Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2119–2128

www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Control of four leg inverter for hybrid power system applications

with unbalanced load
a,*
I. Vechiu , H. Camblong a, G. Tapia b, B. Dakyo c, O. Curea a

a
LIPSI-ESTIA, Bidart, Technopôle Izarbel, 64 210 Bidart, France
b
University of Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Europa Plaza 1, E-20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
c
GREAH – University of Le Havre, 25 rue Philippe Lebon, BP 540, France

Received 6 June 2006; accepted 24 December 2006

Available online 27 February 2007

Abstract

This paper proposes an improved control strategy for a three phase, four leg inverter used for the simultaneous supply of three phase
and single phase AC loads in a transformerless hybrid power system (HPS) application. First, the mathematical model of the inverter is
obtained by using the average technique, which allows converter systems to be rapidly and accurately simulated. Then, two control strat-
egies are described. The first one uses the conventional dq0 frame rotating with the angular frequency x (x = 314 rad/s) and PI (propor-
tional integral) controllers to ensure voltage and current regulation. The second one is an improved control strategy based on the
decomposition of the supply three phase voltage and current into instantaneous positive, negative and homopolar sequence components
using phasor representation. These three sequences are controlled independently in their own reference frames as DC signals. The posi-
tive sequence is regulated by the PI controllers in a positive reference frame, which rotates counterclockwise, while the negative sequence
is regulated by the PI controllers in a negative reference frame, which rotates clockwise at the same angular frequency. Since the proposed
strategy uses phasor representation, the actually superposed phasors of the homopolar sequence are spatially displaced at 120. Then,
using a negative reference frame system, the obtained DC signals are regulated by the PI controllers. Simulation results show the validity
of the innovative control strategy.
 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Converters; Current control; Hybrid power system; Power quality; Symmetrical components; Voltage unbalance

1. Introduction unsatisfactory operating conditions occur. Considering

In many of the remote areas, where the cost of the
grid extension is prohibitive and the fuel price increases
drastically with the remoteness of the location, the asso-
ciation of renewable energy sources with conventional
Diesel generators (DG) has demonstrated substantial
reduction of fuel consumption and increased efficiency
of the overall system [1]. In order to achieve fuel saving,
the DG should operate intermittently. Intermittent Diesel
operation means that the DG should be brought into
operation with high efficiency and switched off when
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 5 59 43 84 74; fax: +33 5 59 43 84 05.
E-mail address: i.vechiu@estia.fr (I. Vechiu).
an application with the interconnection of AC power
sources and DC power sources allowing intermittent
DG operation (Fig. 1), an autonomous inverter is
required to supply the AC loads with constant voltage
magnitude and frequency.
A major drawback in such HPS supplying three phase
loads is voltage unbalance. Unbalanced loading condi-
tions can occur in HPS for a variety of reasons. In gen-
eral, small loads (relative to the power range of the
system) are configured to draw power from only one
phase. When several single phase loads are placed on a
distribution system, the fluctuating power required from
each of these loads can cause unbalance in the power sys-
tem. To supply both three and single phase AC loads, a

0196-8904/$ - see front matter  2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2006.12.019
2120 I. Vechiu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2119–2128

PV = = Loads
Array = 3∼
Autonomous
Inverter

Wind
3∼ ∼
Turbine =
DG

3∼
Battery =
Bank =

Fig. 1. HPS application with autonomous inverter.

