A 6-switch single-phase 5-level current-source inverter

INTRODUCTION Up to now, multilevel voltage-source inverters(VSIs) (Fang, 2001) have been paid more attentionthan multilevel current-source inverters (CSIs) in thehigh-power fields. One of the most important reasonsis that inductors, as energy storage elements, have thedisadvantages of higher conducting losses and lowerenergy storage efficiency than capacitors. However,with the development of superconducting magneticenergy storage (SMES) technology (Luongo, 1996),superconducting induc…

A 6-switch single-phase 5-level current-source inverter

The new 6-switch single-phase 5-level current-source inverter proposed in this paper was developed by properly simplifying the traditional 8-switch single-phase 5-level current-source inverter, and its operational principle was analyzed. Just like the problem of voltage-unbalance between different levels existing in voltage-source multilevel inverters, a similar problem of current-unbalance between different levels whether for the 8-switch single-phase 5-level current-source inverter, or for the new 6-switch 5-level current-source inverter also exists. A simple current-balance control method via DC current feedback is presented here to implement the current-balance control between different levels. And to reduce the output current harmonics, PWM control technique was used. Simulation and experimental results showed that this new 6-switch topology operates correctly and that the balance-inductor can almost equally distribute the total DC current.