Ddoc T 2016 0345 Forrisi

Contribution aux systèmes renouvelables connectés en
réseau : contrôle, analyse de la stabilité et fiabilité

Ivano Forrisi
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Ivano Forrisi. Contribution aux systèmes renouvelables connectés en réseau : contrôle, analyse
de la stabilité et fiabilité. Energie électrique. Université de Lorraine, 2016. Français. �NNT :
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UNIVERSITÉ DE LORRAINE
École Doctorale ”Informatique Automatique Électronique-Électrotechnique Mathmatiques”
Département de Formation Doctorale ”Électronique-Électrotechnique”
THÈSE
présentée à
L’UNIVERSITÉ DE LORRAINE
En vue de l’obtention du
DOCTORAT DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DE LORRAINE
Spécialité : Génie Électrique
par
Ivano FORRISI
Contribution to renewable systems

grid connected:
control, stability analysis and
reliability
Soutenue publiquement le 2 décembre 2016 devant le jury composé de :

Président Delphine RIU Prof. - Grenoble INP, G2Elab
Rapporteurs Mohamed BENBOUZID Prof. - Université de Brest
Mickaël HILAIRET Prof. - Université de Franche-Comté
Examinateurs Babak NAHID-MOBARAKEH Prof. - Université de Lorraine
Serge PIERFEDERICI Prof. - Université de Lorraine
Giovanni SPAGNUOLO Prof. - University of Salerno
Nicolae BRINZEI MdC - Université de Lorraine
Thèse préparée au Groupe de Recherche en Électrotechnique et Électronique de Nancy

Site de l’ENSEM - EA N o 4366
Contents
Résumé 5
General Introduction 11
1 Thesis Context- Presentation of PV-GRID connected systems 13

1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2 PV conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2.1 Distributed-MPPT: architecture and topologies . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.2.2 Solar cells and solar panel: electrical model . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.2.3 PV array modeling behavior verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.2.4 MPPT solutions: basic concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Classical MPPT solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.2.5 DMPPT with two photovoltaic sources/ constraints . . . . . . . . 24
1.3 2-Level inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.3.1 Pulse-Width Modulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.3.2 Three-phase 2-Level inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.4 Neutral Point Clamped inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.5 Neutral Point Piloted inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.6 Modulation strategies for the NPC inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.6.1 Phase Shifted PWM (PS-PWM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.6.2 Phase Opposition Disposition PWM (POD-PWM) . . . . . . . . 31
1.6.3 Alternative Phase Opposition Disposition PWM (APOD-PWM) . 31
1.7 LCL output filter design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
1.8 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2 Renewable Source-Grid connected Neutral Point Clamped inverter 35

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2 Comparison between classical inverter and NPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2.1 Power losses in both configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2.2 Comparison between classical inverter and NPC in matching mode 37
2.3 Indirect Sliding Control (ISC): DC/DC and DC/AC converter . . . . . . 38
2.3.1 ISC of DC/DC boost converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.3.2 ISC of DC/AC converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.4 Flatness-based Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.5 Dc voltages balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.5.1 Voltages balancing algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.5.2 Average Model of the clamping current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.5.3 Poles tracking and parameter selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.5.4 Model improvement in a given operating range for input powers
P1 and P2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.5.5 Simulation and experimental results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2
2.5.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.6 LCL output filter and control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.6.1 L filter design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.6.2 LC filter design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.6.3 LCL filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.6.4 Flatness-based Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.6.5 Passivity-based Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Port Hamiltonian systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
PCHD: control design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
IDA-PCB: control design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Improving model with parameters estimator . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.6.6 Simulation results: Flatness-based Control vs Passivity-based Con-
trol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.6.7 Experimental results and simulations of the THD: Flatness-based
Control vs Passivity-based Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.6.8 Flatness vs Passivity: conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3 Large Signal Stability analysis 78

3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.2 Nonlinear systems and Lyapunov stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.2.1 Definition of Lyapunov stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.2.2 Tagaki-Sugeno multi-models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.2.3 Application of TS approach to model a PFC-LCL filter system . . 81
3.3 Higher-Order Singular Value
Decomposition (HOSVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.3.1 Singular value decomposition theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.3.2 Application of HOSVD to model a PFC-LCL filter system . . . . 86
3.3.3 Estimation of the domain of attraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.4 Application to the NPC inverter including voltage balancing . . . . . . . 90
3.4.1 Large signal stability analysis with fast voltage control loop . . . 91
Takagi-Sugeno model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
HOSVD model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
3.4.2 Large signal stability analysis taking into account the voltage con-
trol loop dynamic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4 Availability comparison between 2-Level and multilevel inverters 99

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.2 Reliability definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.2.1 Mean Time Between Failures and Mean Time To Failure . . . . . 101
4.2.2 Accelerated Life Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.2.3 Availability and repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.3 Electronic components reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.3.1 IGBT failure rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.3.2 Power diode failure rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.3.3 Failure rate under lifetime and heat cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.4 Markov Chains and degraded modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4.4.1 Degraded modes of the NPC inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.4.2 Degraded modes of the NPP inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4.4.3 Multi-Phase Markov models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
4.5 Inverter availability assesment using Markov chain model . . . . . . . . . 111
4.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
General Conclusion 115
Bibliography 117
Appendix 126
A Input voltages balancing 5-Level NPC 127
B Markov chains details 129
C Matlab code for matrix A in large signal stability analysis 131
D Published papers 135
Summary 136
Résumé
Cette thèse a pour but l’analyse d’un système photovoltaque connecté au réseau électrique
en prenant en compte le contrôle, l’ étude de la stabilité et la fiabilité(Fig 1). Un ond-
uleur de type 2-Niveau (Fig. 2) a été comparé avec un onduleur multi-niveaux appelé
Neutral Point Clamped. Les avantages et désavantage de chaque topologie ont été
analysé en considérant l’efficacité énergétique, l’optimisation de l’injection de l’énergie
sur le réseau électrique et la fiabilité du systme. Pour le contrôle du courant de sor-
tie de l’onduleur, ont été proposées deux solutions : un contrôle basé sur la théorie de
la platitude et un contrôle par passivité. Ces deux différents contrôles sont comparés
par rapport á la robustesse, la complexité et le nombre de capteurs utilisés. Il a été
montré que les deux contrôles sont capables de gérer la problématique de la résonance
du filtre LCL. Pour augmenter l’efficacité de l’algorithme MPPT dans une configura-
tion Distributed-MPPT avec la connexion en série des deux sorties des convertisseurs
boost, une nouvelle technique a été proposé pour l’équilibrage des tension d’entrée d’un
onduleur NPC. En utilisant un outil appelé TPtool, un étude de la stabilité large sig-
nal par ”Higher-Order-Singular-Value-Decomposition” a été présenté et comparé avec
une méthode basée sur les modèles Takagi-Sugeno pour des systmes non-linéaires. Fi-
nalement, l’onduleur 2-Niveaux est comparé avec deux multi-niveaux différents (NPP et
NPC) en termes de disponibilité, en prenant en compte les niveaux de redondance des
convertisseurs. Pour analyser la disponibilité, a été considérée la théorie des chaines de
Markov et pour l’implémentation, le logiciel GRIF a été utilisé.
Figure 1: PV-GRID connected system
Lobjectif de cette thèse est de présenter et modéliser une stratégie pour équilibrer les
tensions á lentrée dun onduleur de type NPC en modifiant uniquement la stratégie de
contrôle de londuleur. En considérant lavantage du DMPPT par rapport au CMPPT,
on se concentre sur la problématique liée aux déséquilibres des tensions dans le cas dun
5
déséquilibre entre les puissances dentrée. les contraintes que doivent respecter lalgo-
rithme MPPT ont été définies. La contrainte la plus importante est liée aux limites de
la tension de sortie de chaque boost. Ainsi, lorsquon a un déséquilibre de puissance,
un déséquilibre des tensions de sortie des convertisseurs boost apparait. En présence
dun déséquilibre, il n’est plus possible de récupérer la puissance maximum de chaque
panneaux solaires. Dans la configuration classique avec un onduleur 2-niveaux (Fig. 2) ,
il est impossible d’équilibrer les deux tensions dentrée, tandis que dans la configuration
proposée (Fig. 3) il est possible d’avoir l’équilibre grâce á la présence du courant Io (Fig.
4).
Figure 2: Configuration Onduleur classique 2-Niveaux
Figure 3: Configuration Onduleur classique 3-Niveaux
Dans la littérature, il existe déjá des études sur la problématique d’équilibrage

des deux tensions d’entrée mais jamais en considérant que le déséquilibre est d á un
déséquilibre des puissances dentrée (notre cas) mais plutt á des imperfections de l’onduleur,
ou á un déséquilibre entre les charges triphasées. La définition dun nouveau modèle basé
sur le courant Io prenant en compte les variables cté DC (origine du déséquilibre) a per-
mis d’étudier la dynamique d’équilibrage du systme. Une étude de l’efficacité énergétique
6
a été réalisée dans cette thse. Dans le but de pouvoir obtenir le maximum de puissance
des deux sources PV, deux architectures de puissances sont considérées. La première
associe un onduleur classique á chaque source PV et la seconde utilise un seul onduleur
NPC. L’onduleur NPC présente de plus un THD en tension de sortie plus faible qu’un
onduleur classique et donc permet de diminuer la taille du filtre réseau.
De plus, la tension aux bornes des composants semi-conducteurs est la moitié de celle
imposée avec un VSI classique 2-niveaux. Ceci permet d’améliorer la fiabilité du système
global. Une stratégie de type ”Indirect Sliding Mode” a été utilisée pour le contrôle des
courants de sortir de londuleur NPC et des courants dentrée des convertisseurs boost.
Pour la régulation de la tension Vdc un contrôle basé sûr la platitude a été implémenté.
une comparaison entre l’onduleur classique 2-niveaux et londuleur NPC 3-niveaux par
rapport á lefficacité énergétique est présentée, sans considérer le filtre de sortie. Il est
résenté lalgorithme d’équilibrage proposé et on détaille le modèle utilisé pour le courant
de clamping Io. Léquilibrage des tensions dentrée est possible jusqu’á une différence de
puissance DeltaP=35%.. Les résultats expérimentaux obtenus sur un banc réalisé au
laboratoire valident les résultats de simulations obtenus.
Figure 4: Modélisation pour le courant Io
Figure 5: MLI modifiée pour l’algorithme d’équilibrage
Pour la validation des modèles et l’efficacité de l’algorithme déquilibrage proposé,

nous avons utilisé Matlab/Simulink. Pour les convertisseurs DC/DC on a utilisé des
7
composants Semikron SKM50GB123D et pour l’onduleur SK20MLI066. En outre, on a
utilisés cinq capteur de courant et six capteur de tension. Sur la Fig. 7 est représenté
le banc de test utilisé. Sur les Figs.8-9 sont présentées respectivement les simulations
et les résultats sur le banc dans le cas oú on a une variation de puissance du 23% et
sans utiliser l’algorithme d’équilibrage. ur les Figs.10-11 on a une variation de 35%
et on utilise cette fois l’algorithme d’équilibrage proposé. On voit que les simulations
(Figs.8-9) reflètent bien la réalité (Figs.10-11).
Figure 6: Comparaison entre le modèle instantané et le modèle moyen
Figure 7: Test bench
8
Figure 8: Équilibrage OFF: tensions d’entré de l’onduleur et une des courants
Figure 9: Équilibrage ON: tensions d’entré de l’onduleur et une des courants
Figure 10: Équilibrage OFF(test): tensions d’entré de l’onduleur et une des courants
9
Figure 11: Équilibrage ON (test): tensions d’entré de l’onduleur et une des courants
10
General Introduction
In this work a PV-grid connected system is studied. The focus is put on a multilevel
inverter to connect to main grid. The connection of the inverter with the main AC grid
is realized through a three-phase interconnection filter.
Renewable energy is nowadays one of the most important energy source above all for
environmental reasons. In last decades, giant steps have been taken in order to improve
the global efficiency of photovoltaic fields. To increase the global photovoltaic efficiency,
several issues should be taken into account:
• efficiency of the solar cells (new technologies and materials)

• efficiency of the power converters (DC/DC, DC/AC, filters, etc)
• effectiveness of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques
In this thesis, we are interested in the second and third points. In addition, we pro-
pose to compare candidate topologies regarding reliability of the power converters.
The main advantage of photovoltaic energy for grid-connected systems is related to

the fact that power plant could be close to grid reducing transmission losses. The most
important disadvantage of this type of energy source is its intermittence, which leads
flicker effects to the main grid or involve the use of storage devices in case of embedded
or autonomous applications.
In this work, the chain PV-grid is analyzed in terms of power design, control, stability
analysis and reliability. For the stability issue in grid-connected systems, two approaches
can be used to analyze stability properties of the system. The first one, widely used by
engineers, is based on small signal modeling and eigenvalues analysis. The main draw-
back of such a method is to limit the analysis to small variations around an operating
point for states and input variables. To avoid this constraint we propose to investigate
large signal stability analysis methods.
For the reliability assessment, the reliability of the multilevel converters is often con-
sidered a strong weakness in literature. For this reason we are interested in comparing
classical 2-Level inverters with an alternative solution using only one multilevel inverter.
Therefore, this manuscript is organized as follows:
• The first chapter is the presentation of this work. In this part, different configura-
tion for the injection of the photovoltaic energy to grid are presented. To introduce
11
our study on the MPPT, classical MPPT solutions are presented, analyzing the
constraints and literature research. A brief overview of the 2-Level classical con-
figurations and the multilevel inverters is introduced. Finally, in order to present
the issue of the output filter design and control, an LCL filter is studied.
• In the second chapter an efficiency comparison between power architectures con-

stituted with 2-Level classical inverters and a Neutral Point Clamped inverter is
presented. The problem of the photovoltaic power mismatch and its consequences
are analyzed and a novel technique of input voltages balancing of the Neutral Point
Clamped inverter is introduced. Several control techniques are presented in this
part, such as: Indirect Sliding Mode Control, Flatness-Based Control, Passivity-
Based Control.
• The third part deals with large signal stability analysis. After a short introduction
on the Lyapunov theory, Takagi-Sugeno approach and Higher-Order Singular Value
Decomposition (HOSVD) are discussed and compared for two examples including
nonlinear and strongly nonlinear systems.
• The last chapter deals with the reliability of the power systems. The aim of this
work is to introduce the tools allowing reliability analysis applied to power elec-
tronic systems. The failure rate of system components is determinated considering
the operating conditions. The proposed modeling of the system is based on stochas-
tic processes like that continuous time Markov chains taking into account not only
the failures but also the possibility to repair. Finally, we will compare different
inverter topologies (2-Level classical inverter, NPC and Neutral Point Piloted ) in
terms of their availability.
12
Chapter 1
Thesis Context- Presentation of

PV-GRID connected systems
1.1 Introduction
The aim of this PhD thesis is to analyze a PV-GRID connected system (Fig. 1.1) in terms
of power design, control, stability and reliability. During the last three years, the PhD
thesis has been led in the Groupe de Recherche en Électrotechnique et Électronique
de Nancy (GREEN), in France. The core of the issue is the choice of the inverter
topology for increasing the reliability and for the optimization of the energy injection.
For this reason, in the next paragraphs different configurations in order to inject the
energy are introduced. Among renewable energy power generation applications, grid-
connected photovoltaic inverter systems have been given a high recognition during the
last decades [1]. In the past few years, the multilevel technologies for grid-connected PV
inverter systems have drawn more interests. The advantages of the multilevel topologies
with respect to the classical 2-Level inverter are related above all to the THD (Total Har-
monic Distortion), and obviously the volume and cost of the output filter, but as shown
in Chapter 4, the availability of these topologies can be improved in some particular sit-
uation. Weakness are essentially the number of semiconductors used and, accordingly,
the cost of the power converter.
Figure 1.1: PV-GRID connected system
This chapter gives the state-of-art of PV-GRID connected system considering stan-
dard configurations based on classical 2-Level inverter. In order to introduce the second
13
CHAPTER 1. THESIS CONTEXT- PRESENTATION OF PV-GRID CONNECTED
SYSTEMS
chapter of this thesis, a brief review of the power mismatching issues and the dc-dc boost
converter in this chapter are presented. The operating of 2-Level and multilevel invert-
ers is analyzed and in details different PWM strategies for the Neutral Point Clamped
inverter are presented. In last decades, a LCL output filter is often used in order to
decrease size, cost and total harmonic distortion(THD) [2]. However, the resonance of
the LCL filters challenge the stability of the current control loop [3]. On the dc-side,
under uncertain characteristics of the PV source impedance (e.g., number of PV mod-
ules connected and/or uncertainty in source circuit parameters), the stability might be
violated due to equivalent source/load impedance mismatch [4]. In order to manage the
stability issues, large stability analysis is given and in this chapter a brief recapitulation
of the existing method are presented. The reliability issue which is a baffling factor in
PV system acts as a tough obstacle on spreading this technology [5]. Generally, the
inverter is responsible for the majority of failures in PV systems. Field test data has
demonstrated the solar panels which actually are the most reliable part of the PV sys-
tem can perform very well for more than 25 years [6]. For this reason, considering the
introduction of a non-standard configuration for PV-GRID connected systems, a reliabil-
ity comparison between classical 2-Level inverter and multilevel inverters (NPC [7] and
NPP [8]) is given. In this chapter, some example of the reliability analysis in electronics
applications are presented.
1.2 PV conversion
Up to few years ago, large-scale power plants represented the majority of the Photo-
voltaic (PV) systems installed all around the world. Such plants were able to generate
hundreds of kilowatts or even some megawatts because they paved large even grounds
with thousands of panels, all of the same type and with the same orientation towards the
Sun. This kind of installation required specific solutions for power conversion, so that the
effort was concentrated in developing high performance inverters, usually equipped with
only one DC input at which the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm
operated. The latter did not have to face uncommon problems: the central inverter was
easily able to draw the PV strings and the whole field towards the Maximum Power Point
(MPP) of a power vs. voltage curve that was a scaled-up version of that one of any PV
panel of the field. This quiet condition was due to the fact that all the panels received
the same irradiation level and were equally oriented. Effects due to clouds, determining
a partial shading of the PV field, were neglected, especially when the occurrence of such
a condition was not frequent and when the clouds transition was expected to be very
fast. Possible different orientation of the PV panels, due to ground unevenness and mis-
takes in the installation, was considered as a minor issue. Additionally, theft problems
and issues related to the monitoring of the power production of the PV field were not
afforded systematically, with significant consequences on the plant productivity. In fact,
some stops in the energy production of the whole plant, or of a part of it, were required
for maintenance or repairing. Last, but not least, issues related to safety were a minor
problem, because the access to the area of the PV plant was open to authorized and
skilled personnel only. More recently, multi-string inverters have been proposed on the
market, their main feature being two or more DC inputs, each one equipped with its own
MPPT controller. Such a feature allowed to divide the PV field in subsections, each one
potentially working in different operating conditions, and to ensure the maximum power
from each one of them. In case of shadowing, or installation with a different orientation
with respect to the Sun of some panels, a power drop affected only the string in which
14
SYSTEMS
such panels were connected, without any effect on the parts of the PV field connected
to the other DC inputs of the inverter. Such a solution also allowed to have different
sections of the PV field made of different types of panels, the only forethought being the
series connection in the same string of panels of the same peak power and open circuit
voltage.
Figure 1.2: String of two series connected Kyocera KC120 modules
Fig. 1.2 qualitatively shows the effects of the series connection of PV modules sub-
jected to different irradiances. With the same working conditions, the current vs. voltage
curve of the string is a scaled up version, in terms of voltages, of the curve of a single
module. Instead, the series connection of modules working in different conditions gives
rise to multiple variations in the slope of the curve and, consequently, in multiple peaks
of different heights in the power vs. voltage curve of the array. Details about the pos-
sible modifications in the curve shape can be found in [9]. Multi-string inverters have
mitigated the effect of the so called mismatching events in the case of large PV fields
but not in the case of small power installations. Moreover, they have not been help-
ful in solving the problem of substituting few damaged PV panels, after some years of
operation, in the plant building. The unavailability of panels with characteristics that
are close to those ones of the original panels in the PV field determines the stop in the
power production of the power plant, or at least of a part of it; in fact the substitution
of the damaged panels with similar, but not exactly the same panels, determines a mis-
matching effect, in the string including different types of panels, even if they all operate
under the same irradiation level. An increased need of flexibility in the electrical de-
sign of the PV field has been also required by the increased interest in PV applications
in urban contexts. These require a relatively small number of panels, but they may
have many different orientations with respect to the Sun and/or shadowing effects can
irregularly affect them. Last but not least, because of convection effects due to wind
or different installation supports, they can work at more or less different temperatures.
Such a mismatch is due to the installation of the panels on more than one faade of a
building and to the shadows produced by obstacles, trees, chimneys, poles and so on.
Since the use of any multi-string inverter would require too many series connected panels
per each DC input, because some hundreds of volts must be reached, the mismatching
effect would be unacceptable. The solution that has been recently proposed in literature
and, slightly after, put on the market by some producers is the so-called Distributed
MPPT (DMPPT). Such a term was firstly introduced in [10] and nowadays it is the
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synonym of MPPT control dedicated to a single PV panel. This goal can be obtained
by means of two different tools. The first, and older, one is the adoption of one DC/DC
converter per PV module, so that the dedicated converter, whose output terminals are
connected in series or in parallel with those ones of the converters dedicated to the
other panels, runs the MPPT. This solution requires a careful choice of the DC/DC
converter topology and control, depending on the chosen electrical connection and on
the maximum stresses the switching devices can be subjected to. The second solution
is especially aimed at grid connected PV systems and it is based on the adoption of a
DC/AC converter (micro-inverter) per PV panel. In this case the micro-inverter output
terminals are straightforwardly connected to the grid, so that the circuit has to take
charge for the significant boosting of the low DC voltage at the panel terminals up to
the peak voltage value at the AC mains. In many cases, and especially when the DC/AC
converter involves a DC link followed by a PWM inverting stage, a DC/DC converter
with a high voltage conversion ratio is needed for boosting up the PV panel voltage by
10- 15 times. Up to now, any DC/DC converter having such a feature has the drawback
of a low efficiency, so that the main limitation of the most flexible DMPPT solution, that
is the panel dedicated inverter, is the quite low conversion efficiency. Another solution
to the mismatching effect is currently available on the market. It consists of a switching
box that takes at its input the couples of cables coming from each PV module in the
field. The couple of its own output terminals is connected at the inverter input port.
The switching box performs a periodic reconfiguration of the PV field by arranging the
PV modules connection in order to maximize the power produced by the whole field.
The switching box consists of a large number of power switches, realized in a proper way
so that a high reliability is ensured, and a digital control unit that takes the decisions
about the reconfiguration. A similar approach is presented in [11]. All the mentioned
solutions have among the main features the increased safety in case of fire, because of the
capability of reducing the risk of hazards for firemen. The automatic module shutdown
is included in many products. Firefighters shut off power but this means that the central
inverter is shut off. Unfortunately, the DC of hundreds of volts is still present and this
poses risks to firefighters, especially when they cut through roofs and walls because it
could result in chopping through live wires.
1.2.1 Distributed-MPPT: architecture and topologies

