A New Decentralized Space Vector PWM Method for Multilevel Single-Phase Full Bridge Converters

This paper proposes a decentralized control structure and method for a multilevel single-phase power converter using space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM). The focus of this paper is on the decentralized control structure for the power converter cells that will exchange information with neighboring cells in order to adjust the switching vector and switching time for each cell. In this study, the switching vectors and the corresponding switching times of each cell will be self-determined based on the phase angle of two neighboring cells. Normally, SVPWM applied to the multilevel power converters need complete information about the total cells and cell’s position to build a control algorithm. Meanwhile, a decentralized space vector pulse width modulation (DSVPWM) method is proposed that can be applied to power converters with any number of cells and can be considered as a multilevel SVPWM method. In addition, the decentralized multilevel single-phase power converter has high flexibility with which it is possible to easily adjust the number of active cells, so that the output voltage can be adjusted quickly; this provides the ability to dynamically reconfigure without interrupting the power energy supply process. The proposed control structure and method are effectively verified based on simulation and experimental results. Experimental results are evaluated based on a 9-level single-phase power converter, which has an RL load with rated parameters 220 V/500 W.