Comparative study of vector PWM and FS-MPC for 3-level Neutral Point Clamped converter

Last few decades, multilevel converter topologies have gained a considerable attention. The multilevel converter designs promise a lot of advantages in high power applications, over the conventional converter design such as: lower THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) higher operational voltage ranges, lighter and cheaper topologies. However, due to its higher complexity, also the control algorithms are becoming more complex. In this paper we introduce a comparison of three topologically independent control algorithms for multilevel converters. Specifically, two different Space Vector Modulations (SVM), are compared with Finite Set Model Predictive Control (FS-MPC) of multilevel converter. All three algorithms are tested on low-voltage prototype of 3-level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) converter. In order to provide a comprehensive overview, this work brings together the main advantages and disadvantages of investigated control algorithms and theoretical conclusions are supported by experimental results.