this paper. The regulator features a Human Body Model (HBM) 8kV-class high robustness ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD) protection circuit, and two error amplifiers (one with low gain and wide bandwidth, and the other with high gain and narrow bandwidth). The dual error amplifiers are located within the feedback loop of the LDO regulator, and they selectively amplify the signal according to its ripples. The proposed LDO regulator is more efficient in its regulation process because of its selective amplification according to frequency and bandwidth. Furthermore, the proposed regulator has the same gain as a conventional LDO at 62 dB with a 130 kHz-wide bandwidth, which is approximately 3.5 times that of a conventional LDO. The proposed device presents a fast response with improved load and line regulation characteristics. In addition, to prevent an increase in the area of the circuit, a body-driven fabrication technique was used for the error amplifier and the pass transistor. The proposed LDO regulator has an input voltage range of 2.5 V to 4.5 V, and it provides a load current of 100 mA in an output voltage range of 1.2 V to 4.1 V. In addition, to prevent damage in the Integrated Circuit (IC) as a result of static electricity, the reliability of IC was improved by embedding a self-produced 8 kV-class (Chip level) ESD protection circuit of a P-substrate-Triggered Silicon Controlled Rectifier (PTSCR) type with high robustness characteristics.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1303-1313
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• 2014

Dynamic behavior of the harmonic detection part of an active power filter (APF) has an essential role in filter compensation performances during transient conditions. Instantaneous power (p-q) theory is extensively used to design harmonic detectors for active filters. Large overshoot of p-q theory method deteriorates filter response at a large and rapid load change. In this study the harmonic estimation of an APF during transient conditions for balanced three-phase nonlinear loads is conducted. A novel fuzzy instantaneous power (FIP) theory is proposed to improve conventional p-q theory dynamic performances during transient conditions to adapt automatically to any random and rapid nonlinear load change. Adding fuzzy rules in p-q theory improves the decomposition of the alternating current components of active and reactive power signals and develops correct reference during rapid and random current variation. Modifying p-q theory internal high-pass filter performance using fuzzy rules without any drawback is a prospect. In the simulated system using MATLAB/SIMULINK, the shunt active filter is connected to a rapidly time-varying nonlinear load. The harmonic detection parts of the shunt active filter are developed for FIP theory-based and p-q theory-based algorithms. The harmonic detector hardware is also developed using the TMS320F28335 digital signal processor and connected to a laboratory nonlinear load. The software is developed for FIP theory-based and p-q theory-based algorithms. The simulation and experimental tests results verify the ability of the new technique in harmonic detection of rapid changing nonlinear loads.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.627-639
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• 2018

The fact that the reliability of IGBTs has become a more and more significant aspect of power converters has resulted in an increase in the research on the open circuit (OC) fault location of IGBTs. When an OC fault occurs, a zero-current phenomena exists and frequently appears, which can be found in a lot of the existing literature. In fact, fault variables have a very high correlation with the zero-current interval. In some cases, zero-current interval actually decides the most significant fault feature. However, very few of the previous studies really explain or prove the zero-current phenomena of the fault current. In this paper, the zero-current phenomena is explained and verified through mathematical derivation, based on two-level and three-level NPC static var generators (SVGs). Mathematical models of single OC fault are deduced and it is concluded that a zero-current interval with a certain length follows the OC faults for both two-level and NPC three-level SVGs. Both inductive and capacitive reactive power situations are considered. The unbalanced load situation is discussed. In addition, simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.482-491
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• 2018

The practical design methodology of a three-phase dual active bridge (3ph-DAB) converter applied to low voltage direct current (LVDC) applications is proposed by using a mathematical model based on the steady-state operation. An analysis of the small-signal model (SSM) is important for the design of a proper controller to improve the stability and dynamics of the converter. The proposed lead-lag controller for the 3ph-DAB converter is designed with a simplified SSM analysis including an equivalent series resistor (ESR) for the output capacitor. The proposed controller can compensate the effects of the ESR zero of the output capacitor in the control-to-output voltage transfer function that can cause high-frequency noises. In addition, the performance of the power converter can be improved by using a controller designed by a SSM analysis without additional cost. The accuracy of the simplified SSM including the ESR zero of the output capacitor is verified by simulation software (PSIM). The design methodology of the 3ph-DAB converter and the performance of the proposed controller are verified by experimental results obtained with a 5-kW prototype 3ph-DAB converter.