Comparative study of multilevel topologies :

N.P.C., multicell Inverter and S.M.C. with igbt

L. Delmas, T.A. Meynard ,H. Foch, G. Gateau
Laboratoire d'Electrotechnique et d' Electronique Industrielle
Unit6 Mixte Recherche 1.N.P.T.-E.N.S.E.E.I.H.T. / C.N.R.S. 5004
BP 7 122 - 2, rue Camichel, 3 1071 Toulouse Cedex 7 - France
leei@leei.enseeiht.fr

Abstract- This paper presents and compares several multilevel

topologies used in the high voltage and high power T2 T1
applications. This study is focussed on multicell converter with
flying capacitors, the new stacked multicell converter (SMC)
and the classical neutral point clamped (NPC). After a recall
of the properties of these converters, various aspects of the
design are studied such as theenergy stored in all the reactive
component, the switches properties and the switching losses. L
A comparison based on losses, the energy stored and
performances is made.

I. INTRODUCTION

In recent years, the number of applications in the field

of the high voltage (3kV, 4.15kV, 6kV) and high power
(several MW) has significantly increased. This gave rise to
the development of new inverter topologies with for
example the multicell inverters (1990) and recently the T3 T4
stacked multicell converter (2000). These last two
topologies offer very interesting static and dynamic Fig. 1. N.P.C. voltage source inverter with three levels.
performances with design properties and costs that differ With an simple control, it is easy to obtain a three
from other topologies such as the neutral point clamped level waveforms for the output voltage as presented in Fig.
inverter. 2.
For this reason we will present in this paper a
synthesis between these various topologies in order to
establish comparison between the basic properties of these
structures (advantages, stored energy, switching losses).
11. THEORICAL RECALL

The aim of this first part is to present the basic

principles of these converters. The switches used for all the
converters are IGBT with diode, which are more and more
used in this range of voltage and power.

4
A. N.P.C. voltage source inverter. -_ 6.66 ms 4-
-4
.i. 111

.. - --
U*
--
The principle of the N.P.C. voltage source inverter is
to put in series some switches. However to ensure a good Fig. 2. Output voltage and current for an N.P.C. source
distribution of the voltage across the switches, some inter- inverter with three levels.
connected diodes are added between each switch. The
topology is very simple as presented in Fig. 1 [1,2]. B. Multicell voltage source inverter.

This point of interconnection makes it possible to
impose a maximum voltage across the switches of E/2 with
E the input voltage.
The multicell voltage source inverter are formed by an
overlapping of commutations cells, separated by flying
voltage sources [3,4]. The principle is to break up the input
voltage into p elementary voltages sources, p being the
number of cells. For that, we use flying capacitors as
presented in Fig. 3 .

0-7803-7474-6/02/%17.00Q2002 IEEE 828

 T3' T2' T1 ' Fig. 6. Output voltage and output current of a S.M.C. with 2
Fig. 3. Three-cell voltage source inverter. stacks and 2 cells.

With this principle the maximum voltage applied to Note : The last cell of the S.M.C. can be simplified to
the commutation cells to the switches is E/p, E being the obtain a clamped structure as in Fig. 1 in order to decrease
full input voltage. A particular control makes it possible to the number of switches.
obtain the natural balancing of flying capacitor voltages [3]
and thus to obtain an output voltage with p voltage levels 111. ENERGY IN THE REACTIVE ELEMENTS.
such as simulated on Fig. 4.
One of the main characteristic of the multicell inverter
Clb
OOl,'Ui \nlrr'*e Oulplll C"lC"1
_-- i is the use of flying capacitors to ensure the role of flying
4 levels I voltage sources. However in the field of application of this
converter (kV, MW), stored energy has a cost and a
significant volume. It is thus essential to reduce this stored
energy for a fixed application. Moreover, other reactive
elements are used to filter the current and the output
voltage. So, the goal of this part is to give the results of the
calculation of the total stored energy coming from the
reactive elements (inductance, capacitor) for the multicell
converter, the SMC and the NPC.
We choose some applications with a significant ratio
Fig. 4. Output voltage and output current of three-cell between the switching frequency and the modulation
voltage source inverter. frequency. The modulation index has been chosen in the
case of a maximum ripple of output current (duty cycle
C. Stacked multicell converter. equal to 0.5).
Fig. 7. presents the application studied with the
In the S.M.C, the input voltage is split into n equal various choices of topologies adopted: NPC inverter, three-
voltages, corresponding to the n stacks of the topology such
cell multicell inverter, two-stack and two-cell SMC
as presented in Fig. 5. inverter.
T22t ' T22t T12t ' T12t Supply ,
~ Convertertopology Filter i Load
, !
T

