• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.502-509
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• 2013

It presents an efficient switching pattern, which expects a reduction of switching losses in a cascaded H-bridge PWM multilevel inverter. By the proposed switching scheme, the lower H-bridge module operates at low frequency of 60[Hz] because it assigns to transfer most load power. The upper H-bridge module operates at high frequency of PWM switching to improve THD of output voltage. The proposed switching pattern applies to cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter with PD, APOD, bipolar, and unipolar switching methods. By computer-aided simulations, we verify the validity of the proposed switching scheme. Finally, we prove that the proposed PD and APOD switching patterns are better than those of the conventional one in efficiency.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.302-314
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• 2014

Due to advancements in power electronics and inverter topologies, the current controlled multilevel voltage-source pulse width modulated (PWM) inverter is usually preferred for accurate control, quick response and high dynamic performance. A multilevel topology approach is found to be best suited for overcoming many problems arising from the use of high power converters. This paper presents a comprehensive review and comparative study of several current control (CC) techniques for multilevel inverters with a special emphasis on various approaches of the hysteresis current controller. Since the hysteresis CC technique poses a problem of variable switching frequency, a ramp-comparator controller and a predictive controller to attain constant switching frequency are described along with its quantitative comparison. Furthermore, various methods have been reviewed to achieve hysteresis current control PWM with constant switching frequency operation. This paper complies various guidelines to choose a particular method suitable for application at a given power level, switching frequency and dynamic response.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.1458-1466
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• 2019

Multilevel inverters have appeared as a successful and utilitarian solution in many power applications. The prime objective of an inverter is to keep the fundamental component of the output voltage of a multilevel inverter at a preferred value. Equally important is the need to keep the harmonic components in the output voltage within stated harmonic limits. Therefore, the basis of this research is to develop a harmonic minimization function that optimizes the switching angles of cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter. Due to benefits of the Cuckoo Search (CS) algorithm, it is applied to determine the switching angles, which are further used to generate the switching pattern for firing the H-bridges of multilevel inverter. Simulation results are compared with SPWM based firing scheme. The switching frequency for SPWM firing scheme is taken as 200 Hz since the switching losses are increased when switching frequency is high. To validate the ability of Cuckoo Search optimized firing scheme in minimization of harmonics, experimental results obtained from hardware prototype of Five Level Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter equipped with a FPGA controller are presented to verify the simulation 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.10 no.2
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• pp.138-145
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• 2010

This paper presents a single phase multilevel inverter for using as a voltage harmonic source. First, a single phase multilevel inverter system is presented and the structural parts of the inverter are described. In order to obtain multilevel output voltage waveforms, a switching strategy based on calculating switching angles is explained and an improved formula for determining switching angles is given. Simulation and experimental results of multilevel voltage waveforms are given for 15, 31 and 127 levels. The proposed topology does not only produce output voltages with low THD values. It also produces the required harmonic components on the output voltage. For this purpose, equations for switching angles are constituted and the switching functions are obtained. These angles control the output voltage as well as provide the required specific harmonics. The proposed inverter structure is simulated for various functions with the required harmonic components. The THD values of the output voltage waves are calculated. The simulated functions are also realized by the proposed inverter structure. By using a harmonic analyzer, the harmonic spectrums, which belong to the output voltage forms, are found and the THD values are measured. Simulation and experimental results are given for the specific functions. The proposed topology produces perfectly suitable results for obtaining the specific harmonic components. Therefore, it is possible to use the structure as a voltage harmonic source in various applications.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1490-1499
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• 2017

The modular multilevel converter (MMC) is generally considered to be a promising topology for medium-voltage and high-voltage applications. However, in order to apply it to high-power applications, a huge number of switching devices is essential. The numerous switching devices lead to considerable switching losses, high cost and a larger heat sink for each of the switching device. In order to reduce the switching losses of a MMC, this paper analyzes the performance of the conventional discontinuous pulse-width modulation (DPWM) method and its efficiency. In addition, it proposes a modified novel DPWM method for advanced switching losses reduction. The novel DPWM scheme includes an additional rotation method for voltage-balancing and power distribution among sub modules (SMs). Simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness and performance of the proposed modulation method in terms of its switching losses reduction capability.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.507-518
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• 2014

This paper presents a new cascaded asymmetrical single phase multilevel converter with a lower number of power semiconductor switches and isolated DC sources. Therefore, the number of power electronic devices, converter losses, size, and cost are reduced. The proposed multilevel converter topology consists of two H-bridges connected in cascaded configuration. One H-bridge operates at a high frequency (high frequency inverter) and is capable of developing a two level output while the other H-bridge operates at the fundamental frequency (low frequency inverter) and is capable of developing a multilevel output. The addition of each power electronic switch to the low frequency inverter increases the number of levels by four. This paper also introduces a hybrid switching algorithm which uses very simple arithmetic and logical operations. The simplified hybrid switching algorithm is generalized for any number of levels. The proposed simplified switching algorithm is developed using a TMS320F2812 DSP board. The operation and performance of the proposed multilevel converter are verified by simulations using MATLAB/SIMULINK and experimental results.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.561-565
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• 2001

This paper proposes a new switching scheme of a static var compensator(SVC) with cascade multilevel inverter which employs H-bridge inverter(HBI). To improve the un­balanced problem of the DC capacitor voltages, the rotated switching scheme of fundamental frequency is newly used. The optimized fundamental switching pattern with low switching frequency is adapted to be suitable for high application. The selective harmonic elimination method(SHEM) allows to keep the total harmonic distortion(THD) low in the output voltage of multilevel inverter. The SVC system is modeled using the d-q transform which calculates the instantaneous reactive power. This model is used to design a controller and analyze the SVC system. Simulated and experimental results are also presented and discussed to validate the proposed schemes.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.179-184
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• 2005

This paper examines the application of high voltage static var compensator(SVC) with cascade multilevel inverter which employs H-bridge inverter(HBI). A new switching scheme is developed for the SVC system. To improve the unbalanced problem of the DC capacitor voltages, the rotated switching scheme of fundamental frequency is newly used. The optimized fundamental switching pattern with low switching frequency is adapted to be suitable for high application. The selective harmonic elimination method(SHEM) allows to keep the total harmonic distortion(THD) low in the output voltage of multilevel inverter. The SVC system is modeled using the d-q transform which calculates the instantaneous reactive power. This model is used to design a controller and analyze the SVC system. Simulated and experimental results are also presented and discussed to validate the proposed schemes.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.1610-1620
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• 2015

A major problem in conventional multilevel inverter is that an increase in power semiconductor switches causes an increase in cost and switching losses of the inverter. The multicarrier strategy adopted for the multilevel inverters has become more popular due to reduced cost, lower harmonic distortion, and higher voltage capability than the conventional switching strategy applied to inverters. Various topologies and modulation strategies have been reported for utility and drive applications. Level shifted based pulse width modulation techniques are proposed to investigate the performance of the multilevel inverter. The proposed work focuses on reducing the utilized switches so that the cost and the switching losses of the inverter do not go up and the consistent efficiency could be achieved. This paper presents the detailed analysis of these topologies. The analysis is based on the number of switches, DC sources, output level, maximum voltage, and the efficiency. As an illustration, single phase cascaded multilevel inverter topologies are simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK and the experimental results demonstrate the viability of these inverters.