The first grid-connected PV systems put in service were made of strings of PV modules
which were connected in parallel and fed a central DC/AC inverter, as shown in Fig.
1.3. The function of such a central inverter, besides that one of converting DC power to
grid-compliant AC power, was also that one of carrying out the tracking of the MPP of
the Power vs. Voltage (P-V) characteristic of the whole field. In other words, the central
inverter was responsible of the Field Maximum Power Point Tracking (FMPPT). It is
well known that, in case of mismatch (due to clouds, shadows, dirtiness, manufacturing
tolerances, aging, different orientation of parts of the PV field in the so called Building
Integrated Photovoltaic Systems etc.), the P-V characteristic of the PV field exhibits
more than one peak, due to the presence of bypass diodes, and MPPT algorithms can
fail [12]- [13]. The failure of such MPPT algorithms is due to the fact that they are
not able to avoid that the operating point of the PV source may remain trapped in
the neighborhood of a relative maximum power point instead that close to the absolute
maximum power point. Moreover, even when FMPPT is able to catch the absolute
maximum power of the mismatched PV field, such a power is lower than the sum of the
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available maximum powers that the mismatched modules are able to provide.
Figure 1.3: Grid-connected PV system with FMPPT
Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) allows to overcome the draw-
backs associated to mismatching phenomena. Two different DMPPT approaches can be
adopted. The first one is based on the adoption of one microinverter per PV module
converting DC power to grid-compliant AC power. Another approach is instead based
on the use of a module dedicated DC/DC converter carrying out the MPPT for each
module, shown in Fig. 1.4 and central inverters.
The DMPPT architecture shown in Fig. 1.5 instead requires DC/DC converters
characterized by two contrasting requirements: a high voltage conversion ratio (e.g. from
20-30 V to 350-450 V) and a high conversion efficiency. Up to now, only one company,
the eIQ Energy, markets a device (Parallux Vboost) which has been developed for such
a kind of architecture.
Usually, in commercial PV modules, each bypass diode is connected in parallel to a string
of up to 18-20 PV cells. Therefore, since a PV module is equipped with more than one
bypass diode, if the module is not uniformly shadowed but, as an example, only one cell
is covered by snow or dirt, then the power versus voltage characteristic of the whole PV
module may exhibit multiple peaks. In such a case, the MPPT controller of the dc/dc
converter associated to such a PV module can lead to a suboptimal operating condition
since no MPPT technique is able to correctly face the presence of multiple peaks in
the power versus voltage PV characteristic. Therefore, it is worth noting that DMPPT
is fully effective only if each PV module is equipped with as many dc/dc converters
as bypass diodes. In particular, one dc/dc converter should be inserted in place of
each bypass diode. However, in order to grant the functionality of the rest of the PV
system also when a dc/dc converter is turned off or damaged, a bypass diode should
be connected at the output of each dc/dc converter. Indeed, depending on the adopted
dc/dc converter topology and on the type of chosen switching components, the addition
of a bypass diode at the output of each dc/dc converter may not be necessary. As an
example, if the standard boost topology is chosen and the active switch of the boost
converter is a MOSFET, the bypass function is ensured by the presence of the boost
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Figure 1.4: Grid-connected PV system with DMPPT. Approach based on the adoption
of MPPT DC/DC converters with the output ports connected in series
output diode and of the body diode of the MOSFET itself. Instead, if the synchronous
version of the boost topology is chosen, the bypass function is ensured by the presence of
the body diodes of the two MOSFETS or by the presence of the external diode which is
generally added in antiparallel to each MOSFET in order to increase the overall efficiency
of the power stage. Another important aspect to discuss is indeed just related to the
power stage efficiency. In fact, one drawback of DMPPT applications is represented by
the fact that DMPPT is able to ensure higher energy efficiency than FMPPT, in presence
of mismatching phenomena, only if the efficiency of the power stage of MPPT DC/DC
converters is enough high [14]. In fact, in ideal, uniform operating conditions, the overall
efficiency of a PV system with FMPPT is expected to be greater than that one of the
same system operating with DMPPT since this last includes additional dc/dc conversion
stages. Indeed, DMPPT does not necessarily require two dc-dc stages; e.g., in the case of
the commercial device SolarEdge, the strategy of the company is based on the adoption of
a dc/dc stage dedicated to each PV module and on the use of a single dc/ac stage for the
whole array. Nevertheless, if a commercial PV inverter is adopted, it usually contains two
conversion stages: a dc/dc and a dc/ac stage. In such a case DMPPT requires the flow
of energy from the PV modules to the grid through three different conversion stages: two
dc/dc stages and one dc/ac stage. Therefore high efficiency is a mandatory requirement
for the dc/dc converters to be adopted in DMPPT PV applications; indeed efficiency is
the starting point of the design process of the power stage of the SCPVMs. Such a design
involves not only decisions concerning the topology of the dc/dc converter, the type of
power components, the value of the output voltage, the value of the switching frequency
but also, the time varying characteristics of the PV sources. In fact, the peculiarity of
DMPPT PV applications is just represented by the fact that the operating point of the
SCPVMs is not constant but it is continuously changing. So that it is not possible to
identify a single reference operating condition to be taken into account in the design
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process. In particular the profile of the efficiency of the dc/dc MPPT converter must
be optimized on the basis of the power profile of the PV source which in turn depends
on the weather conditions characterizing the installation site [14]. In addition, it is
worth noting that the set of design constraints characterizing grid-connected and stand
alone DMPPT PV applications are not coincident. In particular the optimization of a
dc/dc converter dedicated to stand alone DMPPT PV applications requires to keep into
account, in addition to what has been already listed above, also the efficiency of the
charge/discharge processes of the batteries, their lifetime, and the shape of the profile
of the power required by the load. The second drawback of DMPPT PV applications
is represented by the fact that conditions exist in which also the DMPPT approach
does not allow the working of each PV module of the field in its MPP. This is due to
constraints associated to the more or less limited voltage conversion ratio of the adopted
DC/DC converters, to the finite voltage and current ratings of devices used in the power
stage of SCPVMs and/or due to a non optimal value of the bulk inverter voltage.
Figure 1.5: Grid-connected PV system with DMPPT. Approach based on the adoption
of MPPT DC/DC converters with the output ports connected in parallel
In Chapter 2 of this thesis, the using of a multilevel inverter in a configuration

DMPPT-DC/DC converters with the output ports connected in series is adopted. In
order to explain the advantage of this topology with respect to a classical configuration
based on a 2-Level inverter, let us to give an example considering two different PV
connected to a 2-Level inverter through dc/dc boost converters. In the newt paragraphs
they will be presented a simple MPPT with one photovoltaic sources before to introduce
the MPPT for two different sources and to consider what happen when a mismatch is
present between the spources.
1.2.2 Solar cells and solar panel: electrical model

The theory of solar cells explains the process by which light energy in photons is con-
verted into electric current when the photons strike a suitable semiconductor device.
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The theoretical studies are of practical use because they predict the fundamental limits
of solar cell, and give guidance on the phenomena that contribute to losses and solar cell
efficiency [15]. The principle of a solar cell operation [16] is shown in Fig. 1.6.
Figure 1.6: Solar cell operation
In three steps we explain how the energy of a photon is converted in electricity [17]:
• Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by semi-conducting ma-
terials
• Electrons (negatively charged) are knocked loose from their atoms as they are
excited. Due to their special structure and the materials in solar cells, the electrons
are only allowed to move in a single direction. The electronic structure of the
materials is very important for the process to work, and often silicon incorporating
small amounts of boron or phosphorus is used in different layers
• An array of solar cells converts solar energy into a usable amount of direct current
(DC) electricity
Although the current is reasonable, the voltage is too small for most applications [18].
To produce useful dc voltages, the cells are connected togheter in series and encapsulated
into modules. A module typically contains 28 to 36 cells in series, to generate a dc
output voltage of 12V in standard illumination conditions. The 12V modules can be
used singly, or connected in parallel and series into an array with a larger current and
voltage output, according to the power demanded by the application. Cells within a
module are integrated with bypass and blocking diodes in order to avoid the complete
loss of power which would result if one cell in the series failed.
A solar cell and a solar module PV are modeled as a current source because it supplies
a constant current over a wide range of voltages with in parallel a p-n junction diode.
In order to consider the non-ideal effects, a parallel and series resistances are added as
shown in Fig. 1.7.
where G is the irradiation level in (W/m2 ), Tj is the temperature. Therefore, the
photovoltaic current Ipv is given by the eq. 1.1:
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Figure 1.7: Equivalent circuit of a PV source
Vpv +Rs Ipv V +R I

pv s pv
Ipv = Iph − I0 e Vt −1 − (1.1)
Rsh
The current Iph is the current source and it is observed that it is linearly dependant
with the temperature and irradiation [19]:
0

Iph = G Kipv (Tj − Tjref ) + Isc (1.2)
0
where Tjref = 25C, Kipv is a coefficient of temperature dependency and Isc is the
2
short-circuit current under standard test conditions (1000W/m ).
I0 is the diode inverse saturation current, Vt is a voltage taking into account of the PV
source temperature and diode ideal factor α and this voltage is calculated by 1.3
αkB Tj
Vt = (1.3)
q
where kB is the Boltzmann’s constant and q the charge of the electron. The resis-
tances values are present on datasheet and they depend on temperature and irradiation
level. Actually, the resistance Rsh has more influence that Rs .
1.2.3 PV array modeling behavior verification

First, the static behavior of the modeled PV panel is verified under different uniform
conditions. In Fig. 1.8, it can be observed that the simulated panel behavior is in
accordance with theoretical expected behavior. It has to be underline again that no
experimental validation will be proposed since it would have required measurement of
the irradiation and temperature which were not available on the used test bench.
Our aim was to have a model presenting similar behavior as observed in practice
while the PV source is under non-uniform conditions. An array constituted with 6 PV
panels as simulated in Fig. 1.8 is proposed for verifying the behaviour under non-uniform
conditions. The considered interconnection scheme is shown in Fig. 1.9 (”3p2s” con-
figuration), with protection diodes and considered conditions for each individual panel
of the array. It has to be noticed that it was chosen to independently model each PV
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Figure 1.8: Simulated PV panel static characteristic under different uniform conditions
array and protection diodes. However, as done in [20], by-pass diode can directly be
integrated in the model thanks to the Lambert function(not explain in this thesis).
Figure 1.9: PV array ”3p2s” under non-uniform conditions (cond1 : 1000W.m−2 , 25o C,
- cond2 : 500W.m−2 , 10o C)
In Fig. 1.10, the simulated static characteristic corresponding to the array shown in
Fig. 1.9 is given. As expected, as two different irradiation conditions are considered, the
resulting characteristic presents two distinct power maximum. This behavior has been
observed to be conform to experimental behavior under non-uniform conditions. Then
the PV model is validated and could be used for simulating the MPPT which are going
to be treated thereafter.
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Figure 1.10: Simulated static characteristic under non-uniform conditions for the array
”3p2s”)
1.2.4 MPPT solutions: basic concepts

From the behaviour of the photovoltaic source characteristics under uniform and non-
uniform irradiation conditions, one important problematic of the use of photovoltaic
sources is easily understandable. This problematic comes from the presence of a max-
imum of power on the characteristic. To optimize the functioning, the global power
optimum must be followed, which is not trivial since the characteristic curve is not
known during time as it varies with respect to irradiation and temperature. The opti-
mum power research is often called Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT).
Maximum Power Point Tracking thematic has been largely studied and many solu-
tions have been proposed. Number of papers on the subject has grown considerably
through the last decades and remains strong. A non-exhaustive review of MPPT tech-
nique is proposed in [21]. In this paper, the authors listed more than 90 paper published
from 1968 to 2005 among which at least 19 distinct methods have been introduced.
There, the two most commonly used MPPT algorithm are presented and some solution
for non-uniform irradiation conditions are reviewed.
Classical MPPT solutions

Among hundreds of MPPT algorithm which can be found through the literature, two
particular techniques largely distinguish especially because of their simplicity of imple-
mentation:
• Perturbation and Observation (P&O):

This first method is the most used, especially on industrial applications. It works
by applying perturbation on the PV operating voltage or current in order to in-
crease the power. The perturbation can also directly been applied on the associated
converter duty cycle (this method being also called Hill-climbing in the literature).
One of the main particularity of this technique is that even when converged it stays
oscillations around the maximum. Among articles discussing on this technique, ref-
erence [22] can be distinguished. In this paper, the authors gives mathematical
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analysis enabling to optimize the two parameters of the P&O algorithm, i.e. its
time and perturbation steps (duty cycle of an associated boost converter in [22]).
When optimized following the method proposed in [22], the P&O MPPT converges
precisely on the maximum with good behaviour under transient conditions (veri-
fied for fast variation on the irradiation).
• Incremental Conductance (IncCond):

This second technique is based on the observation of the power derivative and uses
the fact that the PV characteristic slope is zero at the maximum. Even if this
technique is known to be more efficient than the P&O under fast variations on the
conditions and has the advantage to stabilize without residual oscillations, this
second technique remains less used than the P&O.
Many improvements on those two techniques can be found through the literature as
for example in [23], [24], [25], and so forth... Some can also found more advanced methods
as proposed in [26], presenting better results under fast variations on the irradiation and
temperature condition. However, every of those methods may felt under non-uniform
conditions when power characteristic present multiple maxima.
1.2.5 DMPPT with two photovoltaic sources/ constraints

Let us consider the system with two different power sources shown in Fig. 1.11, where
the total power is calculated as follows:
2
X 2
X 2
X
Ptot = Ppvi = Vpvi Ipvi = Vpvi f (Vpvi ) (1.4)
i=1 i=1 i=1
It is worth noting that, in presence of mismatching it is not always possible to achieve

the MPP of the overall system by simply tracking the MPP of each PV module [10]. In
principle, only step-updown converters with unitary efficiency would be able to allow it.
Figure 1.11: DMPPT-DC/DC converters with the output ports connected in series: two
photovoltaic sources
Due to the series connection of the boost output ports, the voltages Vdc1 and Vdc2 are
calculated as follows:
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Pouti
Vdci = Vdc (1.5)
Ptot
where Vdc = Vdc1 + Vdc2 is the inverter input voltage.

Equation 1.5 highlights that the dc/dc output voltage can vary in a wide range due
to possible imbalances among powers delivered by modules. Considering tha particular
case of Ppv1 = Vpv1 Ipv1 ' 0 (totally shadowed) and Ppv2 = Vpv1 Ipv1 6= 0, then Vdc1 ' 0
and Vdc2 = Vdc .
However, the output voltage in a boost converter corresponds to the maximum voltage
across the switches and the output capacitor. In order to prevent the output voltage
of one or more dc/dc from exceeding a given maximum value Vdsmax , an output-voltage
limitation technique must be adopted by means of a suitable duty-cycle limitation func-
tion [10].
Figure 1.12: DMPPT-DC/DC converters with the output ports connected to the Neutral
Point Clamped inverter: two photovoltaic sources
The output-voltage limitation constraint is:
Vdci < Vdsmax (1.6)
where Vdsmax is the rated voltage drain-source of the MOSFET used for the boost
converter (or collector-emitter for a transistor).
This is not the only constraint, but the output voltage is limited by the dc/dc topology
used, for example in this case, the dc/dc output voltage has to be higher than the PV
output voltage Vpv :
Vdci > Vpvi (1.7)
The global MPPT adopted in several techniques tries to solve this problem of con-
straints and to increase the MPP range of feasibility [10]. Another technique is explained
in [27] where PSO theory is used in order to optimize the global MPPT algorithm in this
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configuration. As explained in Chapter 2 of this thesis, it is possible to change inverter

topology in order to balance the output voltage of the boost converter and to solve the
problem of the output voltages constraints. Moreover, if the dc/dc output voltages are
balanced by the inverter, independent MPPT is achievable for every power sources. In
Fig. 1.12 the configuration proposed in this thesis is shown and the details are explained
in Chapter 2.
To be noted that in this configuration the dc/dc ouput ports are not really in series
connected, because of the presence of the ”neutral point” of the inverter. This charac-
teristic is the crucial point in order to balance the dc/dc output voltages. The equations
1.5 are valid only in mismatch operating mode and this is an advantage in order to delete
the constraints on the dc/dc output voltages (Chapter 2 for details).
1.3 2-Level inverter

Power inverters are systems converting electrical energy from the DC form into the AC
one. The purpose of DC/AC power inverter is to take DC power supplied and transform
it into an AC voltage power source, such as for emulation of the power available at
an ordinary household electrical outlet. In this paragraph it is briefly explained the
operating of a classical 2-Level inverter and the relative pwm strategy often used.
1.3.1 Pulse-Width Modulation

In electronic power converters and motors, PWM is used extensively as a mean of pow-
ering alternating current (AC) devices with an available direct current (DC) source.
Variation of duty cycle in the PWM signal to provide a DC voltage across the load in
a specific pattern will appear to the load as an AC signal, or can control the speed of
motors that would otherwise run only at full speed or off. This is further explained
in this section. The pattern at which the duty cycle of a PWM signal varies can be
created through simple analog components, a digital micro-controller, or specific PWM
integrated circuits. Analog PWM control requires the generation of both reference and
carrier signals that feed into a comparator which creates the output waveform based
on the difference between the signals [28]. The reference signal is sinusoidal and at the
frequency of the desired output signal, while the carrier signal is often either a saw tooth
or triangular wave at a frequency significantly higher than the reference one. When the
carrier signal exceeds the reference, the comparator output signal is at one state, and
when the reference is at a higher voltage, the output is at its second state [28]. In the
next figure is shown the process, for a single-phase, for three-phase it is the same but
with three sinusoidal reference voltages shifted by 120. Let us define the amplitude (ma )
and frequency (mf ) ratio as follows:
(
ma = AAmc
(1.8)
mf = ffmc
The amplitude ratio must be less than and mf >> 1 for a good design [29].
26
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Figure 1.13: Pulse-Width Modulation single-phase and output voltage
Figure 1.14: 2-Level inverter
1.3.2 Three-phase 2-Level inverter

Three phase inverter is used to provide adjustable frequency power for industrial appli-
cations. Three phase inverter is more common than single phase inverters. DC supply
for three phase inverters is taken from a battery or usually from a rectifier. In industrial
application, VSI is mostly used, because a wide range of speed control is possible. Three
phase VSI is operated at two modes:
• 180 degree mode operation
• 120 degree mode operation

In 180 degree mode of operation three switches conduct at one cycle, each IGBT is
operated at 60 degree delay angle. In this mode of operation, one can easily get the
pure sine wave using a filter. So it is otherwise called as a quasi square wave mode or
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switched mode (Ned Mohan et al 2009). In 120 degree mode operation is pair of switch
conduct at 120 degree delay angle. In this mode a shoot through fault occurs. Often
the dc source is the output of a rectifier, a battery or the output of a boost converter
(usually in photovoltaic applications). In table 1.1 is summarized the operating of the
2-Level inverter in terms of output voltages related to the switching states.
Table 1.1: Switching states of a 2-Level three-phase inverter
Sa1 Sc2 Sb1 Sa2 Sc1 Sb2 VAB VBC VCA

ON ON OFF OFF OFF ON Vdc 0 −Vdc
ON ON ON OFF OFF OFF 0 Vdc −Vdc
OFF ON ON ON OFF OFF −Vdc Vdc 0
OFF OFF ON ON ON OFF −Vdc 0 Vdc
OFF OFF OFF ON ON ON 0 −Vdc Vdc
ON OFF OFF OFF ON ON Vdc −Vdc 0
ON OFF ON OFF ON OFF 0 0 0
OFF ON OFF ON OFF ON 0 0 0
1.4 Neutral Point Clamped inverter

The three-level neutral-point-clamped voltage source inverter was introduced by Nabae
in 1981 [30] and it is popular in the energy conversion systems dedicated to systems
employing wind and solar energies. In Fig.2.2 the main circuit of the NPC-PWM in-
verter is shown, where the 0 00 indicates the neutral point with respect to the dc source;
(Sa1 , Sa4 ), (Sb1 , Sb4 ), (Sc1 , Sc4 ), are the main transistors operating as switches for the
PWM; (Sa2 , Sa3 ), (Sb2 , Sb3 ), (Sc2 , Sc3 ), are auxiliary transistors to clamp the output
terminal potential to the neutral point potential, together with (Da1 ...Dc2 ). The anti-
parallel diodes on every switch are called DSa1 ...DSc4 To be noted that (a, b, c) are
referred respectively to the first, second and third leg. In Table 1.2 shows the output
voltage level in different combinations of switch and current (considering the first leg as
reference, I = ia ):
Table 1.2: Switching states of a NPC inverter
Sign of current Switch ON Switch with current Output voltage

Vdc
I>0 Sa1 , Sa2 Sa1 , Sa2 2
Vdc
I<0 Sa1 , Sa1 DSa1 , DSa2 2
I>0 Sa2 , Sa3 Da1 , Sa2 0
I<0 Sa2 , Sa3 Sa3 , Da2 0
I>0 Sa3 , Sa4 DSa3 , DSa4 − V2dc
I<0 Sa3 , Sa4 Sa3 , Sa4 − V2dc
The inverter Neutral Point Clamped has three different levels, so that the output
voltage in every leg has three voltage levels (the classic inverter output voltage has V2dc ,
− V2dc ).
Let us define the conversion functions fki as follows:
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Figure 1.15: Neutral Point Clamped inverter
(
1, if the ith switch of the kth leg is OFF
fki = (1.9)
0, otherwise
The output voltages referred to the point 0 00 are:

Vdc
VA0 = (f11 f12 − f13 f14 ) 2

VB0 = (f21 f22 − f23 f24 ) V2dc (1.10)
VC0 = (f31 f32 − f33 f34 ) V2dc


Finally, the output voltages referred to the point 0 N 0 are:

     
VAN 2 −1 −1 VA0
 VBN  = −1 2 −1 =  VB0  (1.11)
VCN −1 −1 2 VC0
1.5 Neutral Point Piloted inverter

The Neutral Point Piloted, introduced by J.Holtz in 1977 [31], is very similar to the
NPC but in some situation it is possible to reduce the power losses as presented by
V.Guennegues et al. in [32]. The converter topology is shown in Fig.1.16 is a 3-Level
inverter that can increase the efficiency with respect to the NPC topology. The NPP
is composed of six active switches (IGBTs) and six diodes per leg. The median branch
semiconductors are tumbled series connected in order to create a bidirectional switch.
The voltage stress distribution depends on the switches state. In Table 1.3 are synthe-
sized the diffrent states of this topology, considering VA0 as output voltage reference:
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Table 1.3: Switching states of a NPP inverter
VA0 Sa1 Sa2 Sa5 Sa3 Sa4 Sa6

Vdc
2
ON ON ON OFF OFF OFF
0 OFF OFF ON OFF OFF ON
−Vdc
2
OFF OFF OFF ON ON ON
Figure 1.16: Neutral Point Piloted inverter
The switching voltage of vertical IGBTs is divided by two in comparison with the
conventional NPC topology. This way it is possible to double the switching frequency
for a given current. The improvement of the inverter output waveform reduces the size
of the filter with respect to the NPC [32].
1.6 Modulation strategies for the NPC inverter

There are three important different types of PWM , changing the carriers. In an inverter
multilevel we dont have only one carrier but (N-1) carriers, where N is the number of
levels (in this case N=3). So we have two carriers and we can choose different triangular
carriers as:
• Phase shifted carriers PWM
• Phase disposition carriers PWM
• Phase opposition disposition carriers PWM
1.6.1 Phase Shifted PWM (PS-PWM)

The number of carriers in multilevel inverters is equal to N-1, where N is the inverter
level number. Therefore in our case there will be two carrier for the 3-Level NPC, as
shown in Fig.1.17.
The carriers are shifted by half-period because we have a 3-level inverter, but in
general , the formula for shifting, is N360
−1
so that 180 in the case N = 3. When the
30
SYSTEMS
Figure 1.17: Phase Shifted PWM
reference signal is greater than the signal of the Carrier1 , than the switch Sa1 is in state
ON and the switch Sa3 is in state OFF. When the reference signal is greater than the
Carrier2 , the switch Sa2 is in state ON and the switch Sa4 is in state OFF.
1.6.2 Phase Opposition Disposition PWM (POD-PWM)

In this case the carriers are opposite in amplitude and with the same phase. This
modulation is very different from the Phase Shifted, because the intermediate switches
(Sa2 and Sa3 ) are always in state ON or always in state OFF for one half-period of the
reference signal Fig. 1.18.
Figure 1.18: Phase Opposition Disposition PWM
When the reference is greater than Carrier1 , the switch Sa1 is in state ON and the
switch Sa3 is in state OFF. When the reference is greater than Carrier2 , the switch Sa2
is ON and the switch Sa4 is in state OFF and therefore the reference is always greater
than the Carrier2 in the first half-period (Sa2 always ON, Sa4 always OFF). In the
second half-period it is the opposite.
1.6.3 Alternative Phase Opposition Disposition PWM (APOD-

PWM)
This modulation is similar to previous one, because the carriers are opposite in amplitude
and, in addition, they have an opposite phase too [33], as shown in the Fig. 1.19.
31
SYSTEMS
Figure 1.19: Alternative Phase Opposition Disposition PWM
1.7 LCL output filter design

