Soft-switching cells for Modular Multilevel Converters for efficient grid integration of renewable sources

Stefano Farnesi; Mario Marchesoni; Massimiliano Passalacqua; Luis Vaccaro; Stefano Farnesi; Mario Marchesoni; Massimiliano Passalacqua; Luis Vaccaro

doi:10.3934/energy.2019.3.246

AIMS Energy

2019, Volume 7, Issue 3: 246-263. doi: 10.3934/energy.2019.3.246

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Research article Topical Sections

Soft-switching cells for Modular Multilevel Converters for efficient grid integration of renewable sources

DITEN—Polytechnic School—University of Genova Via all’Opera Pia, 11A—16145 GENOVA (Italy)

Received: 15 February 2019 Accepted: 24 April 2019 Published: 09 May 2019

The Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) concept is a modern energy conversion structure that stands out for a number of interesting features that opens wide application chances in Power Systems, for example for efficient grid integration of renewable sources. In these high-voltage, high-power application fields, a high efficiency is mandatory. In this regard, an interesting and promising development opportunity could be to make soft-switching the elementary converters of the submodules (cells), half H-bridges or full H-bridges, obtaining at the same time the advantage of increasing the switching frequency. The-Active Resonant Commutated Pole Converter (ARCP) or the Auxiliary Quasi Resonant DC-link Inverter (AQRDCL) soft-switching topologies appear adequate for this purpose. This paper is dedicated to examining these development possibilities.
- soft switching,
- Modular Multilevel Converter,
- grid integration,
- solid state transformer,
- medium voltage converter
Citation: Stefano Farnesi, Mario Marchesoni, Massimiliano Passalacqua, Luis Vaccaro. Soft-switching cells for Modular Multilevel Converters for efficient grid integration of renewable sources[J]. AIMS Energy, 2019, 7(3): 246-263. doi: 10.3934/energy.2019.3.246

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Abstract

The Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) concept is a modern energy conversion structure that stands out for a number of interesting features that opens wide application chances in Power Systems, for example for efficient grid integration of renewable sources. In these high-voltage, high-power application fields, a high efficiency is mandatory. In this regard, an interesting and promising development opportunity could be to make soft-switching the elementary converters of the submodules (cells), half H-bridges or full H-bridges, obtaining at the same time the advantage of increasing the switching frequency. The-Active Resonant Commutated Pole Converter (ARCP) or the Auxiliary Quasi Resonant DC-link Inverter (AQRDCL) soft-switching topologies appear adequate for this purpose. This paper is dedicated to examining these development possibilities.

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