EEC 693/793: High Power Electronics

Project IV
Neutral Point Clamped Inverter(NPC)

(a) How many levels does the m level inverter have? Explain.
The inverter above has 3 levels because a Neutral point diode clamped inverter
requires m-1=3-1= 2 capacitors or dc sources and 4(m-1) switches ie 4(3-1) =8,
So also the voltages obtained during the switching cycle are 0,+100,-100,+200,200 ,which is 3 hence the inverter is a 3 level one.

(b) Sketch the expected staircase waveform of the load voltage for one period.
The expected staircase waveform is as shown below

As shown in the figure the inverter has 3 levels 0, 1,2 with the voltages 0,+100,100,+200,-200 respectively.

(c) In what order should the switches be turned on and turned off to achieve that
waveform? Present this information in table form, that is, the state of each
switch (1 = on, 0 = off) for each output voltage level. Is it true that there
should always be two switches on per leg? Explain, whether true or not

The below table shows the order of switches turning on and off and it is evident from
the table that in each leg there are two switches turned on and off simultaneously.
Switch State
Vab

Sa1

Sa2

Sa1

Sa2

Sb1

Sb2

Sb1

Sb2

100

200

100

-100 0

-200 0

-100

(d) What are the functions of diodes D1 through D4? Explain.

The diodes D1 and D4 are the Clamping diodes which are used for voltage balance
across the switches; they limit reverse blocking voltage across the switches. In
general the Voltage across each capacitor is Vdc/m-1.

(e) How many and which harmonics would you be able to cancel by the proper
switching of its devices?
The 3 level inverter can eliminate the entire harmonics (k=1,2,3.) by proper
utilization of firing angles.
cosk i
4 V dc m1
V an ( t )= (
sinkt)
k i=1
k odd

-----------------------------(1)

The above equation determines the firing angles i that will result in the elimination of odd
harmonics and even harmonics are already absent due to the waveform symmetry.
From (1) the fundamental component (k=1) of this voltage is
i
m1

cos sin t
i=1

V an 1=

4 V dc

And its peak value

i
m1

cos
i=1

^ an 1= 4 V dc
V

----------------------------- (2)

Now the height of the stair case output voltage waveform is, by symmetry, the value of
^ an ( t )
V

at

t =

Now as this voltage is equal to,

^ an=( m1 ) V dc
V

Now if the ratio

m1

cos i=
i=1

-------------------------------- (3)

V^ an1
=M , we get
V^ an
M (m1)
4

--------------------------------- (5)

If M=1 then we get

m1

cos i=
i=1

( m1)
4

------------------------------- (6)

In order to eliminate the corresponding harmonic amplitudes to zero

i
m1

cos
i=1

4 V dc
^ ank =
V

-------------------------------- (7)

cos k i= 0
Or simply

m1

where K=3,5,......

-------------------------------- (8)

i=1

Hence, in our case for m=3 we obtain following harmonic equations.

Third order harmonic component

cos 3 1+ cos 3 3 =0

----------------------------------(9)

Fifth order harmonic component

cos 5 1+ cos 5 3=0
Seventh order harmonic component
cos 7 1+ cos 7 3 =0
Similarly continues for k=9, 11,

From the above equations we can set the firing angle

1 , 2, 3 such that the

equation is zero thus eliminating the required harmonic we want.

resultant

(f) Calculate the angles at which the devices must be switched to achieve your
answer in (e)

Simplified Equation for the m level inverter is given below

m1

cos i=
i=1

( m1)
4

For m=3 we get

cos 1+ cos 3=

2 ---------(1)

cos 3 1+ cos 3 3 =0

------(2)

solving Equation 1,2 in Matlab we get

1=5.09 8 degrees
2=54.95 6 degrees

1=

16.665 .09
=0.2356 ms
360

2=

16.6654.95
=2.544 ms
360

(g) Simulate your NPC inverter showing everything needed to demonstrate that you
have achieved the objectives of this Project.