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Four-switch buck–boost converter supports both voltage step-up and step-down functionalities, but it suffers from mode transfer challenge that would need reliable mode detection when designed to operate in multidifferent modes. In this article, a novel control method based on model predictive current control is proposed for such converter with inherent smooth mode transfer capability without extra design on mode detection and transfer scheme. Modulator and mode detection are replaced by an optimization process through cost function. This largely simplifies the design and makes it easily implemented. Seamless transfer between buck and boost modes is achieved with many other system level benefits. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of proposed method for the four-switch buck–boost converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an induction motor drive system based on the LC filter integrated quasi‐Z source indirect matrix converter (QZS‐IMC). The proposed drive system shows the following features: (i) variable voltage control of inductor motor is achieved by the rectifier stage and variable frequency control is achieved by the inverter stage; (ii) automatic low voltage ride through ability enhances capability of the proposed drive against grid voltage sag; (iii) wide voltage gain range ensures the drive system with high performance in wide speed range; (iv) there is no additional input filter. The voltage control implementation in the rectifier stage is proposed to benefit low voltage stress and low converter loss. The control method combines motor vector control, minimum shoot‐through duty cycle and maximum modulation indexes. As a result, the input power supply voltage and dc‐link voltage are maximally utilised and the power loss is reduced. Simulation and experimental results verify the proposed QZS‐IMC motor drive system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The back-to-back connection of two three-to-single-phase matrix converters (MCs) through a high-frequency transformer to create the so called MC-based solid state transformer (SST) for interactive grid interfacing is proposed in this paper. The solution provides single-stage bidirectional ac–ac power conversion. There are advantages of no lifetime-limited storage capacitors, light weight, and compact volume. The conventional modulation methods of this MC-SST system require additional control design for power management. Besides, space vector modulation contains sophisticated voltage and current vectors computation and duty cycle composition, considering the two back-to-back connected three-to-single-phase MCs. In this paper, a model predictive control (MPC) is proposed for this MC-SST linking different ac grids. The proposed MPC predicts the state variables based on the discrete model of MC-SST system and the present circuit variables, and then selects an optimal switching state that ensures the smallest value of a cost function, for the next sampling time. Simulation and experimental studies are carried out to demonstrate effectiveness and simplicity of the proposed MPC for such MC-SST grid-interfacing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dc-link voltage balancing control strategy for quasi-Z-source cascaded H-bridge (qZS-CHB) inverter photovoltaic (PV) power system is proposed by using multidimensional pulse-width modulation (MD-PWM) technique. The qZS-CHB PV system usually employs proportional-integral (PI) regulators based closed-loop control methods to balance dc-link voltages, combining with distributed maximum power point tracking and grid-tie power control. These require significant control computations and hardware resources for multiple modules based qZS-CHB system. The proposed MD-PWM for the qZS-CHB inverter performs shoot-through behavior based on geometric representation of the output voltage ranges of each H-bridge in coordinate axes. All possible switching sequences of the qZS-CHB inverter are taken into account to choose the most suitable sequence that can balance dc-link voltages of qZS modules in the qZS-CHB PV power system. When compared with the state-of-the-art of voltage balancing control methods, the proposed control strategy has advantages: 1) The computation is low because there is no PI controller, while the stability of the whole system is improved; and 2) there is a reliable balancing capability with fast regulation of dc-link voltages, owing to no extra controller parameters and handling the voltage balance in each control cycle. Simulation and experimental results of qZS-CHB inverter based grid-tie PV power system verify the proposed dc-link voltage balancing control technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A discrete-time average model-based predictive control (DTA-MPC) is proposed for a quasi-Z-source inverter (qZSI). As a single-stage inverter topology, the qZSI regulates the dc-link voltage and the ac output voltage through the shoot-through (ST) duty cycle and the modulation index. Several feedback strategies have been dedicated to produce these two control variables, among which the most popular are the proportional–integral (PI)-based control and the conventional model-predictive control (MPC). However, in the former, there are tradeoffs between fast response and stability; the latter is robust, but at the cost of high calculation burden and