neutral connection is required to control each phase volt- 2. Mathematical description of the four leg inverter under
age independently. unbalanced conditions
In three phase applications with three wire inverters, if
the load requires a neutral point connection, a simple Fig. 2 shows a three phase, four leg inverter in a HPS
approach is to use two capacitors to split the DC link environment. This topology is characterized by the connec-
and tie the neutral point to the midpoint of the two capac- tion of the neutral point of the load to the midpoint of the
itors. In this case, unbalanced loads will cause neutral cur- fourth leg of the inverter. Consequently, the three phases
rents that flow through the fourth wire between the load are independent of each other and the current flowing
neutral point and the midpoint, distorting the symmetrical through each leg depends only on the position of the asso-
output voltage [2]. Other different topologies to provide a ciated switches and its phase voltage.
neutral connection for three phase four wire systems are The behaviour of the inverter is non-linear because of
discussed in Ref. [3]. the switches and requires long simulation times. Assuming
In traditional inverter control, compensation of the the switching frequency is much higher than the fundamen-
unbalanced voltage is performed using current and voltage tal frequency of the AC signals, so that all voltage and cur-
regulation in a dq0 reference frame rotating at the funda- rent ripples are negligible, the averaging technique [8] can
mental frequency. Often PI (proportional integral) regula- be used to get an average large signal inverter model from
tion is employed to achieve zero steady state error at the the switching model (Fig. 3).
fundamental frequency [4]. An additional control loop The DC link voltage VDC is kept at a constant value by
for the 0 variable is necessary to ensure output voltage controlling the energy flow from the batteries to the DC
symmetry if the load is unbalanced. Voltage unbalance in link as shown in Fig. 2. The DC/DC converter operates
the three phase system gives rise to 2x voltage and current as a voltage stabiliser. In this case, the line to neutral three
ripples in the dq channels. The 0 channel is similarly phase output voltages vaf, vbf and vcf for the three phase
affected by the disturbance at x [5]. As a result, the PI con- four leg inverter can be expressed as
trollers will only cause a phase shift and will not be able to 2 3 2 3
vaf d af
cancel the error completely. Efforts to compensate the 6 7 6 7
unbalanced voltage have been recently reported in Refs. 4 vbf 5 ¼ V DC 4 d bf 5 ð1Þ
[6,7]. vcf d cf
First, this paper describes a model of the four leg bi-
where daf, dbf and dcf are the duty ratios. The equations
directional converter and the classical dq0 control
describing inverter voltages and currents in the circuit
strategy. Then, it proposes a control strategy based on
model are expressed as
decomposition of the three phase output voltage and cur- 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 2 3 2 3
rent into positive, negative and homopolar sequence com- vaf ia
vAN ia iN iN
6 7 6 7 6 7 d6 7 6 7 d6 7
ponents. These symmetrical components are regulated v ¼
4 bf 5 4 BN 5
v þ Rf4 b5
i þ Lf 4 b5
i  R N4 N 5
i  LN 4 N5
i
dt dt
using two different synchronous reference frames, namely vcf vCN ic ic iN iN
the positive reference frame that rotates counterclockwise ð2Þ
at x and the negative reference frame that rotates clock-
ia þ ib þ ic þ iN ¼ 0 ð3Þ
wise at the same angular frequency. This approach,
together with the connection of the neutral point of the where Rf and Lf are the resistance and the inductance of the
load to the midpoint of the fourth leg of the inverter, inverter filter, vAN, vBN and vCN are the line to neutral filter
allows the negative and the homopolar sequence voltages output voltages, ia, ib and ic are the three phase inverter
and currents to be controlled completely in their own ref- output currents and iN is the neutral current. The DC
erence frames as DC signals. bus current IDC is expressed as
 I. Vechiu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2119–2128 2121

Irw IDC DG
iCD iBD iAD iND
SNp Sap Sbp Scp
Icb Ic Lf, Rf
ia vA
va
Renewable ib vB
VDC vf vb
Energy
ic vC
vc
iCl iBl iAl
SNn San Sbn Scn
Z

Sb2 LN, RN
iN
DC/DC Sb1
converter vN
Lb

i
v+
Battery
Bank -

Fig. 2. Four leg inverter for HPS application.

DG
iCD iBD iAD iND
Lf, Rf
IDC va ia vA

vb ib vB
IDC
VDC + vc ic vC
- daf ⋅VDC dbf ⋅VDC dcf⋅VD
iCl iBl iAl
Z
~ ~ ~

vf iN LN, RN
vN

Fig. 3. Average large signal model of the inverter.