Several characteristics must be considered in designing a LCL filter, such as current rip-
ple, filter size and switching ripple attenuation. The reactive power requirements may
cause a resonance of the capacitor interacting with the grid [34]- [35]. Actually, pas-
sive or active damping must be added by including a resistor in series with the capacitor.
Figure 1.20: LCL ideal filter
In this thesis, as explained in Chapter 2, we apply a flatness-based control in order

to manage the resonance of the LCL filter without a damping addition. Let us consider
the definition of the base impedance (Zb ) and the base capacitance (Cb ) [34]:
2
(
Zb = EPnn
(1.12)
Cb = ωg1Zb
where En is the line-to-line voltage, Pn is the rated active power and ωg is the grid
pulsation.
Considering a maximum power factor variation seen by the grid of 5%, it means that
the capacitance of the LCL filter Cf is equal to 0.05Cf . The maximum current ripple
at the output of DC/AC inverter is given by:
2Vdc
∆IL1max = (1 − m) mTsw (1.13)
3L1
where Vdc is the inverter input voltage, m is the inverter modulation factor and Tsw
is the switching period. The mawimum peak to peak current is when m = 0.5, therefore
32
SYSTEMS
the equation 1.13 becomes:
Vdc
∆IL1max = (1.14)
6fsw L1
1
where fsw = Tsw
is the switching frequency.
√
If we consider a 10% ripple of the rated inverter output current, then Imax = P3Vn ph2 ,
where Vph is the phase-to-phase inverter output voltage.
Actually, the aim is to reduce the ripple to the grid side of 20% with respect to the
output inverter side. In order to calculate the ripple reduction, the LCL filter equiv-
alent circuit is initially analyzed considering the inverter as a current source for each
harmonic frequency. Equations 1.15 and 1.16 relate the harmonic current generated by
the inverter with the one injected in the grid:
ig (h) 1
= 2 x]|
= ka (1.15)
ii (h) |1 + r [1 − L1 Cb ωsw
q
1
ka2
+1
L2 = 2
(1.16)
Cf ωsw
where, ka is the desired attenuation, x is the ratio between Cf and Cb , and r is the
ratio between the inductance grid side and inverter side:
n
Cf L2
x= Cb
r = L1
(1.17)
Plotting the results for several values of r helps in evaluating the transfer func-
tion of the filter at a particular resonant frequency, depending on the nominal grid
impedance [36].
The resonance of this filter is defined by the equation 1.18:
s
L2 + L1
ωres = (1.18)
L1 L2 Cf
33
SYSTEMS
1.8 Conclusions
In this thesis the problems related to the optimization of the solar energy conversion is
faced. When we talk of the PV grid connected system or other solar applications, it is
important to study the complete chain in order to optimize the power conversion. For
this reason in this first chapter, an overview of the different DMPPT systems and the
different possible inverter topologies are given. The introduction of a DMPPT-DC/DC
converters with the output ports connected in series with two photovoltaic sources is
presented, that’s because in this thesis the same configuration is analyzed considering
a variant: a multilevel inverter. A 3-Level three-phase Neutral Point Clamped is take
into account and in this chapter I presented three different PWM techniques in order to
command the three-phase converter. Another topology called Neutral Point Piloted is
presented because of it is possible to increase the availability of the system (as it will be
presented in Chapter 4).
Moreover, the design of a LCL filter is presented, because in a lot of application grid-
connected we are in presence of a LCL filter. The presence of the LCL filter is due to
two different reasons:
• to reduce the size of the filter and to decrease the cost and the THD
• side effect: it is due the line inductance if we are far to the grid connection point
(this situation is detailed in Chapter 2)
The LCL filter introduces some problems of resonance and stability of the inverter
output control. For this reason, the study of non-linear systems is important in necessary
in order to ensure the proper operation.
34
Chapter 2
Renewable Source-Grid connected

Neutral Point Clamped inverter
2.1 Introduction
In this section, is introduced the considered system in order to inject the energy on
the grid network. Generally, in renewable systems [22]- [27], a classic tri-phase inverter
is used. When two or more renewable sources are presents, is possible to use a 2-level
inverter (Fig.2.1) [37] or, as recently, it is achievable to connect the sources to a multilevel
inverter [30]- [38]- [39] (Fig.2.2). In order to define the advantages and disadvantages of
these different configurations, the energy efficiency in matched input sources are analyzed
(section 2.2). The inner current loops of the two boost coneverters and the NPC used
an indirect sliding mode controller. [40]- [41]- [42] (section 2.3). A flatness based control
is used for the outer voltage loop [43]- [44](section 2.4). Furthermore, the advantage to
use the NPC inverter consist in having the possibility of balancing the DC voltages of
the inverter. When the powers of the renewable sources are in a mismatching status
(P1 = P2 ) output voltages of the boost converters are unbalanced (Vo1 6= Vo2 or Vdc1 6=
Vdc2 ). Thanks to the neutral wire in NPC configuration, it is achievable the algorithm
of balancing. For this reason it is impossible to do the balancing in classical inverter
configuration. Due to the balancing control, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT)
algorithm can be designed independently for both energy sources without acting on
the dc/dc converters [45]- [46]- [47]. In [27]- [48]- [49] are shown the advantages of
the distributed maximum power point tracking(DMPPT) in respect to the centralized
MPPT(CMPPT). In [48] is shown that the DMPPT offers 6.9-11.1% improvements in
annual energy in respect to the CMPPT. The second part of this chapter, regards the
analysis of the output filter and the related used controls. When it is necessary to
reduce the size of the output filter, the LCL filter it could be the best solution but
they are presents problems about the resonance of the filter [50]- [51]. In order to solve
these problems, two different types of control are adopted and compared: Flatness Mode
Control (subsection 2.6.4) and Passivity-based Control(subsection 2.6.5) [52]- [53]- [54].
An estimator [19] Passivity-based control is added in order to improve the model of the
system. Finally, simulation and experimental results are presented.
2.2 Comparison between classical inverter and NPC

In this paragraph are defined the power losses for every IGBT and after the differences
between the classical inverter 2-level(Fig.2.1) and NPC(Fig.2.2) are discussed. The
35
CHAPTER 2. RENEWABLE SOURCE-GRID CONNECTED NEUTRAL POINT
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.1: Classical 2-level inverter strusture
Figure 2.2: Neutral Point Clamped inverter structure
optimization of output filter is not considered in this analysis because of the aim in this
section is to show the advantages of using the NPC in terms of power losses on the
semiconductor devices.
2.2.1 Power losses in both configurations

As is known, the total power losses is the sum of the conduction losses and the switching
losses. In literature is extensively analyzed the power losses of the PWM converters [55].
The conduction loss for an IGBT is [56]:
VoT Ic roT Ic2 VoT Ic 2roT Ic2
PCond,T = ( + ) + M cos(φ)( + ) (2.1)
2π 8 8 3π
where VoT is the threshold voltage, Ic the rated current, M the modulation index, roT
the forward resistance, calculated with the equation:
VCEN − VoT
roT = (2.2)
Ic
where VCEN is the rated collector-emitter voltage.
For the anti-parallel diode:
VoD Ic roD Ic2 VoD Ic 2roD Ic2
PCond,D = ( + ) − M cos(φ)( + ) (2.3)
2π 8 8 3π
36
CLAMPED INVERTER
where VoD is the threshold voltage of the diode, ID the rated current, roD the forward
resistance, calculated with the equation:
VF D − VoD
roD = (2.4)
Ic
where VF D is the voltage drop at rated current.
Therefore , the total conduction loss for classic inverter is:
PCond,total,N P C = 3(4PCond,T + 4PCond,D + 2PCond,Dclamp ) (2.5)
If the power factor cos(φ) = 1 and the PWM command strategy is a Phase Opposition
Disposition Carriers PWM (APOD, [57]), the term of anti-parallel diode is equal to zero.
The switching losses of Sa1 and Sa3 are zero due to the use of this type of command
strategy. As shown in [58], fast recovery for the anti-parallel diodes , the turn-on losses
are 1% turn-off losses. The switching losses of IGBTs Sa1 and Sa4 are:
Eon Eof f
Psw1−4 = VDC Ic ( + ) (2.6)
VtestON ItestON VtestOF F ItestOF F
The switching losses of clamping diodes have the same equation , but with Eon = 0.
2.2.2 Comparison between classical inverter and NPC in match-

ing mode
In this paragraph we will defined the power loss of two classic inverters and the converter
NPC 3-level used for the injection of the energy to the electric grid and will defined the
different modes of the system: normal, total-mismatching and mismatching mode. The
first is when the input power sources are equals, the second when one of the input sources
is zero. Finally the mismatching mode is when powers delivered by the 2 sources are
not equals. The comparison of the power losses, in matching mode are calculated. In
order to compare the power loss, it considered that the IGBTs are the same for both
inverters. In Table 2.1, the application values are shown.
Table 2.1: Parameters in normal mode
Description Parameter Value

Input up-power P1 600W
Input down-power P2 600W
Output inductance L 30mH
Output inductor resistance rL 100mΩ
Input up-voltage NPC Vdc1 200V
Input down-voltage NPC Vdc2 200V
Input voltage classical inverter Vdc 400V
Output current classical inverter (rms) Irmsc 2.5A
Output current NPC inverter (rms) IrmsN P C 5A
In the Table 2.2 are shown the numerical power losses of the two systems in Figs.
2.1 and 2.2 . in normal mode, with the device Semikron SK20MLI066, obtained using
the equations 2.1-to-2.6.
Therefore, finally, it has improving the NPC efficiency with respect to the classical
2-Level inverter for this application.
37
CLAMPED INVERTER
Table 2.2: Inverter power losses comparison
Configuration Pcond (W ) Psw (W ) Ptot (W )

NPC 28 15 43
Classical inverter 16.85 30.1 46.95
2.3 Indirect Sliding Control (ISC): DC/DC and DC/AC

converter
In this section, an indirect sliding mode control for the boost converters is used and the
Neutral Point clamped is introduced. For experimental results a first-order inductive
filter is used. In subsection2.3.1 the ISC for boost converter is analyzed and the same
for the dc/ac converter in subsection2.3.2.
2.3.1 ISC of DC/DC boost converter

To achieve high dynamical performances with a fixed switching frequency, the Indirect
Sliding Control [41]- [59]- [42] has been chosen. The output filter currents of the NPC
inverter written in dq-frame are controlled. The state equations of these currents verify
the following equations:
did
L = −rL id + vd − ed + ωLiq (2.7)
dt
diq
L = −rL iq + vq − eq − ωLid (2.8)
dt
where L is the filter inductance, rL is the equivalent inductor resistance, vdq are the
output voltages of the inverter referred to as Park’s transformation, ω is the electrical
pulsation. The considered sliding surfaces for dq Sdq = [Sd Sq ]0 is defined as follows:
Z
Sdq = (idq − idqref ) + kdq (idq − idqref )dt (2.9)
To generate the control signals vd and vq the following reaching conditions are used
to ensure the convergence of the dq-currents throw their respective references:
Ṡdq = −λdq Sdq (2.10)

Using (2.7-to-2.10), the control signals vdq can be expressed into the following form:

vd rL −ωL id 1 0 kd L 0 d λd L 0 Sd
= + − −
vq ωL rL iq 0 1 0 Kq L q 0 λq L Sq
(2.11)
where dq = idq − idqref are the dynamic errors and the four poles of the system
defined by relations 2.7-to-2.10 are respectively equal to p1 = −λd , p2 = −λq , p3 = −kd
and p4 = −kq . The advantage of this control consists in having independent dynamics
with respect to the operating point if the parameters are known.
38
CLAMPED INVERTER
2.3.2 ISC of DC/AC converter

Considering the dc/dc boost converter in Fig.2.3, we address to the indirect sliding mode
control for the input current iL . As made for the inverter output current in the previous
subsection, for ensuring the current regulation and stability we use the following equation
for each one of the boost converters shown in Fig.2.2:
Z
Si = (iLi − iLiref ) + ki (iLi − iLiref )dt (2.12)
where the current iL must follow iLiref and for this reason, as made before, the surface
Si needs to verify the following equation:
Ṡi = −λi Si (2.13)

From the equations 2.12-2.13, it has:
Z
˙ + (ki + λi ) + Ki λi dt = 0 (2.14)
where = iLi −
√ iLiref and ki , λi are the control parameters. The current regulation
pulsation is ωi = ki λi .
Figure 2.3: Dc/dc boost converter
The average dynamical model is considered to design the control input:

(
L didtL = Vi − rs iL − (1 − d)Vo
(2.15)
Co dV dt
o
= (1 − d)iL − iLOAD
+ −
Considering Fig.2.2, iLOAD = Idc or Idc , it depends by which boost is considered (up
or down). Look at equations 2.13-to-2.15, the control variable d is defined by eq.2.16

1 diref
d=1+ rs iL − Vi + L −λS + − ki (iL − iref ) (2.16)
Vo dt
where d represents the duty cycle corresponding to the PWM output signal.
For ensuring the validity of the mean model, we must choose the the frequency in order
to have ωs = 2πfs >> ωi .
2.4 Flatness-based Control

To design the outer loop, we make the assumption that the bandwidths of current con-
trollers are widely larger than the bandwidth of the energy loop controller. Thus we can
39
CLAMPED INVERTER
deduce that the active and reactive power provided to the grid at PCC (P and Q, see
Fig.2.2) can be considered as equal to their respective references Pref and Qref . Flatness
was firstly defined by Fliess et al. [60] using the differential algebra. It is possible to
demonstrate [61]- [62] that the reduced model given by 2.17 and 2.18 can be considered
as a flat system with y the flat output and Pref the control input. A flat system is a
class of systems for which the trajectories of the state variables are completely charac-
terized [60]. The main benefit will be that the poles of the system in closed loop will
be independent from the operating point and that the trajectory followed by y and Pref
can be analytically calculated as a function of yref and its successive derivatives.
The variable y corresponds to the electrostatic energy stored in dc link equivalent ca-
pacitance. It verifies:
1
y = Ceq (Vdc1 + Vdc2 )2 (2.17)
2
where Ceq = CCdc1
dc1 Cdc2
+Cdc2
, considering that Cdc1 and Cdc2 are the input capacitors of the
NPC.
Considering P1 ,P2 and Pref respectively the input up-power, input down-power and
input power of NPC, the dynamical reduced model is presented:
ẏ = P1 + P2 − Pref (2.18)
Therefore, considering [62], a second order control law on error can be introduced to
ensure convergence of the flat output to its respective reference:
Z
2
ẏ − ẏref + 2ζp ωnp (y − yref ) + ωnp (y − yref )dt (2.19)
R
where the term (y − yref )dt has the task to compensate the static error given by using
the eq. 2.17.
From 2.18-2.19, it comes:
Z
2
Pref = P1 + P2 − ẏref + 2ζp ωnp (yref − y) + ωnp (yref − y)dt (2.20)
ζp and ωnp correspond respectively to the desired damping ratio and cutoff pulsation
in close loop. The bandwidth ωnp has to be chosen one decade lower than the bandwidths
of the current control loops of the inverter. If we call ed and eq the dq-components of the
grid voltage at PCC, the reference currents of the inverter in dq-frame can be obtained
as follows:
( P e +Q e
idref = ref ed2 +e2ref q
q
P e −Q
d
e (2.21)
iqref = ref eq2 +e2ref d
q d
In this thesis Qref will be set to zero. With the chosen frame (ed = 0), it implies
that idref = 0.
2.5 Dc voltages balancing

In this section is presented a novel technique of dc voltages balancing system associated
to a new model of the clamping current io 2.4. In literature the model for the clamping
current is written in respect to the ac output currents of the NPC inverters [39]- [63]-
[64]- [65]- [66]. This kind of model is particularly useful when the voltage unbalance is
40
CLAMPED INVERTER
due to a mismatch of the currents paths in the NPC inverter. In this thesis, the voltage
unbalance is mainly due to the mismatch of the powers delivered by the two energy
sources. In literature are presents several techniques of balancing based on different
topology and applications or different control strategy and different PWM methods.
In [64] the voltage balancing is made through a variation of the vectors of a SVPWM
and the charge is R − L, the case of a grid connection is not treated. Furthermore,
the voltages unbalancing is not supposed created by a variation of the power sources,
as the application treated in this thesis but by mismatching of current paths in the
inverter. In [65] a NPC rectifier is analyzed, with a SVPWM. The concept of the
balancing algorithm is similar to those developped in [64]. Another interesting approach
is presented in [66]. The topology of the circuit is different and only one power source
is connected to the input of the inverter. In my thesis,it is developed a novel balancing
technique. A low frequency model is proposed and an asymptotic stability is achieved.
To analyze stability issues and design the balancing system in such a situation, we
propose to develop a model based exclusively on the dc state variables, for a given
output filter. The more important point consists in elaborating a model for the clamping
current io in respect to the voltages balancing algorithm and the dc stage variables in
order to study the stability of the system. In subsection 2.5.1 of this section is presented
the balancing algorithm. In subsection 2.5.2 is detailed the choice of the model and in
subsection 2.5.3 the poles locus and the parameters choice of the balancing control are
detailed. When an important power mismatch is present, because of the controllability
of the inverter, a dc bus voltage adaptation is necessary to ensure the controllability of
the inverter; This point is treated in subsecttion 2.5.4.
Figure 2.4: Scheme of the studied system
2.5.1 Voltages balancing algorithm

The studied inverter NPC (Fig.2.2) is controlled in order to make ON the branch con-
nected to the output capacitor of the DC/DC converters (C1 , C2 ) associated with the
greater input power for a longer time to discharge this capacitor. In summary, it needs to
control the output voltage of the single DC/DC output voltage via the inverter, changing
the command strategy of the NPC. In order to make asymmetric the conduction of the
up-branch and the down-branch, respectively Si1 -Si2 and Si3 -Si4 (Fig.2.2, i = a, b, c),
where the subscript features the three branches of the inverter, the reference signal of
the PWM will be changed in terms of derivative and offset. To obtain the balancing,
the equivalent system shown in Fig.2.5 is considered. The new voltage references (Vmodi )
41
CLAMPED INVERTER
are calculated from the voltage references (Vref i without balancing through the following
equation:
ξ ξ
Vmodi = (1 − )Vref i + (2.22)
2 2
The value of ξ is supposed to be in the interval [-1,1] and corresponds to the saturated
value of a PI controller defined by:
Z
ξ = Sat(kp (vdc1 − vdc2 ) + ki (vdc1 − vdc2 )dt)) (2.23)

x if − 1 < x < 1

where Sat(x) = 1 if x > 1

−1 if x < −1

Let note that:
• when ξ = 0 then Vmodi = Vref i . This case is associated with the normal operating
mode when the two powers P1 and P2 are the same.
V
• when ξ = 1 then Vmodi = ref
2
i
+ 12 . This case is associated to the total-mismatching
mode when P2 = 0 and P1 > 0
V
• when ξ = −1 then Vmodi = ref 2
i
− 12 . This case is associated to the total-
mismatching mode when P1 = 0 and P2 > 0
Figure 2.5: Scheme of the studied system.
2.5.2 Average Model of the clamping current

The idea of assuring the voltage balancing is to find a formula for the clamping current
with respect to the balancing law used. The model of the current io (Eq.2.24, Fig.2.4)
is written with respect to the whole parameters that change its value (Pref , Vdc1 , Vdc2
and parameters control K, ξ). Therefore is assumed that:
Pref
io = K(ξ) (2.24)
vdc1 + vdc2
42
CLAMPED INVERTER
where K(ξ) is a variable (unknown at this step) which will be calculated using boundary
conditions. In the subsection 2.5.2, the model is developed in detail and validated. In
literature [66], the clamping current is calculated in relation with the commutation func-
tions and output ac currents. In order to evaluate the clamping current, it is considered
the simplified model shown in Fig.2.4:
+
Pref = (vdc1 + vdc2 )Idc − vdc2 io (2.25)
−
Pref = (vdc1 + vdc2 )Idc + vdc1 io (2.26)
As consequence, the Eqs. 2.25 and 2.26 are rewritten as function of the variable K(ξ),
unknown at this step:
vdc2 +
Pref (1 + K(ξ) ) = (vdc1 + vdc2 )Idc (2.27)
(vdc1 + vdc2 )
vdc1 −
Pref (1 − K(ξ) ) = (vdc1 + vdc2 )Idc (2.28)
(vdc1 + vdc2 )
In order to find an expression for K(ξ), we consider boundary conditions of the system
(total power mismatch, ξ = 1 and ξ = −1). The Eqs. 2.27 and 2.28 considered to the
boundary conditions become:
+ Pref vdc2 Pref

Idc = (1 + K(ξ = 1) )= (2.29)
vdc1 + vdc2 (vdc1 + vdc2 ) vdc1
− Pref vdc1 Pref

Idc = (1 − K(ξ = −1) )= (2.30)
vdc1 + vdc2 (vdc1 + vdc2 ) vdc2
A possible solution considered the Eqs. 2.29 and 2.30 consists in choosing the parameter
K(ξ) as a linear function of ξ:
K(ξ) = αξ + β |ξ| (2.31)
(vdc1 +vdc2 )2 (vdc1 +vdc2 ) vdc1 +vdc2

where α = 2vdc1 vdc2
and β = vdc1
(1 − 2vdc2
)
The differences between the model adopted through the Eq.2.24 and the real curves
of the DC bus voltages are shown in Fig.2.6. In this figure, the input voltage of the
inverter is presented. It should be noted that this voltage is normalized with respect to
200V, a shift by ±0.2 is added for a better visualization.
The proposed model it will be used in the next paragraph to investigate the system
asymptotic stability.
The proposed model of io is used in order to ensure the stability of the voltages
balancing system.
For this application (Vdc = 400V and Egrid = 110Vrms ) above the 35% the inverter
controllability is not achieved.
43
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.6: Comparison between instantaneous and averaged model of balanced system.
2.5.3 Poles tracking and parameter selection

In order to design the coefficients ki and kp of the PI controllers used in 2.23, a reduced
model bound to the DC side of the NPC inverter is defined. We suppose that a stable
operating point exist with ξ ∈ ] − 1, +1[ with a fixed value of the dc voltage reference.
Let us consider the following state variables:


 x1 = vdc1

x = v
2
Rdc2 (2.32)


 x3 = (yref − y)dt
R
x4 = (vdc1 − vdc2 )dt

The active power reference can be put into the form:

1 2 2
Pref = P1 + P2 − 2ζp ωnp yref − Ceq (x1 + x2 ) − ωnp x3 (2.33)
2
Thus the differential equation describing the reduced model is given by the following
equation:
 h i 
1 P1 Pref x2
− 1 + K(ξ) x1 +x2
 
x1  C h x1 x1 +x2 i 
d  x2   1 P2 − ref 1 − K(ξ) x1
   P 
= C x 2 x1 +x 2 x 1 +x 2
 (2.34)
dt  x3   1 2

 yref − 2 Ceq (x1 + x2 ) 
x4
x1 − x2
where K(ξ) = αSat(kp (x1 − x2 ) + ki x4 )) + β |Sat(kp (x1 − x2 ) + ki x4 ))|.