E/2
2 x 2 8mc

Fig. 5. S.M.C. with 2 stacks and 2 cells. I

The maximum voltage across the switches is then Fig. 7. Various topologies.
equal to E/p.n, E being the input voltage, n the number of
stacks and p the number of cells [5,6]. We obtain a output A. Output filter.
voltage with n.p output levels (Fig. 6.)
The purpose of this part is the design of the output
filter elements (Cf and & o f Fig. 7). Fig. 8. presents the
expression of C, and Lf in the basic case of only one
commutation cell.

829
 sc l/fde?C

t The stored energy for the NPC topology is given by:

2. Filter capacitor.
E
Cf The choice of the filter capacitor depends on the
voltage ripple AVcf fixed by the specifications.
Concerning the determination of the capacity of Cy,
we can note that it is identical whatever the topologies
(except for the N.P.C.) because we chose the same relative
ripple values (ILf and Vcf) for all the topologies. In the cases
of SMC and classical multicell topologies, the apparent
Fig. 8. Expression of C'and Lf for a commutation cell. output frequency is always equal to p.Fdec, that is to say a
capacity given by :
The Lf inductance and the Cf capacitor are designed
for a output voltage variation of the inverter equal to the
input voltage E and a switching frequency offdec. (7)
1. Filter Inductance.
The calculation of the stored energy in the capacitor
The choice of Lf depends on the current ripple A ~ L
was made in the worst case where the Vcf is equal to E, and
fixed by the specifications.
then we obtain :
In the case of a SMC topology with p cells and n
stacks, the apparent output frequency is equal to pheC[7]
and the output voltage ripple equal to E/(p.n) (Fig. 6. for a
2x2 SMC with 5 voltage levels). In that case, the
Concerning the NPC, the last expressions (7) and (8)
inductance is now given by (1).
are valid, but for the particular case where p=l, and so, tht:
expression of C'is given by:

Based on (l), the stored energy in the inductance is

equal to (2).
It is then possible to obtain the stored energy for this;
particular case:

In the same way, for a classical multicell inverter

( n = l ) withp cells, the apparent output frequency is equal to
p.Fd,, [4] and the output voltage ripple equal to E/p
(example onFig. 4.for 4 voltage levels). The results of the
calculation of the inductance is given by (3).
Based on (3), the stored energy for a 3-cell inverter is
given by:
Note : The calculation of the output filter was done
with a minimising inductance but for an unchanged value of
capacity. However, it is possible to consider another
calculation with an unchanged inductance, but in this case
with a minimising capacity value, which would allow to
consider a larger dynamics of the output voltage (Fig. 9).
Lf
Converter Load

Fig. 9. Calculation of the output filter.

The N.P.C. inverter is in fact a particular case of the B. Flying capacitor.

SMC inverter (Fig. 2.) with two stacks and only one cell.
The inductance is given by : The principle of using flying capacitor is the same f,or
the classical multicell and the SMC. Concerning the SMC,
the flying capacitor is designed to limit the voltage applied

830
 Flvine cavacitor stored energy for a multilevel converter
E
to the blocking switches to -+ AV,, . This is simply
Pxn
obtained by fixing the voltage variation across the flying
capacitor to A V a . The voltage then lies between
k x - - E- AV, and kx--% E for the cell k .
pxn 2 pxn 2
The Ck capacity is then given by:

Number of stack Number of cell

Fig. 10. Stored Energy in the flying capacitors.

