Research on novel hybrid multilevel inverter with cascaded H-bridges at alternating current side for high-voltage direct current transmission

• Published in: IET power electronics 2018-10, Vol.11 (12), p.1914-1925
• Main Authors: Zeng, Xiangjun, Gong, Deling, Wei, Mi-lan, Xie, Jing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: bridge circuits; cascaded H‐bridges; control strategies; elemental semiconductors; full‐scale simulation system; high‐voltage direct current transmission; high‐voltage voltage source inverter; HVDC power convertors; HVDC power transmission; hybrid multilevel inverter; invertors; power semiconductor devices; Research Article; SiC; silicon; silicon compounds; silicon‐based power devices; silicon‐carbide‐based power devices; three‐level neutral‐point‐clamped converter; wide band gap semiconductors
• ISSN: 1755-4535; 1755-4543; 1755-4543
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-pel.2017.0925

A novel hybrid multilevel inverter based on a low-frequency three-level neutral-point-clamped converter and high-frequency cascaded H-bridge converters for high-voltage direct current transmission is presented. This structure can make full use of traditional silicon-based power devices and a new generation of silicon-carbide-based power devices to fabricate a high-voltage voltage source inverter. The topology can reduce the volume and number of power switches as compared with a modular multilevel converter. Finally, the modulation and control strategies are presented, which are verified by a full-scale simulation system and a small-scale experimental platform.