Space-vector pulsewidth modulation for a seven-level cascaded H-bridge inverter with the control of DC-link voltages

Abstract

A control strategy of DC-link voltages for a seven-level cascaded H-bridge inverter is proposed in this paper. The DC-link voltage balancing is accomplished by an appropriate selection of H-bridges and control of their duty cycles in space-vector modulation (SVM) algorithm. The proposed SVM method allows to maintain the same voltage level on all inverter capacitors. Regardless of the balancing function, the SVM strategy makes it possible to generate the output voltage vector properly also in the case where the DC-link voltages are not balanced. The results of simulation and experimental investigations are presented in the paper.