The stored energy in ck is equal to:
To calculate total energy, the ripple of the flying
capacitor voltages are all fixed to the same value
( A V ~ = A V C ~ = A V...
C ~=AVc,,).
= That is to say a total
energy o f :
=nx%c/c
H (13)
The case of the classical multicell inverter is very
similar to the preceding study. The flying capacitor voltages
is fixed to k.E/p for the cell k , and then a capacity given by:
The Fig. 10 makes it possible to highlight the interest
brought by the SMC with regard to the stored energy in the
flying capacitors. The NPC topology corresponds to a SMC
with two stacks and one cell, but does not use flying
capacitors.
In conclusion, the most interesting topology in terms
of storage energy in the flying capacitors are: the NPC
(there is no flying capacitor), the SMC then the classical
multicell.
However, it is necessary to study the evolution of the
stored energy in the output filter for all the topologies,
which was made on Fig. 11.
stack
stacks
stacks

The stored energy in Ck is equal to:

Fig. 11. Stored energy in the output filter.

Finally, the total stored energy is given by:
C. Comparison and analysis.
To finish this comparison, we should compare the
total stored energy for all the topologies.
Energy stored in the output filter is decreasing
according to the number of stacks and cells. It is noted that
a classical multicell inverter with 2 cells obtains a ratio of 2
compared to the NPC. If a stack is added while keeping the
same number of cell, it is possible to obtain a ratio of 2
between classical and SMC solution as shown in Fig. 1 1.
So, the most interesting topology in terms of stored
energy in the output filter are the SMC, the classical
multicell and then the NPC.

study is based on a relative comparison between the Fig. 12. represents the total stored energy in the
topologies, i.e. that the application has fixed values for E, different topologies.
Imm, fdec, rl, r2, r3 for all the topologies (E=6500V, I stored energy for rnultllevel canverter
Im,=lOOA, &,,=1000Hz, r1=0.05, ryO.05, r3=0.05). ~-I*un-L,' 'u"*-.*a3**%.GW

Fig. 10. shows the evolution of the stored energy in

the flying capacitors according to the number of cells and
stacks.
It is important to note an increase in the stored energy
in the converter for an increasing number of cell (2 and 3
cells).
Fig. 12. Total stored energy.

83 1
 This last figure makes it possible to note two essential
points for the total stored energy: 1 cell 2 cells 3 cells 4 cells
2 igbts 4 igbts 6 igbts 0 8 igbts 0
9 The classical multicell inverter is slightly more 1 stack 0 diodes 0 diodes diodes diodes
interesting than NPC. 4 igbts 10 igbts 16 igbts 22 igbts
9 The SMC is definitely more interesting than the 2 stacks 2 diodes 2 diodes 2 diodes 2 diodes
classical multicell inverters (ratio of 2). 6 igbts 18 igbts 30 igbts 42 igbts
3 stacks 4 diodes 4 diodes 4 diodes 4 diodes
Table 1 shows the relative total stored energy
(constituted of the flying capacitor and the output filter) of
the studied topologies by choosing the NPC as reference.
~ _ _ _ ~ _ ~ ~ ~

Number of cells 1 2 3
Multicell converter 1,95 0.946 0.893
S.M.C. 2 stacks NPC=I 0.501 0.475
S.M.C. 3 stacks 0.619 0.341 0.321
Table 1. Relative total stored energy of the various
topologies.
Note : The case of two stacks and one cell
corresponds to a NPC topology. The purpose of this part is to give a first analysis of
Finally, in term of&ored energy, the S.M.C. seems a the losses due to the semiconductors (IGBT + diode), but to
very interesting topology in comparison with the other establish an evaluation of those for the different structures.
topologies studied. However, this structure implies a higher However, as in the preceding study, this study is valid only
number of switches, and the corresponding cost should be for a fixed power and voltage range.
estimated.
A. Method of calculation.
IV.ASSESSMENT OF THE SEMICONDUCTORS. The conduction losses in the IGBT and the diodes
The aim of this paragraph is to make an assessment of have the same expression [8] :
the semiconductors used in the three multilevel structures
studied.
Note : In this part, the S.M.C. topology uses for the
(c>+ r d x 1 2
P C = V O XI
C&

