Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade

Multilevel Inverter
Diego Bernal Cobaleda, Miguel Vivert, Rafael Díez, Diego Patiño, Marc Cousineau.
This work was done thanks to the support of COLCIENCIAS project 718-2015.
One of the authors is funding by the Ecuadorian government

Department of
Electronics, Faculty of
Engineering
 Block Diagram
Grid-tied

Battery Charger Inverter

Solar panels

• Colciencias, energy
storage project Isolated
• Based on LiFePo Batteries Energy Storage
LiFePo

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 2

 Outline
• Introduction
• Why Symmetric Cascade Multilevel Inverter?
• Why connect to the grid?
• Why Decentralized controller?
• Model of a Cascade Multilevel Inverter
• Design of the Decentralized Controller
• Results
• Conclusion

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 3

 Introduction
Features Drawbacks Challenges
• Renewable energy • Complexity • Fault Tolerance
applications increases if number • Balance cell
• Manage High Power of cells does it variables
• Share the power in • Manage of high • Control for several
several cells number of internal cells
variables • Regulate the outputs

Flying Capacitor Cascade Full Bridge Multiphase Buck

• Balance vcell • Balance vFBo • Balance ibranch
• Σvcell=vin • ΣvFBo=vo • Σvbrnach=io
• Manage high input • Manage high output • Manage high output
voltage voltage current

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 4

 Why a Symmetric Cascade Multilevel Inverter (CMI)?
io
L0
+ +
High Voltage

vo vac
-
-

• VSI typically used • Modular structure • Fault Tolerance

• High Voltage input • Handles less voltage • GaN FETs
• BMS required for LiFePo per level • Energy Management
• Avoids BMS

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 5

 Why connect to the Grid?

Reduce consumption Improve the THDi Charge/

Compensate the
from the grid Discharge
Power Factor
Batteries

io  is  il

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 6

 Why Decentralized control?

• Balance the cells of the MCC

• Fault Tolerance
• Change the number of cells
during operation
• Regulates a global variable

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 7

 Model of a Symmetrical CMI N N
.
Lo io  E  uk  Rs io  vac   uk  vCk
k 1 k 1
vH k  Euk  uk  vCk

Effects of the input filters can be

modeled as bounded disturbances
I o (s) 
1
Lo s  Ro
 
EV1T U( s ) Vac ( s ) 
1
Lo s  Ro
V1T Δ VH ( s)

VH ( s )  EU( s )  Δ VH ( s )

Converting into a Laplace model

 I   L1 E  R RLL I  L1 VC 
 V    1 I  1 Ui 
   C TC
C o 
 io   Lo U VC  Lo io  Lo vac 
1 Rs 1

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 8

 Design of the Control Structure
Bypass system:
Insert/remove cell during operation
Balancing control
Balance the error between the vcell
Output Regulator
Regulate the output current

1
U k ( s ) U vk ( s )  uio ( s )  vac ( s )
NE


U vk ( s )   K v ( s ) 2VH k ( s ) VH k 1 ( s) VH k 1 ( s) 
U io ( s )  K c ( s )  I ref ( s )  I o ( s )) 

U( s )   K v ( s)Diff VH ( s)  K c ( s)  I ref ( s)  I o ( s)  V1 
1
Vac ( s)V1
EN

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 9

 Design of the Control Structure N
0 N
1 
I o (s)  
EK v ( s ) T
Lo s  Ro
V1 Diff VH ( s) 
EK c ( s )
Lo s  Ro
 I ref ( s)  I o ( s)  V1T V1 
1
Lo s  Ro
 Vac ( s)V1 V1 Vac ( s) 
N
T


VH ( s )   EK v ( s )Diff VH ( s)  EK c ( s)  I ref ( s)  I o ( s)  V1  Vac ( s)V1
1
N
Folio(S)

K c ( s )  I ref ( s )  I o ( s ) 
NE Does not depends on the cell variable
I o (s) 
Lo s  Ro neither the balancing controller
FolvH(S)
 
VH ( s )   EK v ( s)Diff VH ( s)   EK c ( s)  I ref ( s)  I o ( s)  + Vac ( s)  V1
1
 N 

Balance of vH Path of vH

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 10

 Design of the current controller
[dB]
𝜋𝑓 𝑤 4𝜋 2 𝑓 2𝑤
= ; =
0 500
β
Bw is ten times less than fsw and the
PI TF
zero is 5 times less than the BW

γ Open loop TF CONTROLLER

Plant TF
PARAMETERS
[ ]
KP 8.413 x 10-3 A-1
0
KI 3.162 A-1s-1
FSW 12 kHz

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 11

 Gains of the Balancing controller
 1 0.96 1.04 1.27 
FolvH (s)=  EKV ( s )Diff  1
0.62
 1.28 0.59 1.25 0.66 
Diff = Veig ΛVeig T Modal matrix 
Veig   1 0.17 1.40 1.40 0.2 

1.01 0.99 
FolvH (s)= Veig   EKV ( s ) Λ  Veig T  1 1.39 0.27
 1 0.69 1.23 0.24 1.39 
 veig (1 ) veig (2 ) veig (3 ) veig (4 ) veig (5 ) 

Transfer function Π(s) 0 0 0 0 0 
of the modes
0 1.382 0 
 E 1K v ( s) 0 0   0 0 
 0 E 2 K v ( s)  Λ  0 0 1.382 0 0 
Π(s) ;  0  
 0  1 0 0 0 3.618 0 
 0 0 E N K v (s)  0 0 0 0 3.618

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 12

 gain of the balancing controller

ωBmax=ωsw/10

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 13

 Results

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 14

 Experimental Results with resistive load, inserting a cell

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 15

 Conclusions
• Proposed decentralized controller uncouples the output current from
the cell voltage
• Modal response validates the design of the controller
• Simulation results validate the proposed theory, inserting cells,
disturbing the input voltage and changing the reference
• Experimental result with R load validates the balancing when a cell is
inserted.
• Future works: Apply the controller for balancing the input current of
each FB or the state of charge of the batteries

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 16

 Thank you for
your time
Email: mvivert@javeriana.edu.co

Decentralized Controller for a Grid Tied Cascade Multilevel Inverter 17