Development of Multi-Carrier PWM Technique for

Multilevel Inverters
Sara Laali1, Karim Abbaszadeh2, Hamid Lesani3
1,2
Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
3
School of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Emails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract— Multilevel voltage source inverters are emerging series power conversion cells, the voltage and power level
as a new breed of power converter options for high-power may be easily scaled. An apparent disadvantage of this
applications. Various topologies and modulation strategies of topology is the large number of isolated voltages required to
multilevel inverters have been proposed. In this paper, the supply each cell. The H-bridge topology was followed by the
different multi-carrier PWM techniques are investigated and
diode-clamped converter which utilized a bank of series
several interesting characteristics of them are revealed. A new
method of multi-carrier PWM strategies is also proposed and capacitors [6]. Another fundamental multilevel topology, the
compared with different conventional multi-carrier PWM flying capacitor, involves series connection of capacitor
techniques. Reduction of total harmonics distortion (THD) and clamped switching cells [7]. This topology has several unique
improvement of the harmonic spectrum of inverter output and attractive features when compared to the diode-clamped
voltage are some advantages of the proposed control method. inverter. One feature is that added clamping diodes are not
The simulation results based on PSCAD/EMTDC software are needed. Furthermore, the flying capacitor inverter has
presented to validate the capabilities of the proposed modulation switching redundancy within the phase which can be used to
method. balance the flying capacitors so that only one dc source is
needed [2].
Keywords: Multilevel inverter; multi-carrier PWM
techniques; phase disposition PWM; phase opposition Different modulation strategies have been used in
disposition PWM; alternate phase opposition disposition PWM. multilevel power conversion applications within the technical
literature. They can generally be classified into three
categories: fundamental frequency switching, space vector
I. INTRODUCTION PWM (SVPWM) and multi-carrier PWM techniques. This
paper focused on the multi-carrier PWM technique which has
Numerous industrial applications have begun to require been extended using multiple references. Multi-carrier PWM
higher power apparatus in recent years. Some medium techniques can be categorized into three groups: phase
voltage motor drives and utility applications require medium disposition PWM (PD-PWM), phase opposition disposition
voltage and megawatt power level. For a medium voltage PWM (POD-PWM) and alternate phase opposition
grid, it is troublesome to connect only one power disposition PWM (APOD-PWM) techniques. In these
semiconductor switch directly. As a result, a multilevel power modulation strategies, the reference waveform is sampled
inverter structure has been introduced as an alternative in high through a number of carrier waveforms displayed by
power and medium voltage situations. A multilevel inverter contiguous of the reference waveform amplitude [8-11].
not only achieves high power ratings, but also enables the use The different multi-carrier PWM modulation strategies for
of renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources such multilevel inverters will be reviewed in this paper. This paper
as photovoltaic, wind, and fuel cells can be easily interfaced is organized into the following way: first, the different multi-
to a multilevel inverter system for a high power application carrier PWM methods are described and several interesting
[1]. characteristics of them are revealed. After this, a new method
A multilevel converter is a power electronic system that of multi-carrier PWM technique is proposed. The proposed
synthesizes a desired output voltage from several levels of dc method is compared with different conventional multi-carrier
voltages as inputs. Compared with the traditional two-level PWM techniques based on simulation results using
voltage converter, the primary advantage of multilevel PSCAD/EMTDC software.
converters is their smaller output voltage step, which results
in high power quality, lower harmonic components, better
electromagnetic compatibility, and lower switching losses [2]. II. CONVENTIONAL CARRIER-BASED PWM
The first topology introduced was the series H-bridge METHODS
design [3], but several configurations have been obtained for
this topology as well [4-5]. Since this topology consist of Multicarrier PWM techniques entail the natural sampling
of a single modulating or reference waveform typically being
sinusoidal, through several carrier signals typically being f c . For odd m f , the APOD-PWM waveform has odd
triangular waveforms [9].
symmetry resulting in only even harmonics. For even m f ,
In order to describe the different multi-carrier PWM
methods the following definitions should be considered: the waveforms have quarter wave symmetry resulting in only
• The frequency modulation index is defined as odd harmonics [8-11].
m f = f c / f r , where f c is the frequency of carrier
signals and f r is the frequency of the reference III. PROPOSED MODULATION METHOD
signal.
• The amplitude modulation index is defined as For reducing the number of carrier signals and also
