A three-level MOSFET inverter for low-power drives

Author

Welchko, Brian A. ; De Rossiter Corrêa, Maurício Beltrão ; Lipo, Thomas A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

Volume

51

Issue

3

fYear

2004

fDate

6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

669

Lastpage

674

Abstract

This paper proposes operating a three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverter using a two-level pulsewidth-modulation method. This allows for the clamping diodes to be rated at a fraction of the main switches due to their low average current requirement. The use of a bootstrap charge pump as a low-cost method to obtain the isolated gate drive power supplies is extended for use with the NPC topology. Using this control method and circuits, an inverter based on high-volume, low-cost, low-voltage power MOSFETs is experimentally demonstrated as a possible economic alternative to an insulated-gate-bipolar-transistor-based drive for 120-Vrms-supplied systems.

Keywords

PWM invertors; bootstrapping; power MOSFET; power semiconductor diodes; variable speed drives; NPC topology; adjustable-speed drives; bootstrap charge pump; clamping diodes; isolated gate drive power supplies; low-power drives; main switches; three-level MOSFET inverter; two-level pulse width modulation method; Charge pumps; Circuit topology; Clamps; Control systems; Diodes; MOSFET circuits; Power supplies; Pulse inverters; Pulsed power supplies; Switches; Adjustable-speed drives; bootstrap; charge pump; inverters; multilevel systems; pulsewidth modulation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0278-0046

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIE.2004.825337

Filename

1302343