The dynamic of the system is limited by the poles at low frequencies, therefore in Fig.2.7
are shown the evolution of only the maximal eigenvalues real part as a function of P2
and this for different values of P1 . To study the eigenvalues locus of the non linear
dynamical system 2.34, the preliminary step hconsists in obtainingi the steadyq state vector
Vdcref Vdcref
X0 . It is easy to prove that X0 is equal to 2 2
X30 γ , with γ = k1i PP11 −P
+P2
2
and
2
rL Iqref
X3 0 = 2
ωnp
' 0.
44
CLAMPED INVERTER
In Fig.2.7 is shown the plot of the eigenvalues real part as a function of the input powers
P1 and P2 . The eigenvalues for constant input power are calculated. The difference
between the two input power is limited at 35% to ensure controllability of the system
with a dc voltage level limited to 400V and a stable operating point with ξ ∈ ] − 1, +1[
. The real part of the eigenvalues are negatives for all the range of variation of the input
powers.
Figure 2.7: Smaller eigenvalues of the system in respect to P2 changing P1 .
2.5.4 Model improvement in a given operating range for input

powers P1 and P2
If we suppose that the DC level belongs to an interval [Vdcmin Vdcmax ] bound to the
voltage limitations due to the used semiconductors and controllability conditions, it is
then possible to adapt the DC voltage level as a function of ∆P = P1 − P2 . It allows
ensuring the controllability of the NPC-inverter in a large range of power difference
between sources. As an example, for a power difference of 70% with nominal powers for
sources 1 and 2 respectively set to P1 = 187.5W and P2 = 625W , the reference of the dc
voltage can be designed as described in Fig.2.8. In Fig.2.9 and Fig.2.11 Vd c1 and Vdc2
and ac line currents waveforms in case of a variable and a fixed dc voltage reference are
presented.
As expected, for large voltage difference, with a constant dc reference level set to
400V , the controllability of the NPC inverter is no more ensured (Fig. 2.10 and Fig.
2.11). The differenze between the two figures is that in the first case we consider the
averaged model without PWM, without inverter saturation gain, while in second case
we have the real case. The result is the same, the system is no stable, but in real
life the inverter is in full wave operating and therefore we have a natural saturation
of the system. With a variable dc voltage reference, voltages balancing is ensured, the
performances in terms of THD (Fig.2.12) are respected and ac currents follow perfectly
their respective references (Fig.2.9).
Above the 35% of power difference, as shown in Fig.2.12 , the THD increases without
the adaptive control of the dc voltage reference (Fig.2.8). The worst case is when the
45
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.8: Adapted Dc voltage Vdc
Figure 2.9: Simulations: balancing with adaptive control of the Dc bus voltage
two input voltages Vdc1 and Vdc2 are unbalanced (except between 55% and 60% of power
difference Fig. 2.12).
2.5.5 Simulation and experimental results

In this subsection the simulation of the system using Matlab Simulink R2014a and
experimental results are presented. Concerning the test bench, we used a DSPACE1005
2004 for measures, commands and controls. Two power supplies TDK-Lambda(GEN60-
25) to the input of the boost converters are employed. The semiconductor devices used
for the boost converters are SKM50GB123D and for the inverter NPC we used Semikron
SK20MLI066. Furthermore, 5 current probes and 6 voltage probes are employed. A
picture of the test bench is shown in Fig.2.13.
A comparison on Simulink/PowerSim between input voltages of the inverter and
input voltages calculated with respect to the model of the current io is presented in Frig
2.6. In Figs. 2.14-2.15 it is shown the difference about the balanced and unbalanced
system. For the simulations results presented in Figs. 2.14-2.15, a power P1 variation
of 35% of nominal value at 0.2s is considered. The dc reference voltage is fixed at
400V . The power P2 is always at nominal value (P2n = 620W ). The bandwidth of the
inverter current loops is ωd,q = 2500 rad
s
and the bandwidth of the energy loop is set to
rad
ωnp = 80 s .
In order to compare the simulation results with experimental results, the same values
46
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.10: Balancing without adaptive control of the Dc bus voltage considering the
inverter modelized as a gain
Figure 2.11: Balancing without adaptive control of the Dc bus voltage with PWM
inverter
of parameters of the power stage and control are adopted. Comparing Fig. 2.14 and Fig.
2.16 it is clear that simulations and experimental results are exactly matched. The same
thing it is shown in order to compare the system with the voltages balancing algorithm,
also in this case the simulations and experimental results are perfectly matched as shown
in Fig 2.15 and Fig. 2.17.
47
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.12: THD in three different cases: without Dc voltages balance technique, with
Dc voltages balance technique and with Dc voltages balance technique and the adaptive
control of the Dc voltage reference
Figure 2.13: Test bench
Figure 2.14: Voltage balancing OFF: input voltages of the inverter and one of the output
currents Ib (simulations).
48
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.15: Voltage balancing ON: input voltages of the inverter and one of the output
currents Ib (simulations).
Figure 2.16: Voltage balancing OFF (experimental results): input voltages of the inverter
and one of the output currents Ib (measurements).
Figure 2.17: Voltage balancing ON (experimental results): input voltages of the inverter
and one of the output currents Ib (measurements).
49
CLAMPED INVERTER
2.5.6 Conclusions
A novel technique of dc bus balancing for a neutral point clamped inverter has been
presented. Thanks to this technique, an independent MPPT in DMPPT configuration
is achievable. A comparison between the proposed topology and one of the classical
configurations (one inverter 2-Level for two input sources) has been analyzed. A new
average behavior model of npc has been proposed to investigate the asymptotic stability
and the roots locus of the npc-balancing system. This proposed voltages balancing
system has been discussed, verified and tested by simulation. Simulated results have been
confirmed by experimental tests. An adaptation of the dc bus voltage is implemented
for the purpose to allow the balancing for a power mismatch above the 35%.
50
CLAMPED INVERTER
2.6 LCL output filter and control

In high power and low switching frequency applications, a LCL filter as shown in Fig.2.20
is more and more used. As explained in [67]- [68], LCL filters give advantages in terms
of cost and dynamic as smaller inductors employed compared with L filter. Anyway, the
LCL filter introduce problems because of the low-frequency resonance. In this thesis, the
problem of the LCL filter is addressed, not in terms of the design but in terms of adverse
effects related to the resonance. For example, supposing that we are designed a LC filter
for grid connection, the real filter is not really just LC. The line inductance between the
PCC and the electrical grid may be important (if the connection to the grid is far with
respect to the inverter). In this case, the robustness of the control becomes essential.
Furthermore, the resonance introduced by the LCL filter, may lead to instabilities [69].
For this reason in literature many authors studied this problem, often using a damping
(virtual or real damping) [67]- [70]. When the line inductance increases, also if the value
is exactly known, may lead to instabilities because of the very low frequency, as shown
in the next paragraphs.
2.6.1 L filter design

The most simple filter used is an inductive filter as shown in Fig.2.18. Let us consider
the real inductive filter as rL − L, where rL is the parasitic resistance and L is the in-
ductance value of the considered inductor. The model that characterizes this filter is a
first order transfer function given by:
Vout − E
iL = (2.35)
rL + sL
where Vout is the inverter output voltage and Eg is the electrical grid voltage.
In general, a filter must be designed in order to satisfy several criteria based on costs,
1
size, efficiency and limited current ripple (L ∝ costs, size, T HD )
Figure 2.18: L filter
The advantage of this filter is that it has only one component, but anyway it is not
used because of its important size. For this reason, often, a second order filter is used.
2.6.2 LC filter design

As second order filter, a LC filter is considered, as shown in Fig.2.19. This type of filter
is modeled considering an equivalent impedance ZL . The aim of this filter is to ensure
an attenuation of the harmonics related to the inverter output voltage at switching
frequency. For this reason the model that characterizes this filter is a second order
equation defined as follows:
51
CLAMPED INVERTER
1
Vc = rL Vout (2.36)
LCs2 + (rL C + ZLL )s + (1 + ZL
)
Figure 2.19: LC filter
Neglecting the parasitic resistances, the resonance frequency of the filter is defined
as follows:
1
fres = √ (2.37)
2π LC
where f1 is the fundamental frequency and fs is the switching frequency.

As explained by [71], the dominants harmonics to the three-phase inverter output are 7
and 11. For this reason, the resonance frequency is designed considering the following
criterion:
11f1 < fres < fs (2.38)
In this subsection the line inductance between the capacitor and the grid is neglected.
When the line inductance is comparable to the inductance of the inverter side, it is
necessary to study the transfer function of a LCL filter, because of resonance problems
related to a different resonance frequency with respect to the LC filter considered. The
problems about the LCL filter are treated in subsection 2.6.3.
2.6.3 LCL filter

In Fig.2.20 a scheme of a LCL filter is shown. The inductance L1 and resistance R1
represent respectively the inductance value of the inverter output inductor and the par-
asitic resistance between the output connection of the inverter and output capacitor Cf .
The inductance L2 and R2 are the line inductance and line resistance.
In order to study the resonance of the LCL filter, let us consider the global transfer
function taking into account the grid current as output and neglecting the parasitic
resistances of the capacitor:
Vout + (Cf L1 s2 + Cf R1 s + 1)E

i2 = (2.39)
Cf L1 L2 s3 + Cf (R1 L2 + R2 L1 )s2 + (Cf R1 R2 + L1 + L2 )s + R1 + R2
52
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.20: LCL filter
At this step, we can consider that both the harmonics of the electrical grid and the
parasitic resistances are negligible. It means that, the transfer function Viout
2
is calculated
as follows:
i2 1
= 3
(2.40)
Vout Cf L1 L2 s + (L1 + L2 )s
Considering eq.2.40, the resonance frequency is:

s
1
fres = (2.41)
Lp Cf
where Lp = LL11+L
L2
2
.
The problem of the classical control (PI, PID) is that the choice of the control bandwidth
it depends on the value of the resonance. For this reason in literature [70]- [72] is often
added virtual or real damping in order to control the output current. The addition of
a damping is anyway a limitation for the control readiness. In this thesis two different
controls are analyzed:
• Flatness-based Control
• Passivity-based Control
The aim is to show the differences of these two controls in terms of design, THD,
sensor numbers used and robustness. Before addressing to the control design, let us
define the state equations considering Park’s transformations of the LCL filter system
equations in dq frame:




di1d
dt
= ωi1q + −R1 i1dL−v 1
cd +vd
di1q
= −ωi1d + −R1 i1qL−v cq +vq


 dt

 1
 dvcd = ωvcq + i1d −i2d

dt Cf
dvcq i1q −i2q (2.42)


 dt
= −ωv cd + Cf
di2d −R2 i2d −ed +vcd




 dt
= ωi2q + L2
 di2q = −ωi + −R2 i2q −eq +vcq

dt 2d L2
53
CLAMPED INVERTER
where i1dq represent the Park’s transform of the three-phase inverter output currents,
i2dq are related to the grid currents, vcdq and edq are respectively the capacitor and grid
voltages referred to as Park’s transformation, ω is the fundamental pulsation. To be
noted that vdq are the inverter output voltages that will be our control inputs.
2.6.4 Flatness-based Control

In this section, we propose to control the grid currents using a Flatness-based control.
As already introduced in subsection 2.4, in order to use the flatness theory, it needs that
the output are flat. A generic system ẋ = f (x, u), with a state vector x ∈ Rn and an
input u ∈ Rm is known as flat if and only if there exists a flat output vector y and the
functions Φ : (Rm )r+l , Ψ : (Rm )r+2 → Rm and φ : Rn × (Rm )s+l → Rm , such that we
can write:

(s)
y = (y1 , y2 , ..., ym ) = φ(x, u, u̇, ..., u )

x = Φ(y, ẏ, ..., y (r) ) (2.43)

u = Ψ(y, ẏ, ..., y (r+l) )

where r and s are integers. In the flat system, the dynamic behaviors are presented
by the output flat and a finite number of its successive derivative. The main advantage
of using a flat output rather than the conventional outputs of a system is that in a flat
system, when the trajectory of the flat output is controlled, evolution of the trajectory
of state and control variables is well known even in transient state [43]. ...
Using the equations system 2.42, it is possible to demonstrate that u = Ψ(y, ẏ, ÿ, y ),
where u = [vd , vq ] and y = [i2d , i2q ].
...
vd = Ad + i2d Bd + i2q Cd + i2d ˙ Dd + i2q
˙ Ed + i¨2d Fd + i¨2q Gd + i2d Hd (2.44)
where:


 Ad = ed − ωCf R1 eq − ω 2 L1 Cf ed

Bd = (R1 + R2 − ω 2 Cf R1 L2 − ω 2 R2 Cf L1 )





Cd = [−ω(L1 + L2 ) − R1 R2 ωCf + Cf L1 L2 ω 3 ]




D = (L + L + C R R − 3L L C ω 2 )

d 1 2 f 1 2 1 2 f
(2.45)


 Ed = (−2Cf L2 R1 ω − 2Cf L1 R2 ω)



 Fd = (Cf L2 R1 + Cf L1 R2 )

Gd = −3Cf L1 L2 ω





Hd = (L1 L2 Cf )

For the second control equation vq , it has:

...
˙ Dq + i2d
vq = Aq + i2q Bq + i2d Cq + i2q ˙ Eq + i¨2q Fq + i¨2d Gq + i2q Hq (2.46)
where:
54
CLAMPED INVERTER


 Aq = eq + ωCf R1 ed − ω 2 L1 Cf eq

Bq = (R1 + R2 − ω 2 Cf R1 L2 − ω 2 R2 Cf L1 )





Cq = [+ω(L1 + L2 ) + R1 R2 ωCf − Cf L1 L2 ω 3 ]




D = (L + L + C R R − 3L L C ω 2 )

q 1 2 f 1 2 1 2 f
(2.47)


 Eq = (2Cf L2 R1 ω + 2Cf L1 R2 ω)



 Fq = (Cf L2 R1 + Cf L1 R2 )

Gq = +3Cf L1 L2 ω





Hq = (L1 L2 Cf )

As explained in [43], to compensate the model errors, a fourth order control law is
used to ensure that the trajectory of the flat output tracks its reference perfectly is:
...
Z
...
0 = (yref − y ) + K1 (yref
¨ − ÿ) + K2 (yref
˙ − ẏ) + K3 (yref − y) + K4 (yref − y)dt (2.48)
Deriving the eq.2.48, the equation in Laplace transformation can be used in order to
design the control bandwidth and the damping factor:
.... ...
+ K1 + K2 ¨ + K3 ˙ + K4 = 0 (2.49)
where = [d , q ] = [i2dref − i2d , i2qref − i2q ].

The Laplace transformation of the eq.2.49 is:
s4 + K1 s3 + K2 s2 + K3 s + K4 = (s2 + α1 s + β1 )(s2 + α2 s + β2 ) (2.50)
The parameters βi and αi represents respectively the bandwidths and the damping
of the control law.
A possible choice is to consider two identical filter and the parameters Ki are calculated
as follows:


 K1 = 2α1
K = 2β + α2

2 1 1
(2.51)


 K 3 = 2α1 β1
K4 = β12 = ω04

where ω0 is the control bandwidth. The closed loop system, is composed by ten state
variables:
x = [i1d , i1q , vcd , vcq , i2d , i2q , x7 , x8 , x9 , x10 ]T (2.52)
55
CLAMPED INVERTER
R RR R RR
where x7 = d dt, x8 = d dt, x9 = q dt, x10 = q dt.
In Fig.2.21 a simple scheme of the flatness control implemented is shown. In this

figure the control variable vd is considered, for the control variable vq it has a similar
scheme.
Figure 2.21: Scheme of flatness control
2.6.5 Passivity-based Control

Considering a nonlinear system SISO(single input-single output) [73]- [74]
(
ẋ = f (x) + g(x)u
(2.53)
y = h(x)
where f is locally Lipschitz, h is continous,f (0) = 0 and h(0) = 0 and the system
has the same number of inputs/outputs.
The system is:
∂V (x)
• passive if there exists a function V (x) : uy ≥ ∂x
ẋ
∂V (x)
• strictly passive if V (x) : uy ≥ ∂x
ẋ + δy with δ = constant > 0
V (x) is known as ”storage function”.
Figure 2.22: Input/Output passive system
56
CLAMPED INVERTER
Let us consider as example the system in Fig.2.22 stabilized with an output feedback
defined as follows (where P is the system that we consider to be passive):
u = −ky (2.54)
since then it has:
V̇ (x) ≤ −ky T y = −kkyk2 (2.55)

Under some additional conditions asymptotic stability follows LaSalle’s Invariance
Principle [75]- [76].
Let us give some definitions [77]
Definition 1(Storage function and dissipativity) A state space system P is said to

be dissipative if there exists a function V : X− > R+ , called the storage function, such
that for all x0 ∈ X, all t1 > t0 and all input functions u
Z
V (x(t1 )) ≤ V (x(t0 )) + v(u(t), y(t))dt (2.56)
where x(t0 ) = x0 and x(t1 ) is the state of system P at time t1 resulting from initial
condition x0 and input function u. The function v is called supply rate and v : U ×Y − >
R.
This inequality is called the dissipation inequality.
Definition 2(Passive system). A state space system P is called passive if it is

dissipative with respect to the supply rate v(u, y) = uT y. P is strictly input passive if
there exists δ > 0 such that P is dissipative with respect to v(u, y) = uT y − δkuk2 . P
is strictly output passive if there exists > 0 such that P is dissipative with respect to
v(u, y) = uT y − δkyk2
Consider a linear SISO system G(s). Then G(s) is passive if and only if G(jω)
lies entirely in the half plane RHP and G(s) is stable. Such systems are called strictly
positive real systems. Note that such systems are stabilized by any negative feedback.
Passive systems are additionally interesting as interconnections of passive systems are
also passive.
Port Hamiltonian systems

A particular class of systems based on passivity theory is the Hamiltonian system [78].
The system described in 2.53 can be re-written in Hamiltonian form as follows [79]- [80]
(
ẋ = [J(x) − R(x)] ∂H(x)
∂x
+ g(x)u
T ∂H(x) (2.57)
y = g (x) ∂x
57
CLAMPED INVERTER
where x ∈ Rn , u ∈ Rm et y ∈ Rm . H is the storage function mentioned above, and

as we said, it is often considered ad the energy of the considered system.
The matrices J(x) and R(x) must satisfy the following properties:
• J(x) = −J T (x)
• R(x) = RT (x)
Let us to consider now a dynamical model centering around the equilibrium point:
(
x̃˙ = [J(x̃) − R(x̃)] ∂H(x̃)
∂ x̃
+ g(x̃)ũ
∂H(x̃) (2.58)
ỹ = g T (x̃) ∂ x̃
where x̃ = x − x0 , ũ = u − u0 and ỹ = y − y0 The aim is to make the system

strictly passive with an imposed ũ. This technique is called Interconnection and Damping
Assignment- Passivity Based Control(IDA-PBC) [81]- [74]- [79].
Furthermore, in this thesis u is not given only in terms of variations with the method
mentioned above, but is combined as shown in Fig. 2.23 with a static state-feedback
control based on Port-Controlled-Hamiltonian Dissipation (PCHD) [82] in order to give
a static model of the controlled system. The two system 2.57 and 2.58 are analyzed
in the next paragraphs in order to explain the two method. In Fig.2.23 the considered
closed loop scheme is shown:
Figure 2.23: Passivity control scheme
PCHD: control design

Let us consider the system 2.57 and the mentioned properties about the matrices J(x)
and R(x). The storage function H(x) is the stored energy in the LCL filter, defined by
the eq.2.59:
1 x21 x22 x23 x24 x25 x26

1
H(x) = + + + + + = xT Qx (2.59)
2 L1 L1 Cf Cf L2 L2 2
58
CLAMPED INVERTER
where Q = diag( L11 , L11 , C1f , C1f , L12 , L12 ), x1 = L1 i1d , x2 = L1 i1q , x3 = Cf vcd , x4 = Cf vcq ,
x5 = L2 i2d , x2 = L2 i2q .
The system of equations that describes the LCL system 2.42 can be rewritten in the
form 2.57 where the matrices are defined as follows:
 
0 ωL1 −1 0 0 0
−ωL1 0 0 −1 0 0 
 
 1 0 0 ωC f −1 0 
 = −J T
J = (2.60)
 0
 1 −ωC f 0 0 −1 

 0 0 1 0 0 ωL2 
0 0 0 1 −ωL2 0
 
R1 0 0 0 0 0
 0 R1 0 0 0 0
 
0 0 0 0 0 0
R=  = RT (2.61)
0 0 0 0 0 0
 
0 0 0 0 R2 0 
0 0 0 0 0 R2
T
1 0 0 0 0 0
g= (2.62)
0 1 0 0 0 0

v
u= d (2.63)
vq
The aim is to find a static state-feedback u = β(x) in order to have closed loop of
the form [83]:
∂Hd (x)
ẋ = (Jd − Rd ) (2.64)
∂x
where the new energy function Hd has a strict local minimum at the desired equilib-
rium xd , Jd and Rd are the desired interconnection and damping matrices.
Considering the known matrices J, R, H(x) and g, let us assume that it is possible to
find u = β(x), Ja , Ra and a vector K(x) such that [82]
∂H(x)
[J + Ja − R − Ra ] K = − [Ja − Ra ] + gβ(x) (2.65)
∂x
59
CLAMPED INVERTER
To be noted that this equation is calculated from 2.57 and 2.64, in fact considering
that in the equilibrium point the two equations are identical, it has:
∂Hd (x) ∂H(x)

(Jd − Rd ) = [J(x) − R(x)] + g(x)β(x) (2.66)
∂x ∂x
If we consider that Hd = H + Ha , Jd = J + Ja and Rd = R + Ra , the equation 2.66

becomes:
∂Ha (x) ∂H(x)

[Jd − Rd ] = − [Ja − Ra ] + gβ(x) (2.67)
∂x ∂x
therefore, K(x) = ∂H∂xa (x)

.
In order to find u = β(x) that satisfy the stability of this control, the function K(x) has
to satisfy the following four properties [84]:
• Structure preservation
Jd = J + Ja = − [J + Ja ]T
Rd = R + Ra = [R + Ra ]T
• Integrability
T
∂K(x) ∂K(x)
∂x
= ∂x
• Equilibrium assignment
K(xd ) = − ∂H(x) |
∂x x=xd
• Lyapunov stability
∂K(x) 2 H(x)
|
∂x x=xd
> − ∂ ∂x 2 |x=xd
If the mentioned properties are satisfied, then u = β(x), is a stable static state-
feedback for the passive system.
The equation 2.65 can be rewritten as follows:
∂Hd (x)
(Jd − Rd ) K(x) + (Ja − Ra ) − gβ(x) = 0 (2.68)
∂x
For simplicity, we can suppose that Ja and Ra are equals to zero, without limitation
to the generality. Therefore from 2.68, it has:
(J − R) K(x) − gβ(x) = 0 (2.69)

Solving the equation 2.69 and considering the properties of the port-controlled hamil-
tonian, it comes:

ωL1 − k3 − R1 k1
β(x) = (2.70)
−ωL1 k1 − R1 k2 − k4
60
CLAMPED INVERTER
Imposing ∂H∂xd (x)

= 0 (strict local minimum), where K(x) = ∂H∂xa (x)
= ∂H∂x d (x)
− ∂H(x)
∂x
,
T
it is possible to calculate the parameters of the vector K(x) = [k1 , k2 , k3 , k4 , 0, 0] [82]:


 k1 = −Idref

k = −I
2 qref
(2.71)

 k 3 = −Vcdref

k4 = −Vcqref

Let us verify the validity of the four properties mentioned above:
• Structure preservation.
This property is automatically verified because Ja and Ra are nulls (in this partic-
ular case)
• Integrability.
The property of integrability is simply verified because of the constant value of K.
• Equilibrium assignment
∂Ha (x) ∂Hd (x) ∂H(x)

K(x) = ∂x
= ∂x
− ∂x
Considering the parameter K(x) calculated in the desired point xd , it has:
∂Ha (x) ∂Hd (x) ∂H(x)

K(xd ) = ∂x
|x=xd = ∂x
|x=xd − |
∂x x=xd
where for the condition of the strict local minimum mentioned above, we have
∂Hd (x)
∂x
|x=xd = 0
• Lyapunov stability
2
In this last condition, we have to demonstrate that ∂K(x) |
∂x x=xd
> − ∂ ∂x
H(x)
2 |x=xd . We
2 H(x)
know that ∂x |x=xd = 0 and therefore, it is sufficient demonstrate that ∂ ∂x
∂K(x)
2 is
positive:
∂ 2 H(x)
∂x2
=Q>0
IDA-PCB: control design

Let us consider the system centered around the equilibrium point characterized by the
eq.2.58. The addition of an artificial damping for passivity-based control is introduced
in [85] and we can consider the input variation in the following form:
ũ = −Dỹ (2.72)
61
CLAMPED INVERTER
where D is a diagonal matrix 6 × 6 in this thesis. Considering a virtual damping

adding a resistance Rd in series with the inductance L1 (to be noted that it is just one
of the possible choices), the matrix D is defined as follows:
 
Rd 0 0 0 0 0
 0 Rd 0 0 0 0
 
0 0 0 0 0 0
D=  = DT (2.73)
0 0 0 0 0 0
 
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
As shown in [80], the closed loop system is characterized by the following equation:
∂H(x̃) ∂H(x̃) ∂H(x̃)

x̃˙ = (J(x̃) − R(x̃)) − g(x̃)Dỹ = (J(x̃) − R(x̃)) − g(x̃)Dg T (x̃)
∂ x̃ ∂ x̃ ∂ x̃
∂H(x̃)
= (J(x̃) − R(x̃) − DR ) (2.74)
∂ x̃
where DR = g(x̃)Dg T (x̃) ≥ 0.

The damping function used, guarantees the convergence to the local minimum of the
energy [86].
Effectively, if we calculate the derivative of Hd (x̃) = 21 x̃T Qx̃, to be noted that Hd (x̃) is
the same function considered for the open loop in the previous subsection:
T
∂H(x̃) ∂H(x̃)
Ḣd (x̃) = (J − R − DR )) (2.75)
∂ x̃ ∂ x̃
Because the antisymmetric matrix J, we have the following equation:
Ḣd (x̃) = −x̃T QT (R + DR )Qx̃ < 0, ∀x̃ 6= 0 (2.76)
Considering the expression 2.76, the closed loop system is exponentially stable [80].
As it is described above, in this control based on passivity theory there is no integral

variable for static error compensation. For this reason, a parameter estimator is added
to the model PCHD, as shown in Fig. 2.24:
Improving model with parameters estimator

In order to compensate the static error, an estimator is added considering the scheme
in Fig. 2.25. As it is shown in Fig. 2.25, we consider that the differences between the
62
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.24: Passivity control scheme with estimator
model and the real circuit can be summarize as voltage drops in the two meshes. The
voltage called p1 and p2 are the variables to estimate.
Figure 2.25: LCL scheme with parameters estimation
The estimator has been firstly introduced by Hugues Renaudineau in his PhD the-
sis [19] and it is presented in the following form:

ẋ f (x, u) + g(x, u)p
Ẋ = = (2.77)
ṗ 0
where:
• X ∈ Rn+m is the vector of variable which are going to be estimated and Y ∈ Rn

the vector of measured variables
• x ∈ Rn is the vector of the system state-variables. Every state variable are sup-
posed to be measured
• p ∈ Rm is the vector of the unknown parameters to estimate. Parameters p are
supposed to vary slowly compared to state-variables
63
CLAMPED INVERTER
• f and g are non-linear functions of x and u, g(x, u) is non-singular
In our application the function f (x, u) and g(x, u)p̂ are:
ωi1q + −R1 i1dL−v

 
cd +vd
1
−ωi + −R1 i1q −vcq +vq 
 1d L1 
ωvcq + i1dC−if 2d
 
 
f (x, u) =  i
 −ωvcd + 1q 2q  −i
 (2.78)
 Cf 
−R i +v −e 
 ωi2q + 1 2dL2 cd d 

−ωi2d + −R1 i2qL+v 2
cq −eq
 −p 
1d
L
 −p11q 
 L1 
 0 
 
g(x, u)p̂ ==  (2.79)
 0 

 −p2d 
 L2 
−p2q
L2
where p1dq are the dq components of the variable p1 and p2dq are the dq components of p2 .
The state observer proposed by Renaudineau, is defined as follows:

!
x̂˙ f (x,u) + g(x, u)p̂ − S(x̂ − x)

= (2.80)
p̂˙ Kp x̂˙ − ẋ + Ki (ẋ − x) − g T (x, u)(x̂ − x)
with:
• S positive-definite matrix of size Rn×n
• Kp g(x, u) = −P
• Ki = Kp S
• P positive-definite matrix of size Rm×m
The global asymptotic stability of this estimator is demonstrated in [19].