ma = Ar / Ac , where Ar is the amplitude of improvement of the THD and harmonic spectrum of inverter
reference signals and Ac is the peak to peak value of output voltage, a new modulation strategy is proposed in this
paper. The proposed multi-carrier PWM method uses
the carrier signal [8]. ( N − 1) / 2 carrier signals to generate the N -level at output
A. PD-PWM method voltage. The carrier signals have the same amplitude, Ac and
The PD-PWM method, as one of the carrier-based PWM the same frequency, f c , and are in phase. The sinusoidal
methods, is based on a comparison of a sinusoidal reference reference wave has a frequency f r and an amplitude Ar . In
waveform with vertically shifted carrier waveforms. The PD-
the proposed method, the sinusoidal reference and its inverse
PWM method uses N − 1 carrier signals to generate the N -
are used for generating the required gate signals. The
level at output voltage. The carrier signals have the same
frequency of the output voltage is determined by the
amplitude and the same frequency and are in phase. The
frequency of the sinusoidal reference waveform. The
sinusoidal reference wave has a frequency f r and an amplitude of the fundamental component of the output
amplitude Ar . At each instant, the result of the comparison is voltage is determined by the amplitude modulation index,
decoded in order to generate the correct switching function ma .
corresponding to a given output voltage level. In PD-PWM Fig. 1 shows the proposed multi-carrier PWM method for
method, with even and odd m f , the significant harmonic a single-phase 5-level inverter. As this figure shows, the
energy is concentrated on the carrier frequency. For instance, proposed method uses two reference signals and two carrier
with m f = 39 , the significant harmonic energy is in 39th signals. This method is based on a comparison of the
sinusoidal reference waveforms with carrier waveforms. For
harmonic. The PD-PWM method yields only odd harmonics even and odd values of frequency modulation index, m f , the
for odd m f and yields odd and even harmonics for even m f .
significant harmonics are located in two sidebands around the
Also, this method yields quarter wave symmetry only for odd frequency, 2 f c . As a result, the frequency spectrum of the
m f [8-11].
output voltage is improved. So, the size of the required filter
will be small. It is important to note that the design of filter is
B. POD-PWM method not the objective of this work. Reduction of the THD of the
In the POD-PWM method the carrier signals above the output voltage is other important advantage of the proposed
zero axis are in phase. The carrier signals below zero axis are method. It is noticeable that the conventional modulation
also in phase but 180 degrees phase shifted. For even and odd methods generate the significant harmonics in two sidebands
values of frequency modulation index, the significant around the carrier frequency, f c .
harmonics are located in two sidebands around the carrier
frequency. There is no harmonics at f c . For instance, with
m f = 39 the significant harmonics are 28th and 40th
1 carrier1
harmonics For odd m f , the POD-PWM waveform has odd reference1 Tr =
fr
symmetry resulting in only even harmonics. For even m f , Ac
the waveforms have quarter wave symmetry resulting in only Ar
odd harmonics [8-11].
0 t
C. APOD-PWM method
This technique requires each of the N − 1 carrier
waveforms for an N -level phase waveform, to be phase
displaced from each other by 180 degrees alternately. For 1
reference2 Tc =
even and odd m f , the most significant harmonics are fc carrier2
sidebands of the carrier frequency. But there is no harmonics Fig. 1. Proposed multi-carrier PWM method for a single-phase 5-level
inverter
 IV. SIMULATION RESULTS load of the inverter is almost a low pass filter (R-L), then the
output current contain less high order harmonics than the
To examine the performance of the proposed control output voltages. The frequency spectrum of the output voltage
method, a single-phase 5-level cascaded inverter is simulated. and current is shown in Figs. 9-10, respectively. The output
The PSCAD software has been used for simulation. Fig. 2 voltage waveform of the inverter as shown in Fig. 9 is made
shows the 5-level cascaded inverter topology. This inverter up from a fundamental frequency sine wave and a few
consists of two full-bridge converters. The amplitudes of dc numbers of harmonics. Fig. 9 shows that the amplitude of the
voltage sources are considered 100V. It is assumed that the fundamental component is 159.81V that has good agreement
inverter is adjusted to produce a 50Hz, 5-level staircase with the forecasted amplitude of the output voltage. The
waveform. The amplitude of the fundamental component is frequency spectrum of the output voltage shows that the
considered 160V. Test has been made on R-L load ( R = 20Ω significant harmonics are located in two sidebands around the
and L = 55mH ). Fig. 3 shows the control block diagram of 20th harmonic. The THDs of the output voltage and current
the inverter based on the proposed control method. As shown based on simulation are 31.79% and 2.53%, respectively. To
in this figure, both switches on a leg cannot be on generate a desired output voltage with best quality of the
simultaneously, because a short circuit across dc voltage waveform, the frequency of the carrier signals should be
sources would be produced. increased.

