LCL Grid Filter Design of a Multimegawatt Medium-Voltage Converter for Offshore Wind Turbine Using SHEPWM Modulation

The switching frequency of medium-voltage highpower converters is limited to about 1 kHz due to semiconductor junction temperature constraint. The frequency band between the fundamental and carrier frequency is limited to a little more than one decade and the LCL filter design is usually a challenge to meet grid codes for grid-connected applications. Traditional designs focus on the optimization of the filter parameters and different damping circuits. However, this design is very influenced by the modulation technique and produced low-order harmonics. Widely used pulse width modulations (PWM), such as phase disposition PWM (PDPWM), produce low-order harmonics that constraint the design of the filter. Selective harmonic elimination PWM (SHEPWM) can eliminate theses low-order harmonics, enabling a more efficient design of the LCL filter. In this paper, the LCL grid filter of a multimegawatt medium-voltage neutral-point-clamped converter for a wind turbine is redesigned using the SHEPWM modulation. Experimental results demonstrate that the efficiency of the converter, filter, and overall efficiency are increased compared to that obtained with PDPWM

Grid-connected medium-voltage converters with parallel voltage-source active filters

Grid-connected medium voltage converters are typically operated at switching frequencies of several hundred hertz per switch position, requiring bulky and expensive LCL-filters in order to meet the harmonic limits given by the grid code. Commonly, semiconductor current derating and increased switching frequencies are used to reduce the LCL-filter costs, leading to a reduced utilization and efficiency of the converter system. To overcome these disadvantages of conventional converter systems, the presented hybrid converter uses a parallel voltage-source active output filter and thus allows a significant reduction of the passive component demand. The harmonic performance is improved for the operation with small passive filter components, revealing the potential for increasing the utilization and efficiency of high power medium voltage converters. As a result, significant reductions of the filter losses and passive components as well as an increased output power are achieved compared to a reference LCL-filter based converter system

A hybrid inverter system for medium voltage applications using a low voltage auxiliary CSI

Hybrid converters consist of a main inverter processing the bulk of the power with poor waveform performance and a fast and versatile auxiliary inverter to correct the distortion. In this paper, the main converter is a medium voltage NPC inverter and the auxiliary inverter is a low-voltage and low- current rated current source inverter (CSI), with series capacitor being used to minimize the CSI voltage stress. The result is a high output current quality which is obtained with a very low switching stress in the main converter and a very small added installed power (<4%) in the CSI. This paper expands this concept by investigating the hybridization of a medium voltage inverter with an existing LCL filter and investigates the additional challenges related to resonances and proposes a solution for stabile operation

Modular Medium-Voltage Grid-Connected Converter with Improved Switching Techniques for Solar Photovoltaic Systems

© 1982-2012 IEEE. The high-frequency common magnetic-link made of amorphous material, as a replacement for common dc-link, has been gaining considerable interest for the development of solar photovoltaic medium-voltage converters. Even though the common magnetic-link can almost maintain identical voltages at the secondary terminals, the power conversion system loses its modularity. Moreover, the development of high-capacity high-frequency inverter and power limit of the common magnetic-link due to leakage inductance are the main challenging issues. In this regard, a new concept of identical modular magnetic-links is proposed for high-power transmission and isolation between the low and the high voltage sides. Third harmonic injected sixty degree bus clamping pulse width modulation and third harmonic injected thirty degree bus clamping pulse width modulation techniques are proposed which show better frequency spectra as well as reduced switching loss. In this paper, precise loss estimation method is used to calculate switching and conduction losses of a modular multilevel cascaded converter. To ensure the feasibility of the new concepts, a reduced size of 5 kVA rating, three-phase, five-level, 1.2 kV converter is designed with two 2.5 kVA identical high-frequency magnetic-links using Metglas magnetic alloy-based cores

Experimental validation of a hybrid converter with enhanced switching ripple cancellation

This study presents the experimental evaluation of a proposed new three phase hybrid converter topology for medium voltage applications. The topology is based on the interconnection of a low switching frequency voltage source inverter (VSI), rated at medium voltage, with a high switching frequency low-power rated current source inverter (CSI). The main function of the shunt connected CSI is to cancel the large switching current ripple produced by the VSI while operating at a reduced fundamental voltage enabled by the use of series connected capacitors. The simulations and design procedure outline the possibility of achieving high output grid current quality whilst the added installed power by the CSI remains at <4% compared with the VSI. The experimental results show good correlation between analytical simulated targets of 20% maximum CSI voltage stress albeit with added installed power of 6.7% due to a larger amount of current ripple processed

A multilevel medium-voltage inverter for step-up-transformer-less grid connection of photovoltaic power plants

Recently, medium (0.1-5 MW) and large (>5 MW) scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants have attracted great attention, where medium-voltage grid connection (typically 6-36 kV) is essential for efficient power transmission and distribution. A power frequency transformer operated at 50 or 60 Hz is generally used to step up the traditional inverter's low output voltage (usually ≤400 V) to the medium-voltage level. Because of the heavy weight and large size of the power frequency transformer, the PV inverter system can be expensive and complex for installation and maintenance. As an alternative approach to achieve a compact and lightweight direct grid connection, this paper proposes a three-phase medium-voltage PV inverter system. The 11-kV and 33-kV PV inverter systems are designed. A scaled down three-phase 1.2-kV test rig has been constructed to validate the proposed PV inverter. The experimental results are analyzed and discussed, taking into account the switching schemes and filter circuits. The experimental results demonstrate the excellent feature of the proposed PV inverter system. © 2011-2012 IEEE