The matrix S and P (eq. 2.81 and eq. 2.82) are set in order to make the estimator
lower than the output current control of i1dq , because of supposing that the parame-
ters change slowly (i.e because of heat cycle). In Fig.2.26 is shown the passivity control
with and without estimator and with a variation of the current reference Idref at t = 0.8s.
 
30000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
 1000 30000 1000 1000 1000 1000 
 
 1000 1000 30000 1000 1000 1000 
S= 
 1000 1000 1000 30000 1000 1000  (2.81)
 
 1000 1000 1000 1000 30000 1000 
1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 30000
64
CLAMPED INVERTER
 
100 0 0 0
 0 100 0 0 
P =
 0
 (2.82)
0 100 0 
0 0 0 100
The parameters errors used for this simulations are present in the table.
Table 2.3: LCL filter parameters error
real value model value

DC/AC-side inductance L1 = 1mH L1m = 0.5mH
line inductance L1 = 1mH L1m = 0.5mH
parasitic resistance DC/AC side R1 = 50mΩ R1m = 200mΩ
line resistance R2 = 50mΩ R2m = 200mΩ
filter capacitor Cf = 40µF Cf m = 50µF
Figure 2.26: Passivity based control (IDA+PCHD) without and with parameters esti-
mation
In Fig. 2.26 the control used is the passivity shown in Fig.2.24.
2.6.6 Simulation results: Flatness-based Control vs Passivity-

based Control
Simulation results are obtained using Matlab/Simulink. The parameters used for the
simulations are the same of the test bench and are presented in the next table. In
Fig.2.27 are shown the grid currents with a variation of Idref from −3A to 3A with a
constant value of Iqref set to −5A.
65
CLAMPED INVERTER
Table 2.4: LCL filter parameters
fundamental frequency f0 50Hz

switching frequency fsw 20kHz
DC/AC-side inductance L1 1mH
line inductance L2 1mH
parasitic resistance DC/AC side R1 50mΩ
line resistance R2 50mΩ
filter capacitor Cf 40µF
Figure 2.27: Simulation Flatness-based control with ω0 = 6000rad/s
In Fig.2.28 is shown the response to the variation with respect to both the controlled
variables (i2d , i2q ). Furthermore in Fig.2.29 is presented simulations with L2 = 10mH
and it is clear that the variables are well controlled. The reason of this simulation, as
explained before, is related to the distance to the connection point of the grid. The same
simulation it is present in Fig.2.31 about the Passivity-based control and, as is shown,
the resonance influence is evident when a current step is imposed.
In Fig.2.30 and Fig.2.32 are compared simulations about the Passivity-based control
with and without damping injection. The improvement using the damping injection is
verified. In experimental results only passivity control with damping elements will be
used.
The robustness with respect to electrical grid for both the controls is presented in
Fig. 2.33 and Fig. 2.34. As is shown, when a a perturbation of the electrical grid is
present, the flatness-based control is more robust than the Passivity-based control used.
66
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.28: Simulation Flatness-based control with ω0 = 6000rad/s for several varia-
tions of Idref and Iqref
Figure 2.29: Simulation Flatness-based control with ω0 = 6000rad/s and L2 = 10mΩ
67
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.30: Simulations Passivity-based control with a variation of Idref
Figure 2.31: Simulations Passivity-based control with L2 = 10mH
68
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.32: Simulations Passivity-based control without artificial damping
Figure 2.33: Simulations Flatness-based control with a variation of the voltage grid
Figure 2.34: Simulations Passivity-based control with a variation of the voltage grid
69
CLAMPED INVERTER
2.6.7 Experimental results and simulations of the THD: Flatness-

based Control vs Passivity-based Control
In Fig.2.35 a picture of the test bench is shown and the experimental results are given
in order to verify the concept about the two controls used.
Figure 2.35: Test bench
Figure 2.36: Experimental results Flatness-based control with a variation of Idref
The Figs. 2.44-2.45 and 2.46 give information about the robustness of the controls
used. Actually, every control has to consider the ageing of the components and for
example the study of the performance for an error of 30% on the capacitor Cf are
necessary. As we said above, the value of the inductance L2 is not always known because
of the dependence on the line length and other parasitic elements. For the inductance
70
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.37: Experimental results Flatness-based control with a variation of Iqref
L1 the error can be high for example if the current ripple is important, because in this
case the hysteresis losses can make change significantly its value.
71
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.38: Experimental results Flatness-based control with a variation of the grid
voltage
Figure 2.39: Experimental results Passivity-based control with a variation of Idref
72
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.40: Experimental results Passivity-based control with a variation of Iqref
Figure 2.41: Experimental results Passivity-based control with a variation of Iqref and
Idref = −3A
73
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.42: Simulation results: THD flatness-based control
Figure 2.43: Simulation results: THD passivity-based control
74
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.44: Simulation results: THD comparison considering a variation of Cf
Figure 2.45: Simulation results: THD comparison considering a variation of L1
75
CLAMPED INVERTER
Figure 2.46: Simulation results: THD comparison considering a variation of L2
76
CLAMPED INVERTER
2.6.8 Flatness vs Passivity: conclusions

Passivity-based control and Flatness-based control, as presented, can be used in order
to manage the problems about the resonance of the LCL filter. The flatness is more ro-
bust in relation to the increases of the line inductance L2 and with respect to a voltage
grid variation. Furthermore the flatness control needs less sensors (2 current sensor and
2 voltage sensors), while for passivity control we need 4 current sensors and 4 voltage
sensors. Simulations about the THD for both the controls are given and the flatness is
more efficient (T HD = 0.47%) than passivity (T HD = 3.23%). These simulations of
the THD give information about the comparison of the two types of control.
Considering the robustness with respect to the parameters of the LCL filter, it is shown
that both the types of control give an almost constant THD but the flatness is always
better.
To be noted that another advantage of the flatness-based control with respect to the
passivity-base control used in this thesis is that we don’t need the estimator. As per-
spectives it will be interesting to impove the daming factor with more complex functions
and to try to optimize the LCL filter design in order to improve the modeling of the
matrix D.
77
Chapter 3
Large Signal Stability analysis
3.1 Introduction
It is well known that local stability analysis is not sufficient to validate a design. For
example, in case of a system influenced by strong disturbance, it is necessary to perform
a large signal stability analysis in order to give an estimated area of stability. For this
reason, in this chapter we analyze the voltage balancing technique introduced in the pre-
vious chapter. It was shown that the whole system includes strong nonlinearities. In this
chapter, we introduce first the Takagi-Sugeno (TS) multi-models framework and their
stability in Lyapunov sense. Then, a recent technique based on Tensor Product (TP)
model transformation based on Higher-Order Singular Value Decomposition (HOSVD)
is presented to model the nonlinearities [87]. The advantage of this latter lies in the
reduced number of local linear models required to represent the nonlinear model. Its
drawback is its precision which is generally less than a TS model. For pedagogic pur-
poses, a simple example will be presented to compare the two methods. After that, the
system studied in this work will be modeled using HSOVD canonical form. In Chapter
2, the nonlinear model of the studied system including the voltage balancing technique
was presented. This system is strongly nonlinear and it is impossible to build a TS
model to solve the Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) system required for the large signal
stability analysis. It should be noticed that the local stability of the studied system
was analyzed in Chapter 2 and it was shown that the system is locally stable while the
input powers are constant and the input voltages of the Neutral Point Clamped (NPC)
inverter remain around their operating points (rated voltages). In this chapter, a large
signal stability analysis of the system is addressed under large variations of the input
voltages of the NPC inverter. The second Lyapunov stability theorem is the basis of the
concepts presented below.
3.2 Nonlinear systems and Lyapunov stability

In this section, the purpose is to introduce large signal stability of nonlinear systems.
Lyapunov stability and its application to Takagi-Sugeno models will be presented in
the following paragraphs. A nonlinear system refers to a set of nonlinear equations
(algebraic, difference, differential, integral, functional, or abstract operator equations,
or a combination of some of these) used to describe a physical device or process that
otherwise cannot be clearly defined by a set of linear equations of any kind [88]. Dy-
namic system is used as a synonym for mathematical or physical system when the
describing equations represent evolution of a solution with time and, sometimes, with
78
CHAPTER 3. LARGE SIGNAL STABILITY ANALYSIS
control inputs and/or other varying parameters as well. The theory of nonlinear dy-
namic systems, or nonlinear control systems if control inputs are involved, has been
greatly advanced since the nineteenth century. Today, nonlinear control systems are
used to describe a great variety of scientific and engineering phenomena ranging from
social, life, and physical sciences to engineering and technology. This theory has been
applied to a broad spectrum of problems in physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology,
medicine, economics, and various engineering disciplines. Stability theory plays a cen-
tral role in system engineering, especially in the field of control systems and automation,
with regard to both dynamics and control [88]. Stability of a dynamic system, with or
without control and disturbance inputs, is a fundamental requirement for its practical
value, particularly in most real-world applications. Roughly speaking, stability means
that the system outputs and its internal signals are bounded within admissible limits
(the so-called bounded-input/bounded-output stability) or, sometimes more strictly, the
system outputs tend to an equilibrium state of interest (the so-called asymptotic sta-
bility). Conceptually, there are different kinds of stabilities, among which three basic
notions are the main concerns in nonlinear dynamics and control systems: the stability
of a system with respect to its equilibria, the orbital stability of a system output trajec-
tory, and the structural stability of a system itself [89]. The basic concept of stability
emerged from the study of an equilibrium state of a mechanical system, dated back to
as early as 1644, when E. Torricelli studied the equilibrium of a rigid body under the
natural force of gravity. The classical stability theorem of G. Lagrange, formulated in
1788, is perhaps the best known result about stability of conservative mechanical sys-
tems, which states that if the potential energy of a conservative system, currently at
the position of an isolated equilibrium and perhaps subject to some simple constraints,
has a minimum, then this equilibrium position of the system is stable. The evolution of
the fundamental concepts of system and trajectory stabilities then went through a long
history, with many fruitful advances and developments, until the famous Ph.D. thesis of
A. M. Lyapunov, The General Problem of Motion Stability, finished in 1892 [90].
3.2.1 Definition of Lyapunov stability

Every continuous autonomous system can be written as follows:
(
ẋ(t) = f (x(t))
(3.1)
y(t) = g(x(t))
To study the stability of an equilibrium point of the above system, Lyapunov suggests
to look for a scalar function V : D −→ R defined in D ⊂ R including the equilibrium
point, satisfying some conditions defined in [90]. For example, for asymptotic stability
of the equilibrium point, the Lyapunov’s second method proposes the following theorem:
Let x = 0 the origin of the system 3.1 and D ⊂ Rn including the origin and let V be
a function that is continuous and has continuous first partial derivatives in such a way
that:
• V (0) = 0 and V (x) > 0 in D − {0}
• V̇ (x) < 0 in D − {0}
79
then x = 0 is asymptotically stable in D.

If a Lyapunov function, i.e. a function satisfying the above conditions, can be defined,
the stability of the equilibrium point is demonstrated [90]. The existence of a Lyapunov
function helps us to study the stability of a nonlinear system and, as extensively studied
by Didier Marx in his Ph.D. thesis [91], the Takagi-Sugeno (TS) modeling is a possible
way for finding a quadratic Lyapunov function for nonlinear models. Such a function is
defined as follows:
V (x(t)) = x(t)T P x(t) (3.2)
3.2.2 Tagaki-Sugeno multi-models

Takagi-Sugeno (TS) multi-models are based on the fact that it is possible to write some
nonlinear models 3.1 as a combination of k linear models. Each linear model is written
as:
(
ẋ(t) = Ai x(t) + Bi u(t)
(3.3)
y(t) = Ci x(t) + Di u(t)
where Ai , Bi , Ci and Di are constant matrices.
As shown by Takagi and Sugeno, using fuzzy logic, with sufficient number of local linear
models, the TS model is equivalent to the nonlinear model 3.1 [92] under some conditions.
In order to satisfy the equivalence between the linear combination 3.3 and the nonlinear
model 3.1, weight functions are introduced as follows:
q
Y
wi = wi (z(t)) = Fji (z(t)), i = 1, 2, ..., k (3.4)
j=1
where q is the number of nonlinearities in model 3.1, z is called the vector of decision
variables and Fji are the activation functions.
Finally, the weights are normalized, it yields to the following functions also called mem-
bership functions:
wi
hi (z(t)) = Pk (3.5)
i=1 wi
The nonlinear model defined in 3.1 is written as:
(
ẋ(t) = ki=1 hi (z(t)) · (Ai x(t) + Bi u(t))
P
(3.6)
y(t) = ki=1 hi (z(t)) · (Ci x(t) + Di u(t))
P
The normalized weight functions verify the convex property:

k
X
hi (z(t)) = 1, hi (z(t)) ≥ 0 ∀t (3.7)
i=1
Finally, the equilibrium point of the system is asymptotically stable if there exists a
symmetric matrix P that satisfies the following LMI system:
(
P >0
(3.8)
ATi P + P Ai < 0, i = 1, ..., k
80
If the above LMI is feasible, a matrix P can be found and used to define the quadratic
Lyapunov function 3.2. As 3.1 and 3.6 are equivalent, the Lyapunov function 3.2 proves
large signal stability of the equilibrium point of the nonlinear model 3.1.
3.2.3 Application of TS approach to model a PFC-LCL filter

system
For comparison reasons, we consider the system shown in Fig. 3.1 [93] (the operating of
this system is out of scope of this thesis). In this subsection, the state-space model is
presented and the TS approach is applied.
Figure 3.1: a) LCL filter with PFC and b) equivalent scheme
The system in Fig. 3.1 is characterized by the following equations in dq-coordinates

(Park’s transform):
 di
L dt = −rid + ed − Vcd + Lωiq
d

L diq = −ri + e − V − Lωi

dt q q cq d
dV
(3.9)
C = i d − Id + CωVcq
 cd

 dt
 dVcq
C dt = iq − Iq − CωVcd

Id 1 P Q Vcd
where = V 2 +V 2 , P = Vcd0 Id0 + Vcq0 Iq0 and Q = Vcq0 Id0 −
Iq cd cq −Q P Vcq
Vcd0 Iq0 .
The parameter r is the parasitic resistance in series with the inductance.
Let us consider the (large signal) variation around the equilibrium point (x̃), where
T
x̃ = i˜d , i˜q , v˜cd , v˜cq .

Then, the state-space model can be written in the form x̃˙ = A(x̃)x̃, where the matrix A
is:
 
−r/L ω −1/L 0
 −ω −r/L 0 −1/L 

 1/C
 (3.10)
0 (Pa + Id0 f2 ) f1 ω + (Qa + Id0 f3 ) f1 
0 1/C −ω + (Qa + Iq0 f2 ) f1 (−Pa + Iq0 f3 ) f1
81
with the following functions fj :

1
• f1 = C (Vcd0 cq )
2 +V 2 +2V 2 2
cq0 cd0 v˜
cd +2Vcq0 v˜ cd +v˜
cq +v˜
• f2 = v˜cd
• f3 = v˜cq
While, the parameters Pa and Qa are Pa = Vcd0 Id0 −Vcq0 Iq0 and Qa = Vcq0 Id0 +Vcd0 Iq0 .
As explained in [91]- [94], to obtain the TS model of the system, we can consider
the maximum and minimum of every function fj and to calculate the functions (Fji ) as
follows:
fj max − fj (x) fj (x) − fj min

fj (x) = fj min + fj max i ∈ 1, 2, 3 (3.11)
fj max − fj min fj max − fj min
fj max −fj (x) fj (x)−fj min
where fj max −fj min
= Fjmin and fj max −fj min
= Fjmax are the weight functions.
As there are 3 nonlinearities above, there are 8 subsystems (23 ), and the matrix A
is:
A(x) = w1 A1 + w2 A2 + w3 A3 + w4 A4 + w5 A5 + w6 A6 + w7 A7 + w8 A8 (3.12)
where wi ’s expression is given in 3.4 and constant matrices Ai are obtained by re-
placing fj ’s by their maximum and minimum values.
Table 3.1: LCL filter parameters
fundamental frequency f0 60Hz

inductance L 0.4mH
parasitic resistance r 100mΩ
filter capacitor C 20µF
active power P 100W
reactive power Q 0V AR
Fig. 3.2 illustrates a comparison between the actual nonlinear model and the TS
multi-model responses to the same input. It is clear that the reponses match perfectly
for each state variable. Actually, this result was expected because of the equivalence
between the two models.
82
Figure 3.2: Comparison between actual model and TS model responses
3.3 Higher-Order Singular Value

Decomposition (HOSVD)
When an important number of nonlinearities are present in the nonlinear model, TS
modeling may lead to a complex model with an important number of local models
making too conservative the solution of the LMI problem 3.8. In some cases, it becomes
simply impossible to derive a TS model or to solve the LMI problem. For these cases,
another multi-modeling approach could be applied. Such an approach should lead to
a multi-model with reduced number of local models without affecting the accuracy.
For this reason, in this section, Higher-Order Singular Value Decomposition (HOSVD)
[95] is applied to model the nonlinearities. The HOSVD is the extraction of relevant
information from multi-way arrays defined by the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD)
theory. It can be considered as a generalization of the SVD. The following section
describes it briefly. Interested readers can refer to [95] whose main author, Peter Baranyi,
developed a Matlab toolbox called ”TP tool”. This latter can be freely downloaded at
<https://fr.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/25514-tp-tool>.
3.3.1 Singular value decomposition theory

In linear algebra, the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is a factorization of a real or
complex matrix. Contrarily to the eigenvalue decomposition, the SVD can be applied
to any m × n matrix. Let us consider the matrix M (m, n) and its factorization defined
as follows:
M =U ·Σ·V∗ (3.13)
where:
• U is a m × m unitary matrix
• Σ is a m × n matrix with non-negative real numbers on the diagonal
• V is a n × n unitary matrix and V ∗ is its conjugate transpose
83
Considering K as a field of real number or complex numbers, a non-negative real

number σi is a singular value for M if and only if there exists unit-length vectors u in
K m and v in K n such that:
M · vi = σi · ui , and M ∗ · ui = σi · vi , ∀i = 1, ..., min(m, n) (3.14)

Considering the properties about the matrices U and V (unitary property), then ui
and vi are, respectively, an orthonormal basis of K m and K n .
To introduce the Higher-Order SVD, let us first consider some details about the ten-
sors theory.
Definition 1 (Order of a tensor) The order of a tensor is the number of dimensions,

also known as ways or modes, required to describe it. Indices typically range from 1 to
their capital version, e.g., i = 1, ..., I. The nth element in a sequence is denoted by a
superscript in parentheses, e.g. A(n) denotes the nth matrix in a sequence.
Definition 2 (Matricization) Matricization consists in transforming a tensor into a

matrix. It is the process of reordering the elements of a N-way tensor into a matrix by
unfolding it. For instance, a 3 × 4 × 2 tensor can be represented as a 3 × 8, 4 × 6 and
2 × 12. To be clear, let the frontal slices of A the following matrices:
   
a b c d o p q r
A1 =  e f g h , A2 = s t u v  (3.15)
i l m n z k j w
The 1-mode matrix is formed as A(1) ∈ R3×(4·2)

 
a b c d o p q r
A(1) =  e f g h s t u v (3.16)
i l m n z k j w
 
a e i o s z
b f l p t k
A(2) = 
c
 (3.17)
g m q u j
d h n r v w

a e i b f l c g m d h n
A(3) = (3.18)
o s z p t k q u j r v w
Definition 3 (Tensor multiplication) [96] The n-mode product of a tensor S ∈

I1 ××I2 ×...×IN
R with a matrix U ∈ RJ×In is denoted by S ×n U and is of size I1 × ... ×
In−1 × J × In+1 × ... × IN . It is defined as a generalization of matrix multiplication as
follows:
In
X
(S ×n U )i1 ...in−1 jin+1 ...iN = si1 ...in−1 in in+1 ...iN · ujin
in =1
84
After these preliminary definitions about the tensors, let us consider the following
theorem on the HOSVD [97]:
Theorem 1 (HOSVD) Any tensor A ∈ RI1 ×I2 ...×IN can be expressed as the product:
N
O
A = S ×1 U1 ×2 U2 ×3 ... ×N UN = S Un (3.20)
n=1
where:
• Un isaunitary In × In matrix
• The core tensors Sin =α of S ∈ RI1 ×I2 ×...IN have the properties of all-orthogonality
and ordering
Definition 4(All-orthogonality) Two core tensors Sin =α and Sin =β are orthogonal
for all possible values of n, α and β subject to when α 6= β, then hSin =α , Sin =β i = 0
Definition 5(Ordering) kSin =1 k ≥ kSin =2 k ≥ ... ≥ kSin =In k ≥ 0 for all possible
values of n.
Definition 6 (Frobenius-norm and singular values) The definition of the Frobenius-
norm for all core tensors is:
p
kSin =k k = hSin =k , Sin =k i (3.21)
(n)
This norm, symbolized by σk , is called an n-mode singular value of A.
Defining a diagonal matrix Σ(n) ∈ RIn ×In and a column-wise orthonormal matrix
(n)
V ∈ RIn+1 In+2 ...IN I1 I2 ...In−1 × In as follows:
(n) (n) (n)
Σ(n) = diag(σ1 , σ2 , ..., σIn ) (3.22)
Then, HOSVD leads to an SVD of the matrix unfolding:
A(n) = U (n) Σ(n) V (n)T (3.23)
It is well known that singular values can be considered as measures of the energy of
the tensor [97]. Therefore, as explained by A. Battiston in his PhD thesis [98] and by
Liu et al. [97], singular vectors corresponding to greater singular values conserve more
energy in SVD. This fact is also true for the HOSVD. Consequently, we can truncate
the HOSVD according to the following theorem [97].
In HOSVD, n-mode singular vectors corresponding to the first Kn greatest n-mode
singular values preserve the most energy of tensor A. Truncation version of mode-k
unfolding matrix of tensor A results in an approximation Ã by discarding the smallest
(n) (n) (n)
n-mode singular values σK1 +1 , σK1 +2 ...σK1 +Rn for given values of Kn .
The approximation error can be obtained from the following equation [97]:
85
N Rn
!
X X 2
(n)
A − Ã = σk (3.24)

n=1 k=K1 +1
The theorem 3.3.1 is very useful in reducing significantly the number of local models
forming a multi-model equivalent to a nonlinear model with negligible approximation
error. An algorithm based on the truncated HOSVD theorem is developed and imple-
mented in Matlab by P. Baranyi [87]. This point will be illustrated using an example in
the next subsection.
3.3.2 Application of HOSVD to model a PFC-LCL filter sys-

tem
In this subsection, the HOSVD approach to the PFC-LCL filter (Fig.3.1) presented in
the previous paragraph is presented. The vector of nonlinearities is p(t) = [p1 (t) =
v˜cd (t), p2 (t) = v˜cq (t)], it means that there are 2 modes. The approach consists in rewrit-
ing first the model 3.9 in the form x̃˙ = A(x̃)x̃, where the matrix A(x̃) is given in 3.10.
Then, for each nonlinear variable in p(t), numerical samples are selected in a given inter-
val covering studied domain. This means (t) is replaced in A(x̃) by , i = 1, 2, ..., I and
(t) is replaced by , j = 1, 2, ..., J where I and J are the number of samples for p1 (t) and
p2 (t) respectively. This transforms the matrix A(x̃) to a constant tensor A0 ∈ RI×J×4×4 .
Now, we can apply the HOSVD to this tensor related to a sampled interval considering
a grid delimited by Ω = [v˜cd min , v˜cd max ] × [v˜cq min , v˜cq max ] [98]. The number of singular
values given by Matlab Toolbox TPtool is I for mode-1 matricization and J for mode-2
matricization. For I = J = 200 and pmax 1 = −pmin
1 = pmax
2 = −pmin
2 = 137V , they are
given in the following:

(1)


 σ1 = 70804.16926
 (1)



 σ2 = 84.84516
 (1)


 σ3 = 4.79005
 (1)
σ4 = 0.4



(1)
σ5 = 0.019 (3.25)
 (1)
σ6 = 0








 .




 .
σ (1) = 0

200
86
 (2)

 σ1 = 70804.20677
σ2(2) = 38.51270




(2)

σ3 = 20.63352




 (2)
σ4 = 1.18878




σ (2) = 0.49935

5
(2) (3.26)


 σ6 = 0.03319
 (2)


 σ7 = 0

 .




.




 (1)

σ200 = 0
It can be easily seen that most of the above singular values are null. For this reason,
it is possible to ”truncate” smaller singular values in order to reduce the number of local
models and so the order of the LMI system. The algorithm immplemented by Baranyi,
gives the possibility to choose the number of active singular values we want to preserve.
Then, the weight functions are calculated considering this choice and a measure of ap-
proximation error is given. For the studied system and considering the above singular
values, we suggest to keep 3 singular values for p1 and 4 singular values for p2 . Then,
the corresponding weight functions are shown in Figs. 3.3 and 3.4.
Figure 3.3: Normalized weight functons related to p1
Fig. 3.5 compares the state variables responses of the nonlinear model 3.9 and
those of the multi-model obtained by the HOSVD containing 3 × 4 = 12 local models.
Approximation error is highly negligible as responses are undistinguishable. According
the above singular values, one can suggest to keep less singular values: either 2 singular
values for p1 and 2 singular values for p2 , or 1 singular value for p1 and 1 singular value
for p2 . However, this latter case is not allowed by TPtool. Fig. 3.6 shows the state
variables responses for the case with 4 local models. The approximation is still highly
satisfactory. Therefore, we can reach less local models with respect to TS approach
where we had 23 = 8 linear models. The obtained multi-model is used to analyze large-
87
Figure 3.4: Normalized weight functons related to p2
signal stability of an equilibrium point of the nonlinear system by deriving an estimation

of its domain of attraction. This will be described in the next subsection.
Figure 3.5: Comparison between nonlinear model and multi-model with 12 local models
3.3.3 Estimation of the domain of attraction

To illustrate the method we use to analyze large-signal stability of a nonlinear system
in this work, the following algorithm is applied to estimate domain of attraction of the
equilibrium point of the nonlinear system 3.9:
Step 1- A start interval of each nonlinear variable is chosen to define domain

Ω = [v˜cd min , v˜cd max ] × [v˜cq min , v˜cq max ]. This initial domain is fixed by user and should be
very small, or even null, to make feasible the LMI problem defined in Step 3. If this
problem is not feasible, the stability of the equilibrium point cannot be proved.
88
Figure 3.6: Comparison between nonlinear model and multi-model with 4 local models
Step 2- For the selected domain, Matlab toolbox TPtool is launched after defining
matrix A(x̃) and numerical samples for each nonlinear variable. The program gives sin-
gular values for each mode as shown earlier in this chapter.
Step 3- Active singular values have to be chosen. This allows truncating other sin-
gular values. TPtool gives state matrices for linear local models and their corresponding
normalized weights. These latter are not useful to the stability analysis. Actually, only
state matrices Ai are required to define the LMI problem 3.8.
Step 4- To solve the LMI problem, a Matlab solver has to be applied. Here, we use
”feasp” giving a symmetric positive definite matrix P if the LMI problem is feasible. In
this case, matrix P and domain Ω are saved. Then, domain Ω is increased and we go
back to Step 2 and repeat until the LMI problem is no more feasible.
Step 5- To define closed-form expression of the estimated domain of attraction, the

last matrix P and domain Ω are required. The former is used to define the Lyapunov
function for the nonlinear system:
V (x(t)) = x(t)T P x(t) (3.27)
The border of the estimated domain of attraction is defined by fixing V (x(t)) = V0 ,

where V0 depends to the domain Ω. Indeed, V0 is the greatest positive real number
for which the equation V (x(t)) = V0 is included in the domain Ω. Fig. 3.7 shows
this domain and two ellipsoids corresponding to V (x(t)) = V1 and V (x(t)) = V2 . It
can be seen that by increasing the left-hand side of 3.27 from V1 to V2 , we get the
greatest ellipsoid included in the domain Ω. We can conclude that V0 = V2 , or in other
words, V (x(t)) = V2 defines the estimated domain of attraction of the equilibrium point.
The application of the above algorithm to the studied example, i.e. the PFC-LCL
89
Figure 3.7: Search for the domain of attraction
filter system, leads to estimated domains of attraction shown in Figs. 3.8 and 3.9. As
expected, the domain of attraction is greater for lower load powers and higher capaci-
tances.
Figure 3.8: Estimated domain of attraction of the PFC-LCL filter system with p = 100W
and p = 200W
3.4 Application to the NPC inverter including volt-

age balancing
In this subsection, the above algorithm for large stability analysis is applied to study the
stability of the NPC inverter with its control law and its voltage balancing technique as
described in the previous chapter. A reduced-order model has been developed in chapter
2 and is reminded in the following:
90
Figure 3.9: Estimated domain of attraction of the PFC-LCL filter system with C = 10µF
and C = 20µF
 h i 
P1Pref
1
− x1 +x 1 + K(ξ) x1x+x
2
 
x1  C
h x1 2
2
i 
d  x2 
 
= 1 P2
−
Pref
1 − K(ξ) x1 
C x2 x1 +x2 x1 +x2  (3.28)
dt  x3   
 yref − 12 Ceq (x1 + x2 )2 
x4
x1 − x2
And the voltage control law is (see subsection 2.4):

Z
2
Pref = P1 + P2 − ẏref + 2ζp ωnp (yref − y) + ωnp (yref − y)dt (3.29)
Two cases are considered in the rest of this chapter:
• Voltage control loop is much faster than the voltage balancing: (ωnp >> ωbalance )
• Voltage balancing and voltage control loop have close dynamics
3.4.1 Large signal stability analysis with fast voltage control

loop
If the voltage control loop is much faster than the voltage balancing, it can be assumed
that y = yref = cte in the voltage balancing time scale. Then, from 3.29 and equilibrium
point analysis given in Chapter 2, it yields:
Pref = P1 + P2 (3.30)
It means that the third row of the vector shown in eq.3.38 is null and x1 +x2 = Vdcref .
For this reason, we have only two state-variables, x1 orx2 and x4 , and the system is
described as follows:
h i !
1 P1 Pref Vdcref −x1
d x1 C x1
− Vdcref
1 + K(ξ) Vdcref
= (3.31)
dt x4 2x1 − Vdcref
91
In order to verify the above approximation, simulation results considering differ-

ent values of the voltage control loop bandwidth (ωnp = 200rad/s, ωnp = 20rad/s and
ωnp = 10rad/s) are given in Fig.3.10 when a step disturbance of 225W, from 400W
to 625W, occurs on the input power P1 . From this figure, it is obvious that the time
reponse of Vdc depends on ωnp as expected.
Figure 3.10: Comparison of Vdc for different dynamics of the voltage control loop
Vdcref
Let us consider the system centered around the equilibrium point with x1 = 2
+
x˜1 :
C1 C2
d x˜1 0.5Vdcref +x˜1 0.5Vdcref +x˜1 x˜1
= (3.32)
dt x˜4 2 0 x˜4
1+kp Vdcref
where C1 = − (P1 + P2 ) CVdcref
and C1 = − (P1 + P2 ) kCi
Takagi-Sugeno model
As can be seen in 3.32, there is only one nonlinearity in the model. So, there are 2 local
models as follows:

C1 f1max C2 f1max 4 −1.7952 −5.9840
A1 = = 10 (3.33)
2 0 0.0002 0

C1 f1min C2 f1min −44.9928 −149.9760
A2 = = (3.34)
2 0 2 0
1
where f1 = 0.5Vdcref +x˜1
and x1max = −x1min = 199. Fig. 3.11 illustrates the estimated
domain of attractions for two different values of the input capacitor of the NPC (C =
92
200µF and C = 470µF ). The effect of the input capacitor on the domain of attraction
is very clear.
Figure 3.11: Estimated domain of attraction of the NPC inverter and the effect of the
input capacitor
HOSVD model
Even though the above TS model is satisfactory, another multi-model is developed in
this paragraph using the HOSVD for pedagogic purposes. In fact, the application of the
presented algorithm in 3.3.3 leads to a multi-model with two local linear models. The
singular values given by the TPtool show it clearly:



 σ1 = 6824.05294

σ2 = 150.80080



σ3 = 0.12884



σ4 = 0.00216 (3.35)

σ5 = 0.00001








 σ6 = 0.00000

σ = 0
7
It is obvious that a good choice is to keep only two singular values (σ1 and σ2 ).
Therefore, the following state matrices are obtained:

4 −1.7952 −5.9840
S1 = 10 (3.36)
0.0002 0

−44.9928 −149.9760
S2 = (3.37)
2 0
93
It should be noted that S1 = A1 and S2 = A2 , i.e. the estimated domain of attraction

will be exactly the same as that shown in Fig. 3.11.
3.4.2 Large signal stability analysis taking into account the

voltage control loop dynamic
In this paragraph, we consider the model 3.38 without any assumption on ωnp and
ωbalance . The objective is to analyze its large signal stability through the HOSVD multi-
modeling approach. Here, the dynamic of the voltage control loop is not neglected.
In this case, the system has strong nonlinearities. As usual, to analyze the stability,
the first step consists in bringing the model around its equilibrium point, i.e. all state
variables have to be centered around their equilibrium values: x̃ = x − X0 . Then, to
derive a multi-model, the nonlinear model has to be put under x̃˙ = A(x̃)x̃ form. As this
model is rather complex, a Matlab script is developed using Symbolic Math Toolbox. It
is given in Appendix. Here, we give only the obtained model:
   a4 x31 +a3 x21 +a2 x1 +a1 b4 x32 +b3 x22 +b2 x2 +b1 c1 d1
 
x1 den1 den1 den1 den1
x1
d  x f4 x31 +f3 x21 +f2 x1 +f1 e4 x32 +e3 x22 +e2 x2 +e1
  g1 h1   x2 

2 =
  (3.38)
 den2 den2 den2 den2
dt  x3   −CVdc − C x21 − Cx2 (−CVdc − C x22 )  x3 

0 0
x4 1 −1 0 0 x4
where almost every parameter (ai , bi , c1 , d1 , fi , ei , g1 , h1 , den1 and den2) is nonlinear

and is defined as follows:


 a1 = f (x3 , x4 ); a2 = f (x3 , x4 ); a3 = f (x4 ); a4 = constant

b1 = f (x3 , x4 ); b2 = f (x3 , x4 ); b3 = f (x4 ); b4 = constant





c1 = f (x4 )





d1 = constant



den1 = f (x2 , x )

1 2
(3.39)


 e1 = f (x3 , x4 ); e2 = f (x3 , x4 ); e3 = f (x4 ); e4 = constant



 f1 = f (x3 , x4 ); f2 = f (x3 , x4 ); f3 = f (x4 ); f4 = constant

g1 = f (x4 )





h1 = constant





den2 = f (x22 , x1 )

Then, the nonlinear variables are defined as: p(t) = [p1 (t) = x˜1 (t), p2 (t) = x˜2 (t), p3 (t) =
x˜3 (t), p4 (t) = x˜4 (t)]. The application of TPtool gives the following singular values:
94

(1)


 σ1 = 7513.02867
 (1)


 σ2 = 667.56011
 (1)
 σ3 = 5.16746



(1)
σ4 = 0.26556 (3.40)
 (1)
σ5 = 0.00587




 (1)



 σ6 = 0.00024
σ (1)

=0
7

(2)


 σ1 = 7513.02867
 (2)


 σ2 = 667.56011
 (2)
 σ3 = 5.16746



(2)
σ4 = 0.26556 (3.41)
 (2)
σ5 = 0.00587




 (2)



 σ6 = 0.00024
σ (2)

=0
7
(
(3)
σ1 = 7542.62970
(3) (3.42)
σ2 = 0.52624
(
(4)
σ1 = 7541.25162
(4) (3.43)
σ2 = 144.17737
Taking into account the above results, one option could be to keep 4 singular values
for p1 , 4 for p2 , 2 for p3 and 2 for p4 . Of course, more or less singular values could be
selected and results could be compared. Indeed, a whole work is required to optimize
the number of selected singular values, but it is out of scope of this thesis. Figs. 3.12 to
3.15 show the correponding weight functions.
To verify the validity of the multi-model, both the nonlinear model and the HOSVD
model are simulated under same conditions. Fig. 3.16 illustrates a comparison between
the obtained reponses. According to this figure, it is clear that the HOSVD model
mathes very well the nonlinear model.
Now, we are ready to apply the algorithm presented in 3.3.3 to estimate the domain
of attraction of the equilibrium point of the system 3.38. The obtained result shows that
the polyhedron in which the estimated domain of attraction is included is characterized
by x1max = −x1min = x2max = −x2min = 60V . This results has to be compared to that
obtained for the reduced-order system 3.32 where x1max = −x1min = 199. Meanwhile, it
cannot be necessarily concluded that a fast voltage control loop leads to more stability
margins. Smaller estimated domain of attraction might come from a greater number of
local models and hence a more complex LMI problem leading to a more conservative
95
Figure 3.12: Normalized weight functions related to p1
result. A future work related to this conclusion would be the development of other Lya-
punov functions reducing constraints in the LMI problem.
96
Figure 3.16: Comparison of the real system and the HOSVD model: voltages balancing
without total voltage loop approximation
97
3.5 Conclusion
In this chapter, a large signal stability analysis tool is developed and applied to two
systems: a PFC-LCL filter grid connected system and an NPC inverter including input
voltages balancing. Multi-models based on Takagi-Sugeno (TS) approach and Higher-
Order Singular Value Decomposition (HOSVD) are considered. For a nonlinear system
with a small number of nonlinearties, the TS modeling works very well. However, when
the number of nonlinearities is rather high, it would be interesting to use the HOSVD
in order to reduce the number of local models and so, to simplify the LMI problem to
be solved. It is shown that for the PFC-LCL filter system, there are 3 nonlinearities
leading to 8 local models with the TS approach, while considering the HOSVD, we can
use only 4 local models. The advantage could be significantly more important if more
complex systems are considered. It is the case of multi-sources multi-loads microgrids.
As mentioned above, this tool is also applied to analyze large signal stability of an
NPC inverter including input voltages balancing. Actually, it is important to show
the effect of the voltage balancing on the stability of multi-level inverters utilized in
renewable applications [99]. The main challenge remains the modeling of the nonlinear
system taking into account all its control loops and compensation techniques. Such
systems are more and more present in power systems and their complexe models lead
to NP problems. The large signal stability analysis tools presented in this chapter may
help to simplify the stability analysis of such systems.
98
Chapter 4
Availability comparison between

2-Level and multilevel inverters
4.1 Introduction
In many applications, the reliability is one of the most important constraints in power
design [100]. The reliability and the lifetime of the power devices is often a hurdle be-
cause of thermo-mechanical stress [101]. For this reason, the lifetime estimation [102] is
more and more important in every areas of application. However the reliability of the
single component (section 4.3) is only the first important step of the reliability analysis.
The set of power devices that composes the total system, has to be analyzed in terms of
system availability, that in case of acceptable redundancies [103] it can be improved. In
this section, availability of three different topologies is addressed. The considered config-
urations are: 2-Level dc/ac converter [104], Neutral Point Clamped [30], Neutral Point
Piloted [32]. The considered inverters are supposed to be without additional leg [105].
The aim of this work is to give an availability comparison between the three configura-
tions using Markov chains theory [106]- [107]- [108] (section 4.4) and the possibility to
study the restoration using multi-phase models [109] with the help of GRIF software.
An important issue in power converter design resides in thermal analysis [110]- [111].
In order to consider the heat cycle in availability comparison, the failure rate of the
semiconductor devices is adapted considering the number of cycles to failure, which is
a temperature cycle function [112]- [102]. The failure rate λ of a component is char-
acterized by the Bathtub curve [113] Fig.4.1 and often in many models is assumed to
be in steady state [114]. With the last assumption, are defined the reliability and the
mean-time-to-failure (MTTF) as follows:
R(t) = e−λt (4.1)
Z ∞
1
MT T F = R(t) dt = (4.2)
0 λ
In literature, often the MTTF is used in order to compare different topologies in terms
of reliability [115], but in some particular configurations is convenient to study the avail-
99
CHAPTER 4. AVAILABILITY COMPARISON BETWEEN 2-LEVEL AND
MULTILEVEL INVERTERS
Figure 4.1: Bathub curve
ability of the system, above all in case of redundancy levels of the converter [116]- [117].
In literature there are several comparison of inverter topologies [118], but often only
in terms of MTTF or MTBF (mean-time-between-failure). With this work, the aim is
to introduce the advantages of the multilevel inverters compared to the 2-level classical
inverter in terms of degraded operating mode conditions, considering availability curves.
In order to define the failure rates for the semiconductor devices of the system, in sec-
tion 4.3, the analysis of the IGBTs and diodes used is present. The definition of the
redundancy levels and Markov chains exploitation, in section 4.4 are discussed. Finally,
in section 4.5 simulation results are presented.
In the region called ”Infant mortality”, poor workmanship and substandard components
cause failures. This period is usually a few hundred hours and a ”burn in” is sometimes
employed to stop these failures occurring in the field. Note that this does not stop the
failures occurring, it just ensures that they happen in-house and not on the customers
premises [119].
In the region called ”Steady State”, the failure rate is approximately constant and it is
only for this region that the following analysis applies. In the last region, components
begin to fail through having reached their end of life, rather than by random failures.
Examples are electrolytic capacitors drying out, fan bearings seizing up, switch mecha-
nisms wearing out etc. Well implemented preventive maintenance can delay the onset
of this region.
4.2 Reliability definitions

Reliability is defined as the probability that a device will perform its required function
under stated conditions for a specific period of time. Predicting with some degree of
confidence is very dependant on correctly defining a number of parameters. For instance,
choosing the distribution that matches the data is of primary importance. If a correct
distribution is not chosen, the results will not be reliable. The confidence, which depends
on the sample size, must be adequate to make correct decisions. Individual component
failure rates must be based on a large enough population and relevant to truly reflect
present day normal usages. There are empirical considerations, such as determining the
slope of the failure rate and calculating the activation energy, as well as environmen-
tal factors, such as temperature, humidity, and vibration. Lastly, there are electrical
stressors such as voltage and current [120].
100
4.2.1 Mean Time Between Failures and Mean Time To Failure

Another indicator of the reliability characterization is the MTBF (Mean Time Between
Failures) for repairable product and MTTF (Mean Time To Failure) for non-repairable
product. A correct understanding of MTBF is important. A power supply with an
MTBF of 40,000 hours does not mean that the power supply should last for an average
of 40,000 hours. According to the theory behind the statistics of confidence intervals,
the statistical average becomes the true average as the number of samples increase. An
MTBF of 40,000 hours, or 1 year for 1 module, becomes 40,000/2 for two modules and
40,000/4 for four modules. Sometimes failure rates are measured in percent failed per
million hours of operation instead of MTBF. The FIT is equivalent to one failure per
billion device hours, which is equivalent to a MTBF of 1,000,000,000 hours. The formula
for calculating the MTBF is:
T
M T BF = (4.3)
R
where T is the total time and R is the number of failures.
MTTF (already described in the introduction with respect to the Bathtub curve)
is stands for Mean Time To Failure. To distinguish between the two, the concept of
suspensions must first be understood. In reliability calculations, a suspension occurs
when a destructive test or observation has been completed without observing a failure.
MTBF calculations do not consider suspensions whereas MTTF does. MTTF is the
number of total hours of service of all devices divided by the number of devices. It is
only when all the parts fail with the same failure mode that MTBF converges to MTTF:
T
MT T F = (4.4)
N
where N is the number of units under test.

A lot of time has been spent on developing procedures for estimating reliability of elec-
tronic equipment. There are generally two categories:
• predictions based on individual failure rates
• demonstrated reliability based on operation of equipment over time
Prediction methods are based on component data from a variety of sources: failure
analysis, life test data, and device physics. For some calculations MIL-HDBK-217 is
used, which is considered to be the standard reliability prediction method [120]. Other
method used in literature are for example in FIDES guide [121]. The MTTF can be
predict using the Accelerated Life Testing defined in the next paragraph.
4.2.2 Accelerated Life Testing

Traditional life data analysis involves analyzing times-to-failure data obtained under
normal operating conditions in order to quantify the life characteristics of a product,
101
system or component. For many reasons, obtaining such life data (or times-to-failure
data) may be very difficult or impossible. The reasons for this difficulty can include the
long life times of today’s products, the small time period between design and release, and
the challenge of testing products that are used continuously under normal conditions.
Given these difficulties and the need to observe failures of products to better understand
their failure modes and life characteristics, reliability practitioners have attempted to
devise methods to force these products to fail more quickly than they would under
normal use conditions. In other words, they have attempted to accelerate their failures.
Over the years, the phrase accelerated life testing has been used to describe all such
practices. Accelerated life testing involves the acceleration of failures with the single
purpose of quantifying the life characteristics of the product at normal use conditions.
More specifically, accelerated life testing can be divided into two areas: qualitative
accelerated testing and quantitative accelerated life testing. In qualitative accelerated
testing, the engineer is mostly interested in identifying failures and failure modes without
attempting to make any predictions as to the product’s life under normal use conditions.
4.2.3 Availability and repair

Availability is usually defined as the probability that a system is operating satisfactorily
at any point in time, which is an important measurement of performance of repairable
system. In order to define the availability, let us consider the maintainability and the
MTTR (Mean-Time-To-Repair).
Definition 1 (Maintainability) Maintainability is defined as the probability of per-
forming a successful repair action within a given time. In other words, maintainability
measures the ease and speed with which a system can be restored to operational sta-
tus after a failure occurs. For example, if it is said that a particular component has a
90% maintainability in one hour, this means that there is a 90% probability that the
component will be repaired within an hour. In maintainability, the random variable is
time-to-repair, in the same manner as time-to-failure is the random variable in reliability.
As an example, consider the maintainability equation for a system in which the repair
times are distributed exponentially. Its maintainability M (t) is given by:
M (t) = 1 − e−µt (4.5)
where µ is the repair rate, which is analogous to the failure rate λ used in reliability
for an exponential distribution. The parameter µ can be expressed as follows:
1
= MT T R (4.6)
µ
Definition 2 (Availability) Availability [122] is a performance criterion for repairable

systems that accounts for both the reliability and maintainability properties of a com-
ponent or system. It is defined as the probability that the system is operating properly
when it is requested for use. That is, availability is the probability that a system is not
failed or undergoing a repair action when it needs to be used. For example, if a lamp
has a 99.9% availability, there will be one time out of a thousand that someone needs to
102
use the lamp and finds out that the lamp is not operational either because the lamp is
burned out or the lamp is in the process of being replaced. Note that this metric alone
tells us nothing about how many times the lamp has been replaced. For all we know,
the lamp may be replaced every day or it could have never been replaced at all. Let us
to consider the asymptotic availability described by the following formula with respect
to the MTTF and MTTR:
MT T F
A(∞) = (4.7)
MT T F + MT T R
4.3 Electronic components reliability

The analysis of the reliability and availability is based on the description of the failure
rate components defined on the Military Handbook MIL-HDBK-217F [123]. The semi-
conductor devices used are Semikron modules SKM50GB123D. In 4.3.1 and 4.3.2 the
different parameters in order to calculate the failure rate of the IGBT and diode are
presented.
4.3.1 IGBT failure rate

The failure rate of the semiconductor devices depends on junction temperature, voltage
operating stress, the power rating, the quality of the manufacturing and environmental
conditions. All these factors are characterized by the Military Handbook mentioned
above for several semiconductor devices. The failure rate for IGBT is defined by [124]:
λIGBT = λb−IGBT ΠTj ΠA ΠR ΠS ΠQ ΠE (4.8)
where λb−IGBT is the base failure rate of the IGBT defined by the follow equation:
λb−IGBT = 0.032e0.354fsw +0.0058Ptot (4.9)
where fsw is the switching frequency and Ptot refers to the power level for the overall
packaged device and not to individual transistors within the package (if more than one
transistor is ganged together) [123]. The term ΠTj is the junction temperature factor,
calculated as follow:
1 1
−2114( T + 298 )
ΠT j = e j +273 (4.10)
The application type factor ΠA = 0.7 for switching applications, as defined on [123].
The power rating factor ΠR is supposed to be equal to 1 because of absence of data [124]
and also the power quality ΠQ is assumed as unity. The environmental factor ΠE = 9
considering equipment installed on wheeled or tracked vehicles and equipment manually
transported (GM is the environmental symbol on the Military Handbook). Remember-
ing one of the hypothesis about the three topologies, i.e. the semiconductor devices are
the same for every configuration, it is possible to adapt the dc voltage in order to ensure
103
the controllability of the inverter. For this reason, the voltage stress factor ΠS assume
an fundamental role. The voltage stress factor is defined as follows:
3.1Vstress
ΠS = 4.5 · 10−3 e Vrated
(4.11)
where Vstress is the collector-emitter voltage when the device is turned off and Vrated
is the device voltage rating. It is important to note that for a multilevel inverter, the
voltage Vstress = V2dc , it means that this factor it will be lower than the voltage stress
factor for a 2-level inverter.
4.3.2 Power diode failure rate

As defined for IGBT device, in order to analyze the failure rate of the diode, several
factors are calculated. Using Military Handbook and a new interpolate equation for
voltage stress factor, the failure rate of the diode is presented as follow:
λDIODE = λb−DIODE ΠTj ΠS ΠQ ΠE (4.12)
where λb−DIODE = 0.005 is the value given by the Military Handbook.

