A novel control method for neutral point clamped inverters with a single Z-source network

The Z-source neutral point clamped (NPC) inverters can realize buck-boost energy conversion with all satisfying advantages of the three-level inverters. A significant problem related to this topology is the fluctuation of the neutral-point potential (NP). However, the previous modulation techniques for this topology cannot achieve the considerate stable voltage. In this paper, based on the analysis of the relationship among the shoot-through duty cycle and the NP voltage, the average NP current, switching frequency capacitor value, a new feed-forward compensator by modifying the shoot-through duty cycle which can improve to balance the NP voltage balancing is proposed. Meanwhile, in consideration of a low voltage gain caused by the NP voltage balance method, a new control method based on a maximum constant boost control method is proposed, which brings the benefits in both high voltage gain and low-frequency ripple. The considerate stable NP voltage and the high voltage gain have been proven in simulation and through experimental results from a prototype converter.