• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.142-152
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• 2016

Common mode voltage (CMV) generation is a major problem in switching power converter fed induction motor drive systems. CMV is the zero sequence voltage generated due to the switching action of power converters. Even a small magnitude of CMV with a high rate of change may circulate large bearing currents which may damage a machine's bearings and shorten its life. There are several methods of controlling CMV. This paper presents 3-level sinusoidal pulse width modulation based techniques to control the magnitude and rate of change of CMV in multilevel AC-DC-AC drive systems. Simulation and experimental investigations have been presented to validate the performance of proposed technique to control CMV in 3-level neutral point clamped inverter based AC-DC-AC system.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.102-110
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• 2016

Contactless power transfer technology is gaining increasing attention in city transportation applications because of its high mobility and flexibility in charging and its commensurate power level with conductive power transfer method. In this study, an inductively coupled contactless charging system for a 48 V light electric vehicle is proposed. Although this study does not focus on system efficiency, the generic problems in an inductively coupled contactless power transfer system without ferromagnetic structure are discussed. An active load matching method is also proposed to control the power transfer on the receiving side through a load matching converter. Small signal modeling and linear control technology are applied to the load matching converter for port voltage regulation, which effectively controls the power flow into the load. A prototype is built, and experiments are conducted to reveal the intrinsic characteristics of a series-series resonant inductive power charger in terms of frequency, air gap length, power flow control, coil misalignment, and efficiency issues.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2016

This paper proposes a compensation algorithm for reducing a specific ripple component on synchronous reference frame phase locked loop (SRF-PLL) in grid-tied single-phase inverters. In general, SRF-PLL, which is based on all-pass filter to generate virtual voltage, is widely used to estimate the grid phase angle in a single-phase system. In reality, the estimated grid phase angle might be distorted because the phase difference between actual and virtual voltages is not 90 degrees. That is, the phase error is caused by the difference between cut-off frequency of all-pass filter and grid frequency under grid frequency variation. Therefore, the effects on phase angle and output current attributed to the phase error are mathematically analyzed in this paper. In addition, the proportional resonant (PR) controller is adapted to reduce the effects of phase error. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified through several simulations and experiments.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.121-132
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• 2016

In this paper, high-efficiency design methodology of a zero-voltage-switching full-bridge (ZVS-FB) pulse width modulation (PWM) converter for server-computer power supply is discussed based on self-driven synchronous rectifier (SR) performance. The design approach focuses on rectifier conduction loss on the secondary side because of high output current application. Various-number parallel-connected SRs are evaluated to reduce high conduction loss. For this approach, the reliability of gate control signals produced from a self-driver is analyzed in detail to determine whether the converter achieves high efficiency. A laboratory prototype that operates at 80 kHz and rated 1 kW/12 V is built for various-number parallel combination of SRs to verify the proposed theoretical analysis and evaluations. Measurement results show that the best efficiency of the converter is 95.16%.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.277-286
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• 2016

This paper offers two Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) systems for Photovoltaic (PV) applications. The first MPPT method is based on a fixed frequency Model Predictive Control (MPC). The second MPPT technique is based on the Predictive Hysteresis Control (PHC). An experimental demonstration shows that the proposed techniques are fast, accurate and robust in tracking the maximum power under different environmental conditions. A DC/DC converter with a high voltage gain is obligatory to track PV applications at the maximum power and to boost a low voltage to a higher voltage level. For this purpose, a high gain Switched Inductor Quadratic Boost Converter (SIQBC) for PV applications is presented in this paper. The proposed converter has a higher gain than the other transformerless topologies in the literature. It is shown that at a high gain the proposed SIQBC has moderate efficiency.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.123-130
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• 2015

This paper investigates the high efficiency operation of a switched reluctance generator over a wide speed range. The system efficiency is improved by optimizing the current shape. A modified angle position control (MAPC) method that can be used to optimize the current shape over a wide speed range is proposed. Simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.288-297
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• 2015

This paper presents a novel approach to diagnose interturn insulation faults in three-phase transformers that operate at different loading conditions. This approach is based on the loci of instantaneous symmetrical components and requires the measurement of three input primary winding currents and voltages to diagnose faults in the transformer. The effect of unbalance supply conditions, load variations, constructional imbalance, and measurement errors when this methodology is used is also investigated. Wing size or length determines the loading on the transformer. Wing travel and area determine the degree of severity of fault. Experimental results are presented for a 400/200 V, 7.5 kVA transformer to validate this method.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.96-105
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• 2015

In recent years, the multilevel converters have been given more attention due to their modularity, reliability, failure management and multi stepped output waveform with less total harmonic distortion. This paper presents a novel symmetric multilevel inverter topology with reduced switching components to generate a high quality stepped sinusoidal voltage waveform. The series and parallel combinations of switches in the proposed topology reduce the total number of conducting switches in each level of output voltages. In addition, a comparison between the proposed topology with another topology from the literature is presented. To verify the proposed topology, the computer based simulation model is developed using MATLAB/Simulink and experimentally with a prototype model results are then compared.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.106-115
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• 2015

This paper proposes a novel direct power control (DPC) strategy for neutral-point-clamped (NPC) three-level rectifiers, to directly control the active power, the reactive power and the neutral point potential of the rectifiers by referring to three pre-calculated vector influence tables and minimizing an objective function. In the three vector influence tables, the influences of different voltage vectors on the active power, the reactive power and the neutral-point potential are shown explicitly. A conceptual description and control algorithm of the proposed controller are presented in this paper. Then, numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to validate the proposed method. Both the simulation and experimental results show that good performances during both the steady-state and transient operating conditions are achieved. As a result, the proposed strategy has been proven to be effective for NPC three-level rectifiers.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2016

Dead time is typically incorporated in voltage source inverter systems to prevent short circuit cases. However, dead time causes an error between the output voltage and reference voltage. Hence, voltage equation-based algorithms, such as motor parameter estimation and back electromotive force (EMF)-based sensorless algorithms, are prone to estimation errors. Several dead-time compensation methods have been developed to reduce output voltage errors. However, voltage errors are still common in zero current crossing areas, and an effect of the error is much worse in a low speed region. Therefore, employing voltage equation-based algorithms in low speed regions is difficult. This study analyzes the conventional dead-time compensation method and output voltage errors in low speed operation areas. A current shaping method that can reduce output voltage errors is also proposed. Experimental results prove that the proposed method reduces voltage errors and improves the accuracy of the parameter estimation method and the performance of the back EMF-based sensorless algorithm.