The factors ΠQ and ΠE have the same value of the IGBT and similarly the Junction
Temperature function is calculated as follow:
1 1
−3091( T + 298 )
ΠT j = e j +273 (4.13)
Differently to the IGBT, the voltage stress factor doesn’t have an equation, but a
table of values with respect to the anode-chatode voltage VAK , so that for the considered
range of dc voltage Vdc is possible to interpolate, such that it has:
Vstress
ΠS = 0.5 · [ + 0.8] (4.14)
Vrated
4.3.3 Failure rate under lifetime and heat cycle

As defined above, the failure rate of a component is considered in a static point of view,
but in some situations it is not enough. Often it is necessary to include the study of
the lifetime of the devices, by making dynamical the failure rate. As explained by [124],
the lifetime of an IGBT module depends on the wire-bonds and large-area solder joints.
Using the accelerated aging tests, it is define the number of cycles to failure Nf Tj of the
wire-bonds. This factor is a function of the average junction temperature Tj and the
junction-temperature swing ∆Tj and defined by [124]- [100] as follows:
104
kT
j
k∆Tj
Nf Tj = kf T j · (∆Tj ) e Tj +273
(4.15)
where kf T j = 9830, k∆Tj = −5 and kTj = 1124.
Finally, it is defined also the number of cycles to failure of the solder joint. Similarly
to the equation 4.15, this factor is given below:
kT
c
Nf Tc = kf T c · (∆Tc )k∆Tc e Tj +273 (4.16)
where kf T c = 9830, k∆Tc = −5 and kTc = 337. In literature, the number of cycles to
failure is necessary to estimate the lifetime of a component. In our case Nf Tj and Nf Tc
are used in order to give a new model for the failure rate of IGBT and diode. The idea is
to propose a failure rate value λw weighted with respect to the lifetime, or simply failure
rate related to the number of cycles to failure. The aim is to give a dynamic trend of
the failure rate with respect to the heat cycle (the temperature swing of the junction
and case of the module). For this reason, normalized factors related to the heat cycle
are defined:

Nf Tj
∆Tj =300

D(∆Tj ) =


Nf Tj
(4.17)
 Nf Tc
D(∆Tc ) =
 ∆Tc =300
Nf Tc
Considering the factor D, λW is defined as follows:
λIGBT /DIODE W = λIGBT /DIODE · Dm (4.18)

where Dm = min {D(∆Tj ), D(∆Tc )}. In this section, simulation results about the NPC
inverter for different ∆T will be shown. To be note that the reliability range of the
number of cycles to failure formula is ∆T ∈ [300 C, 800 C]
4.4 Markov Chains and degraded modes

In order to achieve the study of the reliability/availability of the three considered inverter
configurations, it is used the Markov chains theory. A process based on Markov chains
is a stochastic process. In probability theory, it is defined as a set of random variables
characterizing the dynamic of the systems of random values. Markov chain is a particular
process based on the property that the probability of moving to next state depends only
on the present state [125]. There are two different types of Markov chains [126] and
its extension: Homogeneous Markov Chain (HMC), Non-Homogeneous Markov Chain
(N-HMC) and semi-Markov (the extension). In this study it is considered the HMC, it
means that the system is characterized by constant transition rates. In order to explain
105
the differences about the three inverters, it has to be considered the Figs. 4.2 - 4.3 and
analyze them above all in terms of redundancy level (or degraded modes of the system).
In paragraphs 4.4.1-4.4.2 are analyzed the possible redundancy levels of the NPC and
NPP. There are not possible degraded mode for classical 2-level inverter. It is supposed
that an acceptable degraded mode is only when, in the worst case, the NPP/NPC works
like a classical 2-level inverter. Considering Fig. 4.2, the state 1 represent the initial
state of the system (normal operating mode), the state 2 is the level which the system
is considered in failure. Any other state is a redundancy level, it means that the system
still works. In Fig. 4.3 only one leg of the three-phase inverters are shown. The 2-Level
doesn’t have redundancy levels, so that the state 1 and 2 are the only possible states.
Neutral Point Clamped(NPC) and Neutral Point Piloted inverters don’t have the same
number of redundancy levels (nN P C 6= nN P P ).
Figure 4.2: Generic Markov scheme
The transitions between the states can be represented by a matrix A:
Pn
− λ1j λ . λ1n
 
j=1 Pn 12

 λ21 − j=1,j6=2 λ2j . λ2n 

 . . Pn . . 
A=  (4.19)

 λi1 . − j=1,j6=i λij . 

 . . . . 
Pn−1
λn1 λn2 . − j=1 λnj
where λij means the transition state from the state i to the state j.
4.4.1 Degraded modes of the NPC inverter

In Fig.4.4 are shown the possible redundancy levels of a three-phase Neutral Point
Clamped. There are four degraded modes because the same concept analyzed for D1
and T1 can be adopted for D2 and T4. In this topology there are not degraded modes
for T2 and T3. When a degrade operating mode is present, the stress on the components
increases and the failure rate increases too. As is shown in Fig.4.4.a, when T1 is in short
circuit (or T4) it is possible to put the switch T4 constantly ON and considering the
PWM of a classical 2-level inverter in order to switch T2 and T3. In this case the diodes
106
Figure 4.3: Three different inverter configurations
are OFF because of anode-cathode inverse voltage. The same thing it is possible to do
in case of open circuit of the diode D1 (or D2) Fig.4.4.b. Therefore, for this topology it
has four possible degraded modes (nN P C = 4). The voltage on the switches T2 and T3
in this operating mode will be the double (VDC ) compared with the normal operating
mode.
Figure 4.4: Degraded modes of the Neutral Point Clamped inverter:

(a) T1 in short circuit and (b) D1 in open circuit
The real scheme of the Neutral Point Clamped Markov Chain implemented on the
software GRIF is shown in Fig. 4.5.
As presented above for the simplified Markov model 4.2, in this case the state rep-
resented by the orange circle corresponds to the redundancy level of the system. The
state indicates by the number 1 to the top represents the normal operating mode of
the system. The state 2 means that the system is in failure, with the clamping diode
in short circuit. The transition rate is 2λD , because we have two diodes and the total
failure rate is the sum of the two failure rates (the same explications in the other cases).
The state 3 means that the system is in a degraded operating mode, with the diode
in open circuit (as shown in Fig. 4.4.b). To be noted that the hypothesis is that the
short-circuit failure rate and the open-circuit failure rate are equal. The transition from
the state 3 to the other state is characterized by the subscript ’deg’, it means that the
failure rate are re-calculated considering the new operating stress on the components.
The transition from the state 3 to the state 7 corresponds to the switch T1 (or T4) in
short-circuit, in this situation the system is again in functional operating mode. The
107
Figure 4.5: Markov Chain model of NPC inverter
state 4 means that the switch T1 (or T4) is in short-circuit (as shown in Fig. 4.4.a).
The transition from the state 4 to the state 12 corresponds to the diode D1 (or D2) in
open-circuit, this situation is similar to the state 7. In all the other states, the system
is considered in failure.
4.4.2 Degraded modes of the NPP inverter

In Fig.4.6 the redundancy levels of a three-phase Neutral Point Piloted are presented.
When T1 is in short circuit failure, as for the NPC, it is possible to put ON the switch
T4. For this topology is not enough to put ON the switch T4 but it needs to hold the
swith T6, as shown in Fig.4.6.a. When T2 is in short circuit Fig.4.6.b, it needs to put
ON T3 (or T4). In Fig.4.6.c is shown the case of T5 (or T6) in short circuit failure, for
the NPP is a possible redundancy level because of the presence of two switches in the
clamping wire (for the NPC it has the diodes). The same concept can be adopted in
case of open circuit of T5 (or T6).
The real scheme of the Neutral Point Piloted Markov Chain implemented on the
software GRIF is shown in Appendix B.1.
108
Figure 4.6: Degraded modes of the Neutral Point Clamped inverter: (a) T1 in short
circuit, (b) T2 in short circuit, (c) T5 in short circuit, (d) T1 in open circuit
4.4.3 Multi-Phase Markov models

In this section the system repairing using Multi-Phase Markov models [127]- [128] on
GRIF software is considered. The using of these models is useful in several situations,
such as the introduction of the repair function in Markov chain model or the considera-
tion of the heat cycle in the failure rate calculation. For aircraft application, for example,
the repair is possible only when the airplane is on the earth and the functioning of this
type of model is shown in Fig.4.7, where M (nxm) is the matrix that defines the transi-
tion between the system without repair to the left and the system considering only the
repair to the right. The phase of repair can be considered as a periodical testing, and at
the end of every period the system pass from a particular phase to an other one. In this
thesis is considered that in every state it is possible to repair the system and to return
to the state 1 (n = m). In this section, simulation results for the NPC inverter will be
presented, considering different MTTR (Mean Time To Repair). In Fig.4.7, µr = M T1T R
Figure 4.7: Multi-phase Markov model
The real scheme of the Neutral Point Clamped multi-phase Markov Chain is shown
in Fig. 4.8. The hypothesis is that in every state, when the system is repaired, we return
to the normal operating mode (i.e. if the inverter is composed by modules and not by
single components).
109
lnverter NPC
2*1ambdaiGBT
2*1ambdaiGBT
2*1ambdaiGBT
D1c
prob = 0.0
X1o
prob = 0.0 X2c
eff= 0.0 prob = 0.0
eff= 0.0
eff= 0.0
2*1ambdaDdeg
TO""'''GBTO" ~
BX1cX2o
prob = 0.0
eff= 0.0
D1oX2c
prob = 0.0
eff= 0.0
X1cX2c
prob = 0.0
eff = 00
2*1ambdaiGBTdeg 2*1ambdaiGBTdeg
2*1ambdaiGBTdeg
D1oX1cX2c
prob = 0.0 D1oX1cX2o
eff= 0.0 prob = 0.0
eff = 0.0
lnverler NPC with repair
mu_r
X2o
prob = 0.0
eff= 0.0
D1c
prob = 0.0
eff= 0.0
X2cD1c X2cD1o X2cX1c X2cX1o

D1oX1c D1oX1o D1oX2c D1oX2o X1c01c X1c01o X1cX2c X1cX2o prob = 0.0 prob = 00 prob = O.Oprob = 0.0
prob = OOprob = 0.0 prob = 0.0 prob = 00 prob = O.Oprob = 0.0 prob = 00 prob = 0.0 eff= 0.0 eff= 0.0 eff= 0.0 eff= 0.0
eff= 1.0 eff= 0.0 eff= 0.0 eff= 0.0 eff= 0.0 eff= 1.0 eff= 0.0 eff= 0.0
20
01oX1cX2c D1oX1 cX2o

prob = 0.0 prob = 0.0
eff= 0.0 eff= 0.0
Figure 4.8: Multi-phase Markov model of a Neutral Point Clamped
110
4.5 Inverter availability assesment using Markov chain

model
The analytical solutions are obtained using GRIF software and Matlab.
The availability is calculated from the matrix A defined in section 4.4 (eq. 4.19):
A(t) = P(0)eAt 1̄f (4.20)
where P(0) is the initial probability state vector and 1̄f is a vector defined as follows:
1̄f = [1, 1, 1, ..., 0, 0, ...0]T (4.21)
where the set of 0 10 represents the functional states and the set of 0 00 the failed states.
In our numerical results will be shown the unavailability that can be defined with the
following expression:
Ā(t) = 1 − A(t) (4.22)
In Appendix A are shown some details to express the availability through the equation
B.3.
In this section are presented the comparison between the three topology in terms of
availability without considering the repair and for different values of VDC . Simulation
about NPC and NPP are shown considering the heat cycle for different values of ∆Tj .
Finally, considering the repair, simulations about NPC inverter are presented. In Tab.4.1
the rated voltage of the components, the rated power, the reference temperature and
the switching frequency used are shown.
Table 4.1: Operating parameters

2-Level/NPC/NPP
fsw (kHz) 20
Ptot (kW ) 3
Vrated−diode (V ) 1200
Vrated−IGBT (V ) 600
0
Tj ( C) 100
In Fig.4.9 is shown the unavailability for fixed value of the dc voltage VDC . To be
noted that the the systems with more components (NPC and NPP) are more available
that the system with less components (2-Level). This is an important results, considering
that if it is only considered the MTTF (Mean Time To Failure), the 2-Level appears
more reliable Fig.4.10. The MTTF is calculated as follows:
 1
M T T Fclass = 3(2λIGBT )

1
M T T FN P C = 3(4λIGBT +2λDIODE )
(4.23)
 1
M T T FN P P = 3(6λIGBT

)
111
Figure 4.9: Unavailability of 2-Level, NPC and NPP for fixed VDC = 400V
where the number 0 30 means that three legs are present. For the classical 2-Level
inverter it has two compnents for every leg, for the NPC four IGBT and two diodes
are present and for NPP, we have almost the same thing but the clamping diodes are
replaced by the IGBT (for this reason they are six).
Figure 4.10: MTTF of 2-Level, NPC and NPP for fixed VDC = 400V
Figure 4.11: Unavailability of 2-Level, NPC and NPP varying VDC between 400V-800V
112
In Fig. 4.11 the dependency of the NPP and NPC availability with respect to the
inverter input voltage is shown. For the 2-level inverter the input voltage is fixed be-
cause it is impossible to increase it because of the maximum stress rated voltage. For
the hypothesis given (same components for every topology), it is obvious that we can
increase the input voltage for the other topologies, considering that the voltage stress on
the components is the half voltage with respect to the 2-level inverter. For this reason
we can note that increasing the inverter input voltage from 400V to 800V, the unavail-
ability of the mumtilevel inverters considererd is always lower.
Figure 4.12: Unavailability of 2-Level, NPC and NPP considering Heat cycle
In Fig. 4.12 a trend comparison of the NPP and NPC considering the heat cycle is
given. Also in this case, the topology trends are matched and the NPP unavailability is
always lower that the NPC unavailability.
Figure 4.13: Unavailability of NPC inverter considering the repair
In order to give information about the repair, using the multi-phase Markov models,
in Fig. 4.13 a comparison of the NPC with different MTTR is shown.
113
4.6 Conclusions
In this chapter a comparison of three inverter topologies is presented. Actually, power
losses comparison is the most important things in order to choice a particular topology
instead of another one. The aim of this work is to show the advantage in terms of
availability when topologies with more components are used. When different level of
redundancy are present, different operating modes are possible. The classical 2-Level
inverter is less available than the multilevel considered taking account the used com-
ponents and for this application, also if it is more reliable because consisting of less
components. The modeling of the Markov chains is complex above all related to the
calculation of the failure rates in order to consider the trend about heat cycle and the
voltage stresses. After that, it is important to understand the redundancy level ac-
cepted, and this particular constraint depends on the application and to the normative.
In this thesis are not considered the failure rates of the filters because of the aim is to
give a comparison of converter topologies. It is interesting analyze the results and to
try to optimize the system design not only in terms of MTTF or power losses but also
considering the availability of a topology. This is really important above all in aircraft
application, when is not possible immediately to repair but we can accept a degraded
mode for a little or a relative longer time.
114
General Conclusion
In this work some problems related to the chain PV-grid are analyzed. In the first chap-
ter, several configurations for photovoltaic applications are introduced. The first step of
the chain is to optimize the power conversion with the Maximum Power Point Tracking
(MPPT). To introduce the advantage of a Distributed-MPPT in renewable energy sys-
tems, a literature overview on different connections is presented. The efficiency in terms
of power losses in this field is not the only constraint to increase the energy injected on
the electrical grid. For this reason, on one hand researches are conducted on different
topologies and PV configurations, and on the other hand the DMMPT is considered for
classical configurations connected to a 2-Level VSI. The advantages and drawbacks of
this solution are presented and an alternative configuration based on cascaded boost-
Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter is proposed. This topology has the advantage to
have a neutral connection avoiding the two boost converters output capacitors in series.
It allows voltage balancing realized by the inverter. Other advantages include lower
stress on semiconductor components and either lower output current THD or reduced-
size filter. For this reason the problems related to the output filter are considered in this
work.
Flatness-Based Control (FBC) and Passivity-Based Control (PBC) are implemented

in order to manage the filter resonance and to guarantee a fast and robust control of the
grid current. The grid current is directly controlled with FBC, while indirectly controlled
with PBC. In particular, it is shown the robustness of FBC with respect to disturbances
and model uncertainties.
Once injected currents to grid are well controlled, a voltage control loop and a volt-
age balancing technique are implemented. However, the interaction between them may
lead to instability. For this reason, a large signal stability analysis tool based on the
Higher-Order Singular Value Decomposition (HOSVD) is used in this thesis. This tool
is particularly useful when the model involves a high number of nonlinearities making
impossible the application of Takagi-Sugeno multi-modeling. The stability analysis leads
to an estimation of the domain of attraction of the equilibrium point. This tool is ap-
plied to the stability analysis of a PFC-LCL filter system as well as an NPC inverter
including a voltage balancing technique. It is shown that for some nonlinear systems
with a lot of nonlinearities, the use of the HOSVD multi-modeling approach is a better
way to estimate the domain of attraction.
Finally, in order to complete the comparison between a 2-Level classical inverter and
multilevel inverters, like NPC and Neutral Point Piloted (NPP), a reliability assessment
study is presented in the last chapter. The aim is to understand whether the use of
a topology with more components improves the reliability or not. It is shown that the
multilevel inverters (NPC and NPP) are more available that the classical 2-Level inverter
115
even though if the former have more components.
As future work, it would be interesting to study other power electronic topologies

to realize DMPPT and to compare their effectiveness to a 2-Level inverter. Another
work could be to shift PBC current control to the control of the injected current to
grid. A stabilization law could also be added either to the voltage control loop or to
the voltage balancing to improve the stability margins. In this work, we did not take
into account the effect of voltage imbalances on the reliability. This topic would be
important to give a more realistic picture of the reliability of the system. And finally, a
dynamic reliability assessment would be required to take into account actual operating
conditions for evaluating reliability parameters.
116
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[128] Y. Dutuit, F. Innal, A. Rauzy, and J.-P. Signoret. Probabilistic assessments in

relationship with safety integrity levels by using fault trees. Reliability Engineering
& System Safety, 93(12):1867 – 1876, 2008. 17th European Safety and Reliability
Conference.
126
Appendix A
Input voltages balancing 5-Level

NPC
As the three-level, the five-level suffers the mismatch of the component that compose
the inverter. The substantial difference between the 3L and the 5L is that the unbalance
in this latter it strongly depends on the PWM method used. In order to use the same
approach that we used for the 3L-npc, it is not possible to apply the same PWM strat-
egy. The parallelism between the balance technique adopted for the 3L-npc and 5L-npc
it should be explained so:
• hyp. P1 = P3 = P4 < P2
• it means that Vdc1 + Vdc2 > Vdc3 + Vdc4 , for the same reason explained in 3L-
NPC configuration. Then if we shift the reference voltage upward controlling the
difference ∆V1 = (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) − (Vdc3 + Vdc4 )
• At this step are not balanced the voltages Vdc1 and Vdc2 . Then we use the same
balance control technique in order to have Vdc1 = Vdc2 . The same for Vdc3 and Vdc4
when a variation of P3 or/and P4 is present
• Solution: three modified reference voltages are used (N-2 references, where N is the
number of level of the inverter). N-2 corresponds to the number of the clamping
currents (io1 , io2 , io3 ) (Fig. A.1)
It is important to note that this 5L-NPC commanded in this kind of PWM, the volt-
ages are unbalanced also without input mismatch. This is not a limit for the balance
technique adopted. We can conclude that this balance technique allows balancing the
voltages in case of standard APODPWM. In Fig. A.2 are shown the four voltages in
three different cases:
• without balance technique
• with balance technique
• with balance technique and input power mismatch
127
APPENDIX A. INPUT VOLTAGES BALANCING 5-LEVEL NPC
Figure A.1: 5-Level Neutral Point Clamped inverter
Figure A.2: Simulation of the 5L-NPC
128
Appendix B
Markov chains details
In this appendix, some details about the Markov chains are presented. Let us to con-
sider, first of all, the fundamental equation of a Markov chain continuous time:
Ṗ(t) = P(t)A (B.1)
where A is the matrix of the transition rates and P(t) = [P1 (t)P2 (t)P3 (t)...Pn (t)] is the
probabilities state vector and Pi (t) is the probability of the ith state.
The equation B.1 is called Chapman-Kolmogorov’s equation. The solution of this equa-
tion is:
P(t) = P(0)eAt (B.2)
Considering that the availability is the sum of the system probabilities where the
system is in functional operating mode, it has:
A(t) = P(0)eAt 1̄f (B.3)
In Fig. B.1 is present the Markov chain of the NPP inverter with its degraded modes
(orange circle) and default states (white circle). As said in Chapter 4, the NPP has
more redundancy levels than NPC and the Markov chain model is a little more complex.
This advantage is due to the presence of the switches instead of diodes for the clamping.
To be noted that the two switches in series is an advantage in terms of the redundancy
level that corresponds to the open-circuit, but also in relation with the short-circuit, as
explained in Chapter 4.
129
Figure B.1: Markov Chain model of NPP inverter
lambda_IGBT lambda_IGBT
""""-'G'~
lambda_IGBT lambda_IGBT
X2o
---
prob; 0.0
eff; O.O
X1o
lambda_IGBTdeg prob ;0.0
eff;O.O
T1 cX2o lambda_IGBTdeg ;BTdeg 3BTdeg GBTdeg

prob;OO
lambda_IGBT eff;OO lambda_IGBT _IGBT IGBT GBT lambda_IGBTdeg
d ~\ d
APPENDIX B. MARKOV CHAINS DETAILS
c6
130
X1cX2o
prob;O.O
T1 cX~c eff; O.O
X2cX1o
prob 0.0 T1 oX1o T1 cX2o prob;O.O
eff;10 prob;O.O prob;O.O lambda_IGBTdeg eff; O.O
lambda_IGBTdeg eff;O.O eff;O .O
lambda IGE
'•m•~::~'""
lambda_IGBTdeg
~
T1 cX1o
prob; O.O
eff;O.O
d.~
lambda_IGBTdeg
j
""""-'GdTde- lambda_IGBTde
lambda_IGBTdeg
lambda IGBTdeg
r
lambda_IGBTdeg
dl
laml lambda_IGBTdeg lam lambda_IGBTdeg
''m"'•_,GBT
d J~ d
N25
prob; 0.0
eff; 00
37
N33 35
N~
c6
prob; O N37 N39
prob ; OO
.;00 M
~~o~~go t
N26 prob ;0.0 prob; O.O
NM 36 eff;O.O eff;OO
eff; 0.0 N2:7 28 29 N3: 0 N3131
N41
N32 N36 prob; O.O
N24 prob ;0.0 prob;O.O
prob; O.O prob; 0.0 N28 N29 prob; 0.0 prob; 0.0 eff;OO prob;O.O N38 eff;O.O N43
eff; 00 prob; 00 prob ; 00 eff; 0.0 eff; 00 eff;O.O eff; 0.0 prob ;O O prob; O.O
eff;OO
eff; 00 eff; OO eff;OO eff; O.O
N4 0 N42
prob;O.O prob ;0.0
eff;O.O eff; O.O
Appendix C
Matlab code for matrix A in large

signal stability analysis
131
APPENDIX C. MATLAB CODE FOR MATRIX A IN LARGE SIGNAL
STABILITY ANALYSIS
Pl •ki •wA2 • x2 •xJ• x4 + P2•ki•w•2•x2• x3•x4 + 4•C•Pl• Vdcl•kp•w• x2•3• zitap +

