Multicarrier and space vector modulation for three-phase NPC converters: A comparative analysis

The three-level neutral point clamped converter is one of the most important multilevel converters. Two important features of the neutral point clamped converter are the neutral point balance and the output voltage characteristics. Carrier and space vector Pulse-Width Modulation control methods efficiently manage the two issues. This paper analyses the voltage balancing problem and shows that a simple control loop maintains the voltage balance in different operating conditions. Besides simulation, the paper experimentally compares the two issues and shows that the two methods produce almost the same results.