variable switching frequency. Moreover, they require an elaborated design or fine tuning of controller parameters. The proposed DTA-MPC predicts future behaviors of the ST duty cycle and modulation signals, based on the established discrete-time average model of the quasi-Z-source (qZS) inductor current, the qZS capacitor voltage, and load currents. The prediction actions are applied to the qZSI modulator in the next sampling instant, without the need of other controller parameters’ design. A constant switching frequency and significantly reduced computations are achieved with high performance. Transient responses and steady-state accuracy of the qZSI system under the proposed DTA-MPC are investigated and compared with the PI-based control and the conventional MPC. Simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach for the qZSI. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A quasi-Z-source three-to-single-phase matrix converter is proposed with low-frequency ripple power compensation. The employed impedance network between the source grid and the matrix converter extends the voltage gain; meanwhile, it has filtering function. Therefore, voltage step-up devices and an additional input filter are avoided. In addition, for a conventional three-to-single-phase matrix converter, input current of the source grid contains high harmonic components because of double-line-frequency pulsating power produced in single-phase side. A model predictive control-based ripple power compensation system is proposed in this paper to eliminate the low-order harmonic components from the three-phase input currents and voltages. Thus, the impedance parameters could be small in size and value. Simulation and experimental results verify the analysis and control of the proposed topology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Active ripple decoupling technique of the single-phase inverter is a popular topic to minimize the dc-link capacitance. However, the existing control methods are based on tracking sinusoidal or predetermined voltage waveforms of the compensation capacitor, assuming the inverter outputs are pure sinusoidal voltage and current. Therefore, the performance of existing methods degrades when the inverter output voltage and current are not purely sinusoidal. Furthermore, the limited dynamic performance threatens the safety of dc-link capacitor when the load changes. This happens, because the inrush ripple power is injected into dc link with small capacitance and the dc-link voltage will suddenly rise up when the ripple power is not buffered during transients. In this paper, a direct instantaneous power predictive control is proposed for the decoupling circuit to buffer ripple power of the single-phase inverter, which combines instantaneous ripple power control with model predictive control to overcome the issues above. The proposed method tracks the instantaneous ripple power rather than voltage or current waveforms. In this way, it can fully buffer all ripple powers in the system even for distorted output voltage and current of the inverter and enables the full utilization of storage capacitor. In addition, model predictive control makes the proposed method have fast dynamic and perfectly compensate ripple power during transients and steady states. The buck-type active ripple decoupling circuit is chosen to implement the proposed method after comparing with another typical decoupling topology. The proposed method is also compared with conventional method using proportional-integral-resonant regulator to track the predetermined capacitor voltage waveform. Experimental tests verify the theoretical analysis and the proposed control method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A battery-energy-stored quasi-Z-source cascaded multilevel inverter (qZS-CMI)-based photovoltaic (PV) power generation system combines advantages of a qZS inverter, a CMI, and a battery energy storage system. However, unbalanced battery state of charge (SOC) between cascaded H-bridge inverter modules will degrade an entire system's performance and shorten battery lifespan. This paper proposes a control method to balance battery SOCs of all modules, no matter the intermittent states of each module's PV power. The method is on the basis of battery SOCs, SOC limits of each module, and the total power injected into the power grid. Simulation and experimental results verify the proposed control method that ensures identical SOCs for the battery-energy-stored qZS-CMI PV system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is the continuation of Part I in which a quasi-Z-source modular cascaded converter (qZS-MCC), comprising front-end isolated qZS half-bridge dc–dc converter submodules (SMs), for dc integration of high-power photovoltaic (PV) systems is proposed. The qZS-MCC-based PV system features modular structure, high-voltage dc collection of PV power, simple control with a unified and constant duty cycle for the front-end isolation converter of all SMs, and low qZS impedance due to no double-line-frequency pulsating power. Here, control scheme of the qZS-MCC PV system integrated into the dc collection grid is investigated. Dynamic model of the system is established for controllers design and time-domain transient simulation. Experimental tests are carried out on the downscaled prototype as a proof-of-concept of the proposed control and modeling, demonstrating