Optimization-Based Capacitor Balancing Method with Selective DC Current Ripple Reduction for CHB Converters

From its introduction to the present day, Cascaded H-Bridge multilevel converters were employed on numerous applications. However, their floating capacitor, while advantageous for some applications (such as photovoltaic) requires the usage of balancing methods by design. Over the years, several such...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Galván García-Pérez, Luis, Gómez García, Pablo Jesús, Galván Díez, Eduardo, Carrasco Solís, Juan Manuel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/131522
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/131522
https://doi.org/10.3390/en15010243
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Capacitor balance
Cascaded H-bridge converter (CHB)
Common-mode voltage
Current ripple
Multilevel converter
Optimal control
Pulse-width modulation (PWM)
Descripción
Sumario:From its introduction to the present day, Cascaded H-Bridge multilevel converters were employed on numerous applications. However, their floating capacitor, while advantageous for some applications (such as photovoltaic) requires the usage of balancing methods by design. Over the years, several such methods were proposed and polished. Some of these methods use optimization techniques or inject a zero-sequence voltage to take advantage of the converter redundancies. This paper describes an optimization-based capacitor balancing method with additional features. It can drive each module DC-Link to a different voltage for independent maximum power point tracking in photovoltaic applications. Moreover, the user can specify the independent active power set points to modules connected to batteries or any other energy storage systems. Finally, DC current ripple can be reduced on some modules, which can extend the lifespan of any connected ultra-capacitors. The method as a whole is tested on real hardware and compared with the state-of-the-art. In its simplest configuration, the presented method shows greater speed, robustness, and current wave quality than the state-of-the-art alternative in spite of producing about 1/3 fewer commutations. Its other characteristics provide additional functionalities and improve the adaptability of the converter to other applications.