Abstrac
In this paper, a carrier-based modulation strategy with planned zero sequence voltage (ZSV) injection for T-type three-level inverter (TLI) is proposed to control neutral point (NP) voltage, which is simple to be implemented. This strategy is analyzed comprehensively based on the relationship between NP current and the injected ZSV in one switching cycle. The planned ZSV is calculated according to the voltage difference between upper and lower capacitors and the injectable ZSV range without over-modulation. Furthermore, in order to reduce switching losses, the closest clamping mode method is applied, in which specific ZSV is injected to form discontinuous pulse width modulation (DPWM), and the NP voltage control ability is sacrificed to some extent. In most applications of the two proposed methods, the NP voltage can be perfectly controlled almost like virtual space vector PWM (VSVPWM). However, the switching numbers of the strategy with planned ZSV injection are a third even half less than that of VSVPWM. And the switching numbers of the closest clamping mode method are even a third less than that of SVPWM. Comprehensive experiments are carried out to verify the feasibility of the proposed two methods.
I. INTRODUCTION
Recently, multilevel inverters have gained more and more attentions since they are suitable for high-power and highand/or medium-voltage industrial products [1], [2]. Multilevel inverter has superior advantages compared with the conventional two-level inverter on the better output voltage harmonic characteristic, lower voltage stress across switching devices, and improved power quality, which is widely used in new energy [3], motor drive [4] and so on. Among multilevel inverters, three-level inverter (TLI) has been widely employed, where the neutral-point-clamped and T-type are the two most commonly used TLI topologies.
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the maximum and minimum NP current with respect to the injected ZSV in a switching cycle are revealed. Based on the analysis, a planned ZSV injection method is expected to balance NP voltage just in a switching cycle with appropriate ZSV injection. That’s achievable if the NP current reference value is between the maximum and minimum NP current. Furthermore, a closest clamping mode method is proposed to reduce switching losses with a small sacrifice of controlling NP voltage. The proposed two methods are both based on ZSV injection, which makes their realization easy by carrier-based implementation. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is verified by lots of experimental results, which show good characteristics on NP voltage control.