BALANCING CURRENT WITHIN A MODULAR CONVERTER SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method of controlling power output of a modular converter system comprising a plurality of parallel inverter units, the plurality of parallel inverter units comprising a first inverter unit with at least a first phase output node and a second inverter unit with at least a second phase output node, the method comprising:
- driving switching elements of the first and second inverter units with initial drive signals to produce an in-phase power output;
determining a gate driver offset value based on respective first and second voltages at the first and second phase output nodes, wherein determining the gate driver offset value comprises;
calculating, for each of the first and second inverter units, a respective applied volt-seconds value, wherein the gate driver offset value is based on a difference between the respective calculated applied volt-seconds values; and
driving, based on the determined gate driver offset value, the switching elements of the first and second inverter units with subsequent drive signals such that respective amounts of current provided by the first and second inverter units when producing the in-phase power output are balanced.
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Abstract
To provide current balancing between paralleled first and second inverter units of a modular converter system, a system controller is configured to determine a gate driver offset value based on respective voltages at the phase output nodes of the first and second inverter units. The system controller controls gate drivers for the first and second inverter units based on the determined gate driver offset value. In turn, the gate drivers drive the first and second inverter units with subsequent drive signals such that the amounts of current provided by the first and second inverter units when producing an in-phase power output are balanced.
14 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of controlling power output of a modular converter system comprising a plurality of parallel inverter units, the plurality of parallel inverter units comprising a first inverter unit with at least a first phase output node and a second inverter unit with at least a second phase output node, the method comprising:
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driving switching elements of the first and second inverter units with initial drive signals to produce an in-phase power output; determining a gate driver offset value based on respective first and second voltages at the first and second phase output nodes, wherein determining the gate driver offset value comprises; calculating, for each of the first and second inverter units, a respective applied volt-seconds value, wherein the gate driver offset value is based on a difference between the respective calculated applied volt-seconds values; and driving, based on the determined gate driver offset value, the switching elements of the first and second inverter units with subsequent drive signals such that respective amounts of current provided by the first and second inverter units when producing the in-phase power output are balanced. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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2. (canceled)
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3. A method of controlling power output of a modular converter system comprising a plurality of parallel inverter units, the plurality of parallel inverter units comprising a first inverter unit with at least a first phase output node and a second inverter unit with at least a second phase output node, wherein each of the first and second phase output nodes are coupled with at least one integrator of the modular converter system, the method comprising:
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driving switching elements of the first and second inverter units with initial drive signals to produce an in-phase power output; determining a gate driver offset value based on respective first and second voltages at the first and second phase output nodes, wherein determining the gate driver offset value comprises; integrating, using the at least one integrator, each of the first and second voltages relative to at least one reference voltage; and driving, based on the determined gate driver offset value, the switching elements of the first and second inverter units with subsequent drive signals such that respective amounts of current provided by the first and second inverter units when producing the in-phase power output are balanced. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A modular converter system, comprising:
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a system controller; and at least first and second inverter units connected in parallel and configured to produce an in-phase power output, each inverter unit of the first and second inverter units respectively comprising; a pair of switching elements having a phase output node coupled therebetween, and a pair of gate drivers, each gate driver configured to receive a respective control signal from the system controller and to generate a drive signal to control switching of a respective one of the pair of switching elements, wherein the system controller is configured to; calculate, for each of the first and second inverter units, a respective applied volt-seconds value, determine a gate driver offset value based on respective voltages at the phase output nodes of the first and second inverter units, wherein the gate driver offset value is based on a difference between the respective calculated applied volt-seconds values, and control, based on the determined gate driver offset value, the gate drivers to drive the first and second inverter units with subsequent drive signals such that amounts of current provided by the first and second inverter units when producing the in-phase power output are balanced. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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9. (canceled)
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10. A modular converter system comprising:
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a system controller; at least first and second inverter units connected in parallel and configured to produce an in-phase power output, each inverter unit of the first and second inverter units respectively comprising; a pair of switching elements having a phase output node coupled therebetween, and a pair of gate drivers, each gate driver configured to receive a respective control signal from the system controller and to generate a drive signal to control switching of a respective one of the pair of switching elements; one or more first integrators coupled with the phase output node of the first inverter unit; and one or more second integrators coupled with the phase output node of the second inverter unit, wherein the system controller is configured to; determine a gate driver offset value based on respective voltages at the phase output nodes of the first and second inverter units, wherein determining the gate driver offset value comprises; integrating, using the one or more first integrators and the one or more second integrators, each of the first and second voltages relative to at least one reference voltage; and control, based on the determined gate driver offset value, the gate drivers to drive the first and second inverter units with subsequent drive signals such that amounts of current provided by the first and second inverter units when producing the in-phase power output are balanced. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer program code that, when executed by operation of one or more computer processors, performs an operation of controlling power output of a modular converter system comprising a plurality of parallel inverter units,
the plurality of parallel inverter units comprising a first inverter unit with at least a first phase output node and a second inverter unit with at least a second phase output node, the operation comprising: -
communicating with a plurality of gate drivers to drive switching elements of the first and second inverter units with initial drive signals to produce an in-phase power output; determining a gate driver offset value based on respective first and second voltages at the first and second phase output nodes, wherein determining the gate driver offset value comprises; calculating, for each of the first and second inverter units, a respective applied volt-seconds value, wherein the gate driver offset value is based on a difference between the respective calculated applied volt-seconds values; and communicating with the plurality of gate drivers to drive, based on the determined gate driver offset value, the switching elements of the first and second inverter units with subsequent drive signals such that respective amounts of current provided by the first and second inverter units when producing the in-phase power output are balanced. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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16. (canceled)
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17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising computer program code that, when executed by operation of one or more computer processors, performs an operation of controlling power output of a modular converter system comprising a plurality of parallel inverter units,
the plurality of parallel inverter units comprising a first inverter unit with at least a first phase output node and a second inverter unit with at least a second phase output node, wherein each of the first and second phase output nodes are coupled with at least one integrator of the modular converter system, the operation comprising: -
communicating with a plurality of gate drivers to drive switching elements of the first and second inverter units with initial drive signals to produce an in-phase power output; determining a gate driver offset value based on respective first and second voltages at the first and second phase output nodes, wherein determining the gate driver offset value comprises; integrating, using the at least one integrator, each of the first and second voltages relative to at least one reference voltage; and communicating with the plurality of gate drivers to drive, based on the determined gate driver offset value, the switching elements of the first and second inverter units with subsequent drive signals such that respective amounts of current provided by the first and second inverter units when producing the in-phase power output are balanced. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification