Enhanced Deadbeat Control Approach for Grid-Tied Multilevel Flying Capacitors Inverter

Abstract

This paper proposes an enhanced Deadbeat Controller (DBC) for a grid-tied Flying Capacitors Inverter (FCI). The proposed DBC guarantees the balancing of the capacitors' voltages while injecting current to the grid with lower Total Harmonics Distortion (THD). The proposed controller has the following advantages: 1) Improved current tracking quality even at zero crossing instants by using a weighted state-space model, 2) Superior steady-state performance (lower current THD) compared to other prediction-based control techniques such as Finite-Control-Set Model Predictive Control, 3) The generated duty cycles are normalized to the common base when the desired state is out of reach within the sampling time, 4) Voltage Ride-Through (VRT) capability, and 5) Robustness to parameters variation. Theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed control technique in ensuring uninterruptible and smooth transfer of energy to the grid during normal/abnormal operating conditions (severe voltage sags, parameters variation, etc.).