the validity of the proposed approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A quasi-Z-source modular cascaded converter (qZS-MCC) is proposed for dc integration of high-power photovoltaic (PV) systems. The qZS-MCC comprises series-connected front-end isolated qZS half-bridge (HB) dc–dc converter submodules (SMs). With the front-end isolation, the qZS-MCC achieves high-voltage dc capability, while maintaining modularity and PV panel grounded. The post-stage qZS-HB handles the PV voltage and power flows, dc-link voltage balance, and output-series power integration. Whereas, the front-end isolation converters of all SMs perform a constant duty cycle, lowing the control complexity. There is no double-line-frequency power flowing through the dc-side PV panels, qZS inductors, and qZS capacitors in the qZS-MCC, so small qZS impedance is possible compared to the existing qZS cascaded multilevel inverter. The configuration, operating principle, power loss evaluation, and passive components design of the proposed system are investigated in this part of the paper. The system control, modeling, and corresponding verifications are stated in Part II of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The quasi-Z-source cascaded multilevel inverter (qZS-CMI) presented many advantages over conventional CMI when applied in photovoltaic (PV) power systems. For example, qZS-CMI provides the balanced dc-link voltage and voltage boost ability, saves one-third modules, etc. However, current research studies only disclosed control of single-phase qZS-CMI-based PV power systems, and there was no literature related to control of three-phase qZS-CMI-based PV power systems. In this paper, for the first time, three-phase qZS-CMI's control is proposed and demonstrated for application to PV power systems. The models of PV-panel-fed qZS H-bridge module and qZS-CMI-based PV power system are built to accurately design control algorithms for each module and the whole system. The proposed control method includes the distributed maximum power point tracking for each module, dc-link peak voltage balance control for all modules, and grid-tie control for the whole system; moreover, a new multilevel space vector modulation method is proposed for the three-phase qZS-CMI. Simulation and experimental results on a test bench with a three-phase seven-level qZS-CMI-based PV power system verify the proposed control and modulation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current and emerging investigations on Z-source/quasi-Z-source inverters (ZSIs/qZSIs) are presented. The ZSI/qZSI fulfills buck/boost capability in single-stage topology and overcomes the limits of traditional voltage source inverters (VSIs). Hence, high reliablity, high efficiency, and low cost can be achieved. The recently derived impedance networks with improved voltage gain are discussed. The classic and newly proposed modulations and feedback controls for ZSIs/qZSIs are compared. Finally, the emerging applications and trends of ZSIs/qZSIs to photovoltaic (PV) power generation are discussed. This study offers a comprehensive and systematic reference for the future development of the high-performance ZSI/qZSI. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An effective control method, including system-level control and pulsewidth modulation for quasi-Z-source cascade multilevel inverter (qZS-CMI) based grid-tie photovoltaic (PV) power system is proposed. The system-level control achieves the grid-tie current injection, independent maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for separate PV panels, and dc-link voltage balance for all quasi-Z-source H-bridge inverter (qZS-HBI) modules. The complete design process is disclosed. A multilevel space vector modulation (SVM) for the single-phase qZS-CMI is proposed to fulfill the synthetization of the step-like voltage waveforms. Simulation and experiment based on a seven-level prototype are carried out to validate the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The quasi-Z-source inverter (qZSI) with battery operation can balance the stochastic fluctuations of photovoltaic (PV) power injected to the grid/load, but its existing topology has a power limitation due to the wide range of discontinuous conduction mode during battery discharge. This paper proposes a new topology of the energy-stored qZSI to overcome this disadvantage. The operating characteristic of the proposed solution is analyzed in detail and compared to that of the existing topology. Two strategies are proposed with the related design principles to control the new energy-stored qZSI when applied to the PV power system. They can control the inverter output power, track the PV panel's maximum power point, and manage the battery power, simultaneously. The voltage boost and inversion, and energy storage are integrated in a single-stage inverter. An experimental prototype is built to test the proposed circuit and the two discussed control methods. The obtained results verify the theoretical analysis and prove the effectiveness of the proposed control of the inverter's input and output powers and battery power regardless of the charging or discharging situation. A real PV panel is used in the grid-tie test of the proposed energy-stored qZSI, which demonstrates three operational modes suitable for application in the PV power system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]