Biblio

This paper proposes the modular power conversion systems based on an Universal Smart Power Module (USPM). In this concept, the Power Electronics Building Block (PEBB) is improved the flexibility and the expandability by integrating a high-speed power electronics controller, input/output filters among each USPM to realize the simplification of the power electronics design. The original point of USPM is that each power module operates independently because a high-speed power electronics controller is implemented on each power module. The power modules of PEBB are typically configured by the main power circuits and the gate driver. Therefore, the controller has to be designed specifically according to various applications although the advantages of PEBB are high flexibility and user-friendly. The contribution of USPM is the simplification of the system design including power electronics controller. On the other hand, autonomous distributed systems require the control method to suppress the interference in each module. In this paper, the configuration of USPM, example of the USPM system, and detail of the control method are introduced.

Series-connected IGBTs, when properly controlled, operate similarly to a single device with a much higher voltage capacity. Integrating series IGBTs into a Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) can reduce its complexity without compromising the voltage capacity. This paper presents the circuit design on the sub-modular level of a MMC in which all the switching devices are series-connected IGBTs. The voltage sharing among the series IGBTs are regulated in a self-balancing manner. Therefore, no central series IGBT controller is needed, which greatly reduces the sensing and communication complexities, increasing the flexibility and expandability. Hardware experiment results demonstrate that the series IGBTs are able to self-regulate the voltage sharing in a fast and accurate manner and the system can operate similarly to a sub-module in a MMC.