last cell (output side) a clamped structure to replace some
IGBT by diodes.
A. Assessment for the classical multicell inverter.
The number of IGBT used for the basic cell is equal
to 2. In the case of a multicell inverter with p cells, there
will be thus 2 x p IGBT.
Where Vo represents the threshold voltage across
component and rd the dynamic resistance of the
component. The determination of the conduction losses
passes by the knowledge of the average and RMS current
flowing through the component.
The switching losses are given by:

B. Assessment for the S.M.C.

The number of IGBT used for each p-1 first cells is where E,, and E,f represent the turn-on and turn-off’
equal to n x (n + 1) . Concerning the last cell only 2.n IGBT energy of the component. Just as previously, we need to
and 2 x (n - 1) diodes are used. That is to say a total of determine the currents which flow through all the:
( ( p -1)x n x(n + 1)+ 2 x n ) IGBT and 2 x (n - 1) diodes. components.

B.Evaluation of the losses in the semiconductors for

C. Comparison and interests.
various topologies.
The number of components used depends obviously
The evaluation of the semiconductors in the different
of the other advantages of the topologies. The classical
topologies has been made for a fixed application
multicell inverter increases the performances but also the
(E=3600V, 11,~=1200A and Fdec=lOOOHz). For each
number of switches compared to a NPC. It is the same
topology, some different range of IGBT have been chosen :
conclusion for the SMC. Table 2 shows the evolution of
3300V IGBT (EUPEC FZ 1200 R33 KF2) for NPC, 2500Y
the number of IGBT in the topologies according to the
IGBT (EUPEC FZ 1500 R25 K F I ) for 3 cells, I700V IGBT
number of cell and stacks.
(EUPEC FZ 1200 RI7 KF6 B2) for SMC 2x2 and l2OOV
IGBT (EUPEC FZ 1200 R I 2 K14C) for SMC 3x2.

832
 Fig. 13 presents the losses in the IGBT and diodes for
various topologies.
The performance benefit of the S.M.C. is very high
compared to the other structures (ratio up to 14 for the SMC
I 14000
12000
total losses of igbts and diodes
3x2).
In conclusion, the classical multicell topology appears
10000
8000 the least interesting in term of losses in the semiconductors,
6aoa
4000 and the SMC is equivalent to the NPC. However the
2000
0 advantages in terms of performances, design, volume and
NPC cell-3 SMC2x2 SMC3x2
cost are largely favourable to the multicell topology and
topologies
more particularly to the SMC topology.
[ ~ c o n d u c t i o nt o ~ f e s~ s w , l c h m glosses 0 total losses 1
VI. CONCLUSION
Fig. 13. Total losses in the IGBT and diodes.
This study shows the advantages of the multicell
It should be noted that the S.M.C. (2x2 and 3x2) inverters in term of stored energy and losses in the switches
present losses weaker than the N.P.C. and the 3 cells for a given application. However, their use implies a greater
inverter, moreover the 3 cells inverter losses are higher than number of switches but with lower ratings. Other criteria
the N.P.C. This is due to the fact that the components are such as cost of the switches and the reactive elements
not used to the maximum of their possibilities in term of should be considered to be able to conclude on a choice
switching frequency. But it should be recalled that in this from topology for a fixed application. The last part made it
case, these structures (and particularly the S.M.C.) offer possible to show that in terms of performances the multicell
dynamic performances largely higher than the N.P.C. It inverters and more particularly the SMC are very
would be interesting to use all the components to the interesting (ratio of 14 compared to the NPC).
maximum of their possibilities and to compare not only the
total losses but also the structure performances. REFERENCES
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..
PPC J-ull Smc2i2 Smc3~2

Fig. 14. Complete comparison of topologies.

833