4•C•P2*Vdcl•kp• w•x2•3•zitap - C•Pl *ki •w• x2A3 •x4 • zitap -
C•P2 • ki•w• x2A3 • x4 • zitap + 4•C• Pt •VdclA2•kp•w• x2A2 • zicap +
4•C•P2*Vdcl•2 •kp•w•x2•2•zitap - 4•C•Pl•Vdcl•ki• w• x2•2•x4 • zitap
4•C•Pl*Vdcl•2 •ki•w•x2•x4 *zitap - 4 *C•P2*Vdcl*ki •w•x2•2•x4 • zicap -
4•C•P2*Vdcl•2 •ki •w•x2•x4 *zitap}/denl;
Al woxl=PlA2 •x2 + P2A2 *x2 + Pl.2 *kp*x2A2 + P2•2 •kp•x2A2 + 2• Pl *P2*x2 +
2 •Pl *P2*kp*x2•2 - 2*PlA2 *Vdcl *ki *x4 - 2*P2A2*Vdcl *ki *x4 + 2• Pl•2•Vdct •kp•x2 +
2 •P2 •2*Vdcl •kp*x2 + 4•Pl *Vdct •w•2•x3 - Pl.2*ki*x2 *x4 - P2.2*ki'x2*x4 +
Pl *~2 * x2 * x3 - P2 *wA2•x2 •x3 - 4*Pl *P2 *Vdcl *ki*x4 + 4 *Pl' P2*Vdcl*kp' x2 -
Pl *kp•wA2 *x2A2 *x3 - P2 *kp•w•2 •x2A2 *x3 - 2'Pl *P2 *ki'x2•x4 - c •Pt•w•x2A3'z itap +
C*P2 *w*x2A3•zitap - 6•C'Pl'Vdcl'w'x2"'2*zitap - 8*C'Pl'Vdcl"'2•w•x2•z itap +
2 *C*P2*Vdcl •w•x2•2 •zitap + C•Pl'kp*w•x2"'4 'zitap + C' P2*kp'w'x2A4 'zitap +
2 *Pl *Vdcl *ki*wA2*x3 *x4 + 2 ' P2 *Vdcl * ki '~2'x3 *x4 - 2' Pl *Vdcl ' kp'wA2' x2'x3
2 *P2 ' Vdcl *kp•wA2*x2 *x3 + Pl*ki*wA2 *x2 *x3'x4 + P2*ki 'w"'2•x2'x3'x4 +
4*C*Pl*Vdcl *kp• w•x2 "'3 *z1tap + 4•C'P2' Vdcl'kp' w'x2"'3 •zttap -
C*Pl *ki'w*x2"'3 *x4 *zitap - C*P2'ki'w'x2"'3*x4'zitap +
4*C*Pl• VdclA2 •kp •w•x2A2 •zitap + 4*C*P2' Vdcl"'2• kp•w•x2"'2• zitap
4*C*Pl ' Vdcl •kt •w•x2A2•x4 ' z1tap - 4 ' C*Pl' Vdcl"'2'ki'w'x2' x4'zitap
4•C•P2' Vdcl *ki ' w'x2"'2•x4 *zitap - 4 •C• P2*Vdcl"'2'ki'w'x2' x4 ' zitap;
t\ A2• colle ct(Al woxl,x2 ) witbout part in xl and witbout denl
b4 •(C• Pt •kp •w•z tëap + C*Pl'kp •w•zitap);
b3 • (C*Pl •w• zitap - c• Pl•w• :: :ita p • 4'C*Pl*Vdel• kp•,.· • zit.a p •
4•C•P2'Vdcl'kp•w•:itap- C•Pl 'ki 'w'x4'zitap • C*P2*ki'w'x4' :itap);
b2a(Pt•2 •kp + P2•2 •kp + 2 *Pl• P2• kp • Pl' kp•w"'2• x3 - P2' kp'wA2'xl •
6 •C• Pl ' Vdcl •w• :itap + 2 •C• P2' Vdcl•w•: itap + 4'C' Pl*VdclA2 'kp•w• zttap +
4•C•P2'Vdcl•2•kp•w•:itap - 4'C*Pl•Vdcl•kt•w•x4•:itap -
4'C'P2'Vdcl•k t •w•x4•zitap};
bl •(Pt•2 + P2•2 • 2•Pt•P2 • 2'PlA2 ' Vdcl' kp + 2• P2A2' Vdcl •kp .. PlA2'ki ' x4
P2•2 •ki *x4 + Pl •wA2•x.3 .. P2•w"'2•x3 + 4*Pl•P2' Vdcl ' kp .. 2*Pl ' P2 ' ki'x4
8 •C• Pt •Vdct•2 •w•:ita p - 2 • Pt• Vdcl'kp •w•2• xl • 2 ' P2 • Vdcl •kp•~ 2 · x3 •
Pl •kt •w"'2 •x3 •x4 + P2 •kt •w"'2 •x3• x4 - 4•c-•·Pt •Vdel"'2 •kt •w·• x4 ' zicap ..
4•C•P2•Vdct•2•kt•w•x4•:ttap);
A2•b4•x2•4 + b3'x2•3 + b2'x2•2 • bl•x2 + 4 ' Pl*Vdct•w"'2•x3 .. 2• P2•2• Vdcl ' ki ' x4
• 2• Pt•2 •Vdcl ' ki ' X4 • 4'Pl ' P2 ' Vdcl ' ki ' x4 • 2' Pl ' Vdct •kt•w"'2•x3 •x4 •
2 *P2 ' Vdcl ' kt •wA2 •x3 •x4 ;
Al wox2a4 •Pt •Vdcl •w"'2 •x3 • 2 ' P2.2' Vdcl' ki ' X4 • 2• Pt•2• Vdcl*ki *X4 •
4•Pt •P2 •Vdcl *ki •x4 + 2'Pl•Vdcl' ki•w•2 •x3•x4 + 2 • P2*Vdcl*ki•w•2 •x3•x4;
t\ Alceollect(A2 wox2,x3) without part in x2

c1=(4 •Pl•Vdcl •w"'2 + 2 • Pl * Vdcl ' ki•wA2·x~ + 2• P2• Vdcl • ki •w"'2•x4 );
A3=cl •x3 • 2 • Vdcl •ki•x4•P1~2 .. 4 *Vdel *ki•x4•Pl • P2 • 2• Vdcl•ti • x4 • P2A2;
A~ woxl=· 2•Vdcl•ki *x4 *Pt•2 • 4•Vdcl• ki *x4 *Pl• P2 - 2•Vdcl *ki•x4•P2•2;
t\- A4=collect(A3 wox3,x4) without part in x3 dl= ( - 2 *Vdcl *ki• PlA2 -
4*Vdcl*ki *Pl • P2 : 2*Vdcl *ki• P2A2)
A4 =dl• x.;
tt Parts in xl,x2,xl,x4 we have total dxl
dxl collect=(a4•xl~4 + a3•x1~3 + a2•xl"'2 + al•xl + b4*x2~4 + b3• x2"'3 + b2*x2A2
+ bÏ• x2 + cl*xl + dl• x4)/denl
' ' Bl=collect(dx2,x2) to simplify the presentation
e4=(- C*Pl•kp•w•zitap- C*P2•kp•w•zitap);
e3=(C*Pl*ki•w•x.;•zitap- 3•C•P2•w•zitap- 4•C•Pt•Vdcl•kp•w•zitap
4*C•P2*Vdcl*kp• w•zitap- C*Pl •w• zitap + C• P2*ki •w•x4 • zicap);
e2=(Pl * kp • w~2*x3 - P2~2 • kp - 2*Pl• P2• kp - Pt•2• kp + P2*kp•wA2*xl
2*C*Pl*Vdcl •w•zitap - lO• C•P2 *Vdcl •w•zitap + C• Pl •w•xt • zicap - C*P2•w•xl•zitap
- 4•C•Pl*Vdcl'"'2•kp•w• zitap - 4•C• P2*Vdcl "'2 •Jcp•w·• zicap +
132
STABILITY ANALYSIS
4•C•Pl• Vdcl •ki • w•x4 • zitap + 4 *C•P2 *Vdcl •ki •w• x4 • zicap + c • Pl * ki •~xl • x4•zitap
+ C*P2• ki • w•xl *x4 *zitap);
el=(PlA2•ki•x4 - P2A2 - 2*Pl*P2 - 2*PlA2•Vdcl•kp- 2 *P2A2*Vdcl •kp - PlA2 +
P2A2 *1d*x4 + Pl*wA2 •x3 + 3*P2 *wA2• x3 - ·4*Pl*P2*Vdcl *kp + 2*Pl • P2 •ki •x4 -
8 •C•P2*Vdc l A2 •w•zitap - C•Pl•w•xlA2•zitap - 3*C*P2•w•x1A2•zitap +
2 •Pl *Vdcl *kp*wA2•x3 + 2*P2*Vdcl*kp *~2•x3 - Pl*ki *wA2•xJ •x4 - P2 •ki 'wA2 •xJ•x4
- 8*C*P2 •Vdcl •w•xl•zitap + 4*C•Pl*VdclA2*ki•~•x4 • zitap +
4•C•P2*VdclA2 •kt•w•x4•zitap + C*Pl *ki *w• xlA2*x4 *zitap +
C•P2 *ki*w*xlA2 *x4 *zitap + 4*C*Pl *Vdcl *ki*w*xl*x4•zitap +
4•C•P2*Vdcl •kt •w•xl *x4 *zitap};
den2=( (2 •C*Pl + 2*C*P2) *x2A2 + (6*C*Pl*Vdcl + 6 *C*P2 *Vdcl + 2 *C*Pl •xl +
2 •C•P2*xl)*x2 + 4 *C*Pl *VdclA2 + 4*C*P2*Vdcl~2 + 2 *C*Pl*Vdcl *xl +
2 •C•P2*Vdcl •xl);
Bl=(e4 *x2A4 + e3•x2~3 + e2*x2A2 + el*x2 + PlA2*xl + P2A2*xl + PlA2•kp•xlA2 +
P2A2 *kp*x.lA2 + 2 •Pl *P2 *xl + 2 * Pl * P2 * kp*~lA2 + 2 *PlA2 *Vdcl *ki*x4 +
2 • P2A2*Vdcl •ki *x4 + 2*PlA2*Vdcl*kp*xl + 2*P2A2*Vdcl*kp'xl + 4 *P2*Vdcl *wA2*x.J +
PlA2 *ki *xl *x4 + P2A2 *ki *xl*x4 - Pl *wA2 *~l *x3 + P2 *wA2•xl •x3 +
4•Pt • P2 *Vdcl•ki *x4 + 4*Pl• P2*Vdcl*kp*xl - Pl*kp•·,A2*xlA2•x3 -
P2 *kp*~A2*xlA2 * x3 + 2*Pl *P2•kt •xl *x4 + C *Pl•w•x!A3*z itap - c • P2•w•xlA3•z ttap +
2 •C*Pl*Vd.cl •w•xl A2 *zitap - 6*C*P2*Vdcl*-w*xl ~2 . zitap - a • c • P2*VdclA2 •w·• xt •::;; ttap
+ C• Pl *kp *w•xlA4 •zitap + C•P2 *kp*w*XlA4 *::;;itap - 2 *Pl *Vdcl *ki*wA2•x) *X4 -
2 • P2 *Vdcl *ki *wA2 *x3 *x4 - 2 * Pl * Vdcl * kp 'w~2 * xl ' xl - 2• P2 •Vdcl ' kp'wA2•xl •x3
Pl *ki *wA2 *xl *x3 *x4 - P2*ki •wA2• xl•x3•x4 + 4*C*Pl*Vdcl*kp•w•x1A3•:itap +
4•C•P2*Vdcl•kp*w*xlA)*:itap + C * Pl *k i •w~ xlAJ • x4 • :itap +
C*P2 *ki •w•x1A3 *x4 •: itap + 4•C• Pl ""Vdcl A2 *kp •w·• xl A2 • :itap +
4*C*P2*Vdcl~2•kp•w•xl~2•:itap + 4*C'Pl*Vdcl*ki•w•x1A2*x4•:it&p +
4•C•Pl*Vdcl"2•ki•w•xl•x4•zitap • 4 •C• P2 •Vdcl •kt •·, •xlA2 ' x4 ' :1tap •
4 •C• P2*Vdcl"2 •ki •w•xl •x4 • :itap) /den2;
81 wox2a PlA2 *xl + P2A2 "xl • PlA2 •kp•xlA2 + P2A2 ' kp*xlA2 + 2*Pl ' P2•x l •
2 •Pt •P2 • kp•xl~2 + 2*PlA2 *Vdcl *ki •x4 • 2 • P2A2' Vdcl ' ki ' x4 • 2*PlA2*Vdcl 'kp ' xl +
2 *P2"2 •Vdcl *kp• xl + 4*P2*Vdcl•w"2• x3 • Pl~2 * ki * xl ' x4 • P2 .. 2*ki 'xl •x4 -
Pl •w~2 • xt • x3 + P2•wA2•xt•x3 • 4*Pl *P2•Vdcl •ki•x4 • 4 ' Pl*P2• Vdcl ' kp*xl -
Pl •kp•wA2 •xt .. 2• x3 - P2 •kp•wA2 •xlA2 •x3 + 2*PPP2 ' kPxl• x4 • c •Pl* w'' X l")• :itap -
C• P2 •wa-xl"3 •:itap • 2 ' C' Pl ' Vdcl•w·• xl•2• :itap - 6• C•P2• Vdcl•w•x t•2• :itap -
a •c • P2•Vdcl"2•w•xl •: itap + C• Pl• kp•w• xlA4 • :itap. C*P2' kp•v•xl ...4 *:itap -
2 *Pl*Vdcl*kt •wA2 •x3 •x4 - 2 • P2 *Vdcl • kt •w~2 • x3 *x4 - 2• Pt •Vdcl •kp'vA2• xt•x3
2 *P2*Vdcl*kp•wA2 •xt•x3 • Pl *k i •vA2 •x t ~xJ •x4 • P2*ki •v •2 •xt•x3 • x4 +
4*C*Pl*Vdcl •kp• w·• xt•3 •zitap + 4•C•P2• Vdcl • kp•w• xl""3 • :itap +
C *Pl · ~~·w•xl""3 * x4 * zi cap + C• P2•ki • w•x!A)•x4•:itap +
4•C•Pl•VdclA2 •kp •w•xlA2• zitap + 4• C• P2•VdclA2•kp• w•xt•2• :icap +
4 •C•Pl*Vdcl •kt •w·• xl A2 •x4 • :ttap + 4 •c • Pl *Vdcl"'2• ki •v• xl•x4 •zitap +
4 •C•P2*Vdcl •kt •w·• xl""'2•x4 • :ttap + 4 •c • P2 *Vdcl""2• ki •v • xl•x4 •zitap;
' ' 82=collect(Bl wox2, xl) vithout x2part and vithout den
f4=(C•Pl•kp•w·• zit"ap + C•P2*kp•w•zttap);
f3=(C•Pl•w•zitap · C•P2•w•zitap + 4* C*Pl*Vdcl•kp•w•:ttap +
4•C•P2*Vdcl*kp• w•:ttap + C•Pl *kt •v• x4 • :itap + C• P2*ki•w• x4•:ttap) ;
f2=(Pl"'2*kp + P2 ... 2*kp + 2*Pl*P2*kp- Pl *kp•wA2• x3 - P2•kp•w"'2' x3 +
2•C•Pl• Vdcl•w•:itap - 6•C•P2*Vdcl•w•:it .ap + 4•C• Pl*Vdct•2•kp• w•zitap +
4*C•P2• Vdct•2•kp•w•:itap + 4*C•Pl*Vdcl•>.i• w•x4 • :itap +
4•C•P2*Vdcl•ki • w•x4 • zttap);
fl=(Pl ... 2 + P2•2 + 2• Pl • P2 + 2• PlA2 •Vdcl •kp + 2*P2A2• Vdcl • kp + Pl"'2 ' ki"x4 +
P2 ... 2*ki• x4 - Pl•wA2 •x3 + P2•vA2•x3 + 4*Pl • P2•Vdcl •kp + 2*Pl *P2•ki•x4
8•C•P2*Vdc l"2•w•zitap - 2*Pl*Vdcl•kp• wA2•x3 - 2 • P2•Vdcl•kp• w•2 •x3
Pl •ki• w""2 • x3• x4 - P2•ki•wA2*x3•x4 + 4 •C~ Pl •Vdcl""2 •ki •w•x4 • zicap +
4•C•P2*Vdc l"2*ki•w•x4•zitap) ;
133
STABILITY ANALYSIS
82=f4 •x l A4 + f 3 • xl~3 + f 2 • xl ~2 + f l • xl + 2 • Pl~2 ~Vdcl •ki • x4 + 2 *P2A2 • Vdcl •ki• x4

+ 4• P2 * Vdc l•w~2 • x3 + 4 *Pl• P2• Vdcl•k i • x4 - 2 • Pt • Vdcl • ki •wA2 • xJ • x~ -
2 • P2 • Vdcl *ki•wA2• x3 •x4;
82 woxl= 2 • P l ~2 • Vdcl •k i • x4 + 2 • P2A2• Vdcl• ki• x4 + 4• P2• Vdcl• wA2 *xl +
4 •Pt • P2 •Vd cl*ki• x 4 - 2 *Pl•Vdcl•ki•~~2 •x3•x4 - 2 *P2• Vdcl• ki• wA2 •xJ• x 4;
\\ 83=collect(B2 woxl,x3) without xl part
gl=(4 • P2 • Vdcl•wAÏ- 2 • Pl *Vdc l *ki • wA2• x4 - 2 • P2• Vdcl • k i •wA2• x4 ) ;
83=gl •x3 + 2 • Vdcl *ki • x4• Pl ~2 + 4 *Vdct •ki• x4 • Pt• P2 • 2 • Vdct •ki • x4 • P2~2;
83 wox3=2 * Vdcl * ki *x4• Pl~2 + 4 *Vdcl * ki •x~ • Pl • P2 + 2 • Vdcl • ki • x4 • P2~2;
\\- B4=collect(B3 wox3,x4) without x3 part
hl=(2 • Vdcl• kt • Pl~2 + 4 *Vd cl• kt• Pt• P2 + 2•Vdcl •kt •P2~2) ;
~=hl · ~.
dx2col l ect=(e4 • x2~4 + e3 • x2~3 + e2• x2A2 + e1• x2 + f4 • xlA4 + f3 • x1A3 + f2 • xlA2
+ tÏ• xl + gl• xJ +hl *x4)/d en2 ;
\\ Definition matrix A(x)
all= ( a4 •xlA3 + a3 *xlA2 + a2• x1 + al )/den; \f(xl,x2,x3,x4J
al2= t b4 •x2A3 + b3 *x2A2 + b2• x2 + b l )/den; \f {xl,x2,x3,x4)
al3=cl/den; \f{xl.x2,x4)
al4=dl/den; \f{xl.x2)
a2l•( f4 •xlA3 + f3 *xlA2 + f2 • xt + fl )/den2;
a22•{e4 •x2A3 + e3 •x2A2 + e2 •x2 + el)/den2;
a23• gl/den2;
a24 ahl/den2;
a 3l•t-C•Vdc-C •xl/2-C•x2);
a32•t-C•Vdc-C •x2/2);
a33•0;
a34•0 ;
&41•1;
&42•·1;
&43•0;
&44•0 ;
Ax• [al1 a12 a13 al4 ;
a21 a22 a23 a24;
a31 a32 a33 a34;
a4l a42 a 4 3 a44 ) ;
x_vect• Cxl;x2:x3:x4 ) ;
4x•Ax•x_vect
134
Appendix D
Published papers
1) A new approach for DC bus voltage balancing in a solar electric vehicle charging
station (I. Forrisi, J-P. Martin, G. Petrone, G. Spagnuolo, B. Nahid-Mobarakeh and S.
Pierfederici, accepted for 2016 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference, Dear-
born, USA)
2) Reliability Improvement Approach Based on Flatness Control of Parallel Con-

nected Inverters (A. Shahin; H. Moussa; I. Forrisi; J. P. Martin; B. Nahid-Mobarakeh;
S. Pierfederici IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Year: 2016, Volume: PP, Issue:
99)
3) PV-grid system in mismatch operating mode: improvement through a new volt-

age balancing method in multilevel NPC inverters (I. Forrisi, J-P. Martin, B. Nahid-
Mobarakeh and S. Pierfederici, accepted for 2016 IEEE International Symposium on
Industrial Electronics, Santa Clara, USA)
4) Une nouvelle technique de contrle pour lquilibrage des tensions dentre dun on-
duleur Neutral Point Clamped (I. Forrisi, J-P. Martin, B. Nahid-Mobarakeh and S.
Pierfederici, SYMPOSIUM DE GENIE ELECTRIQUE, 2016 GRENOBLE)
Submitted
Stable DC Bus Voltage Balancing in a Renewable Source Grid Connected Neutral
Point Clamped Inverter (Trans. on Power Electronics)
135
Summary
Contribution aux systèmes renouvelables connectés au reseau: contrôle,

analyse de la stabilité et fiabilité
Cette thèse a pour but l’analyse d’un système photovoltaque connecté au réseau
électrique en prenant en compte le contrôle, l’ étude de la stabilité et la fiabilité. Un
onduleur de type 2-Niveau a été comparé avec un onduleur multi-niveaux appelé Neutral
Point Clamped. Les avantages et désavantage de chaque topologie ont été analysé en
considérant l’efficacité énergétique, l’optimisation de l’injection de l’énergie sur le réseau
électrique et la fiabilité du systme. Pour le contrôle du courant de sortie de l’onduleur,
ont été proposées deux solutions : un contrôle basé sur la théorie de la platitude et
un contrôle par passivité. Ces deux différents contrôles sont comparés par rapport á la
robustesse, la complexité et le nombre de capteurs utilisés. Pour augmenter l’efficacité
de l’algorithme MPPT dans une configuration Distributed-MPPT avec la connexion
en série des deux sorties des convertisseurs boost, une nouvelle technique a été pro-
posé pour l’équilibrage des tension d’entrée d’un onduleur NPC. En utilisant un outil
appelé TPtool, un étude de la stabilité large signal par ”Higher-Order-Singular-Value-
Decomposition” a été présenté et comparé avec une méthode basée sur les modèles
Takagi-Sugeno pour des systmes non-linéaires. Finalement, l’onduleur 2-Niveaux est
comparé avec deux multi-niveaux différents (NPP et NPC) en termes de disponibilité,
en prenant en compte les niveaux de redondance des convertisseurs.
MOTS-CLES: PV-rseau, NPC,HOSVD, stabilité, Fiabilité, Platitude, Passivité
Contribution to renewable systems grid connected: control, stability

analysis and reliability
The aim of this PhD thesis is to analyze a PV-grid connected system in terms of
control, stability and reliability. A comparison between a classical 2-Level inverter and
a multilevel NPC is presented. The advantages and weakness of both the converters are
analyzed with respect to the power efficiency, optimization of the energy injection to
the grid and reliability of the system. In order to control the inverter output current,
two different solutions are proposed: flatness-based control and passivity-based control.
These controls are compared in terms of robustness, complexity and number of sensors
used. For increasing the efficiency of the MPPT in a configuration Distributed-MPPT
with connections in series of the boost converters outputs, a novel technique for the
dc voltages balancing of a NPC inverter is proposed. A large stability analysis using
”Higher-Order-Singular-Value-Decomposition” is presented and compared with Takagi-
Sugeno approach for nonlinear systems. The 2-Level inverter is compared with two
multilevel inverters in terms of availability, considering the redundancy of the converters.
KEYWORDS: PV-grid, NPC,HOSVD, Stability, Reliability, Flatness, Passivity
136

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Contribution aux systèmes renouvelables connectés en

réseau : contrôle, analyse de la stabilité et fiabilité

To cite this version:

HAL Id: tel-01757068

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est

Ce document est le fruit d'un long travail approuvé par le jury de

Il est soumis à la propriété intellectuelle de l'auteur. Ceci

D'autre part, toute contrefaçon, plagiat, reproduction illicite

Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle. articles L 122. 4

Contribution to renewable systems

Soutenue publiquement le 2 décembre 2016 devant le jury composé de :

Thèse préparée au Groupe de Recherche en Électrotechnique et Électronique de Nancy

1 Thesis Context- Presentation of PV-GRID connected systems 13

2 Renewable Source-Grid connected Neutral Point Clamped inverter 35

3 Large Signal Stability analysis 78

4 Availability comparison between 2-Level and multilevel inverters 99

General Conclusion 115

A Input voltages balancing 5-Level NPC 127

B Markov chains details 129

C Matlab code for matrix A in large signal stability analysis 131

D Published papers 135

Figure 1: PV-GRID connected system

Figure 2: Configuration Onduleur classique 2-Niveaux

Figure 3: Configuration Onduleur classique 3-Niveaux

Dans la littérature, il existe déjá des études sur la problématique d’équilibrage

Figure 4: Modélisation pour le courant Io

Figure 5: MLI modifiée pour l’algorithme d’équilibrage

Pour la validation des modèles et l’efficacité de l’algorithme déquilibrage proposé,

Figure 6: Comparaison entre le modèle instantané et le modèle moyen

Figure 7: Test bench

Figure 9: Équilibrage ON: tensions d’entré de l’onduleur et une des courants

• efficiency of the solar cells (new technologies and materials)

The main advantage of photovoltaic energy for grid-connected systems is related to

Therefore, this manuscript is organized as follows:

• In the second chapter an efficiency comparison between power architectures con-

Thesis Context- Presentation of

Figure 1.1: PV-GRID connected system

Figure 1.2: String of two series connected Kyocera KC120 modules

1.2.1 Distributed-MPPT: architecture and topologies

Figure 1.3: Grid-connected PV system with FMPPT

In Chapter 2 of this thesis, the using of a multilevel inverter in a configuration

1.2.2 Solar cells and solar panel: electrical model

Figure 1.6: Solar cell operation

Figure 1.7: Equivalent circuit of a PV source

 Vpv +Rs Ipv  V +R I

1.2.3 PV array modeling behavior verification

1.2.4 MPPT solutions: basic concepts

Classical MPPT solutions

• Perturbation and Observation (P&O):

• Incremental Conductance (IncCond):

1.2.5 DMPPT with two photovoltaic sources/ constraints

It is worth noting that, in presence of mismatching it is not always possible to achieve

where Vdc = Vdc1 + Vdc2 is the inverter input voltage.

The output-voltage limitation constraint is:

Vdci < Vdsmax (1.6)

Vdci > Vpvi (1.7)

configuration. As explained in Chapter 2 of this thesis, it is possible to change inverter

1.3 2-Level inverter

1.3.1 Pulse-Width Modulation

Figure 1.13: Pulse-Width Modulation single-phase and output voltage

Figure 1.14: 2-Level inverter

1.3.2 Three-phase 2-Level inverter

• 120 degree mode operation

Vpv +Rs Ipv V +R I