ref1 ref2 c1 c2
S11 S12 1.00
+
100V vo1 0.50
−
S13 S14
0.00

vo -0.50

S 21 S 22 -1.00
+
100V vo 2 0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400
− Fig. 4. References and carriers waveforms for a 5-level inverter based on the
S 23 S 24 proposed method

S11
Fig. 2. Five-level cascaded multilevel inverter
1.0

c1
Comparator S11
ref 1 0.0
S13
c2 S12
Comparator S12
ref 1 1.0
S14
c2
Comparator S 21
ref 2
S 23 0.0
c1 S13
Comparator S 22
ref 2 1.0
S 24
Fig. 3. Control block diagram

Fig. 4 shows the references and carriers waveforms. As 0.0

this figure shows, the amplitude and frequency of the S14
reference waveform have been considered Ar = 0.8 pu and
1.0
f r = 50 Hz , respectively. The frequency of the multi-carrier
is assumed f c = 500 Hz . Fig. 5 shows the gate signals of the
IGBTs. Figs. 6-8 show the simulation results for full-bridges 0.0
and output voltages and current. As can be seen from the 0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400
waveforms, the output current is almost sinusoidal. Since the (a)
 S21 I Load [A]
8.0
1.0
4.0

0.0
0.0
-4.0
S22
1.0 -8.0
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400
Fig. 8. Inverter output current

0.0
S23
1.0 Harmonic Orders (Vo)
200.0

0.0
S24
1.0

0.0

[1] 159.81
0.0
Fig. 9. Frequency spectrum of the output voltage
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400
(b)

Fig. 5. Gate signals; (a) First full-bridge; (b) Second full-bridge

Harmonic Orders (Io)

8.0

Vo1 [V]
100

-100
0.0
Vo2 [V]
100 [1] 6.04658
Fig. 10. Frequency spectrum of the output current
0

-100

0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400

Fig. 6. Full-bridges output voltages V. COMPARISON OF THE PROPOSED METHOD
WITH CONVENTIONAL CARRIER-BASED PWM
METHODS

For revealing the advantages of the proposed method in

Vo [V] comparison with the conventional multi-carrier PWM
200 methods, it is necessary to consider the frequency spectrums
of the output voltages. Fig. 11 shows the THDs of different
100
multi-carrier PWM methods versus m f for ma = 0.8 . Fig. 12
0
shows the THDs of different multi-carrier PWM methods
-100
versus ma for m f = 22 . As Figs. 11 and 12 show, for
-200
different values of m f and ma , the THD of the proposed
0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400 method is less than the conventional multi-carrier PWM
Fig. 7. Inverter output voltage methods.
 [7] T. A. Meynard and H. Foch, "Multi-level conversion: High voltage
choppers and voltage-source inverters," in Proc. PESC, 1992, pp.
397-403.
%THD PD [8] M.G. Hosseini Aghdam, S.H. Fathi, G.B. Gharehpetian, “Analysis of
APOD multi-carrier PWM methods for asymmetric multi-level inverter,”
POD IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ICIEA),
PROPOSED 2008, pp. 2057-2062.
[9] V.G Agelidis, M. Calais, “Application specific harmonic performance
mf
evaluation of multicarrier PWM techniques,” IEEE Power Electronics
Specialists Conference (PESC), 1998, Vol. 1, pp. 172-178.
Fig. 11. THDs of different multi-carrier PWM methods versus m f for [10] E. Babaei, E. Ebrahimi, “Development of multi-carrier-PWM
modulation for THD reduction and improvement of harmonics
ma = 0.8 spectrum in multilevel inverters,” 24th International Power System
Conference (PSC), Tehran, Iran, 2009, (in Persian).
[11] M. Calais, L.J. Borle, V.G. Agelidis, “Analysis of multicarrier PWM
methods for a single-phase five level inverter,” IEEE Power
Electronics Specialists Conference (PESC), 2001, Vol. 3, pp. 1351-
40 1356.
APOD

30 PD
%THD
POD
20
PROPOSED

10
0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
ma
Fig. 12. THDs of different multi-carrier PWM methods versus ma for
m f = 22

VI. CONCLUSION

In this paper, a new method of multi-carrier PWM method

is proposed. The significant harmonics in conventional
methods are located in two sidebands around m f and it’s
multiple. But in the proposed method, the significant
harmonics are located in two sidebands around 2m f and it’s
multiple. As a result, the size of the required filter will be
small. Reduction of the THD of the output voltage is other
important advantage of the proposed method in comparison
with other conventional multi-carrier PWM methods.

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