I DC ¼ ½ d af d bf d cf   ½ ia ib ic T ð4Þ synchronously rotating reference frame (the 0 component

is preserved) using Clarke and Park transformations [10].
The voltage equations in the dq0 reference frame in accor-
3. Control strategy of the four leg inverter based on the dance with Eq. (2) are as follows:
classical current–voltage controller
2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3
vfd vd id id iq
In terms of control loop design, the conventional control 6 7 6 7 6 7 d6 7 6 7
4 vfq 5 ¼ 4 vq 5 þ Rf 4 iq 5 þ Lf 4 iq 5 þ Lf x4 id 5
strategy of the four leg inverter is shown in Fig. 4. This dt
control structure, hereafter called dq0 controller, is based vf 0 v0 i0 i0 0
2 3 2 3
on the transformation of the three phase current and volt- 0 0
age expressed in a stationary ABC frame to a dq0 rotating 6 7 d6 7
 RN 4 0 5  L N 4 0 5 ð5Þ
frame [9]. It consists of an inner current loop and an outer dt
3i0 3i0
voltage loop in a three channel arrangement. The current
and voltage loops include independent PI controllers for where id, iq, i0, vfd, vfq, vf0 and vd, vq, v0 are the line currents
the d, q and 0 channels to eliminate steady state error. and the three phase output voltages before and after the in-
verter filter in the dq0 rotating coordinates.
3.1. Voltage and current controller design As can be seen from Eq. (5), while the d and q channels
are coupled through Lfxiq and Lfxid, the 0 channel is com-
As can be seen in Fig. 4, the instantaneous three phase pletely decoupled from the d and q channels. These cou-
measured voltage and current are transformed into a sta- pling voltage sources can be easily decoupled as shown in
tionary reference frame with ab0 axis and then into a dq0 Fig. 4.
2122 I. Vechiu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2119–2128

Renewable
Energy

Ib Icb
Vbat DC/DC VDC

db - DC-link
PI voltage
+ control
vd V*DC
v*d + i*d + + vfd
PI PI daf
- - + + dq0 vfα αβ0 v*af
ωLf
ωLf 1 dbf
v*q + i*q + + - vfq vfβ
PI PI v*bf VDC dcf
v*0 + -
+ - vq + vf0 αβ0 abc
PI PI
- i*0 - + vf0 v*cf
v0 θ
id ic
αβ0 abc
iq ib
i0 ia
dq0 αβ0

ω ∫ θ Lf

vd vCN ic ib ia iN
αβ0 abc
vq vBN
vAN
v0 dq0
αβ0

iCD D
iBD
iCl iBl iAl iAD iND G

Load

Fig. 4. Control strategy of the four leg inverter based on the classical current–voltage controller.

3.2. Outer voltage loop 4. Control strategy of the four leg inverter based on
symmetrical components
The set points of the inner current loops, id , iq and i0 , are
supplied by the outer voltage loops: Fig. 5 shows the proposed control strategy based on the
transformation of the current and voltage into symmetrical
id ¼ ðPIÞ  ðvd  vd Þ ð6Þ
components [11,12]: positive sequence, negative sequence
iq ¼ ðPIÞ  ðvq  vq Þ ð7Þ and homopolar sequence. This control strategy, hereafter
iq ¼ ðPIÞ  ðv0  v0 Þ ð8Þ called symmetrical sequence controller, consists of an inner
current loop controller and an outer voltage loop control-
ler in a three channel arrangement. The first channel allows
3.3. Inner current loop controlling the positive sequence of the current and volt-
age, the second is for the negative sequence and the third
The output signals from the PI controllers after decou- is for the homopolar sequence. Voltage and current sym-
pling (vfd, vfq and vf0) can be expressed from Eq. (5): metrical components are derived in the sequence decompo-
vfd ¼ vd þ ðPIÞ  ðid  id Þ þ xLf iq ð9Þ sition blocks that also perform the transformation of the
frames.
vfq ¼ vq þ ðPIÞ  ðid  id Þ  xLf id ð10Þ
vf 0 ¼ v0 þ ðPIÞ  ðid  id Þ ð11Þ 4.1. Decomposition of the voltage and the current into
symmetrical components
The control signals, vaf , vbf and vcf , are obtained from Eqs.
(9)–(11) by using inverse Park and Clarke transformations.
Using phasor representation, a three phase unbalanced
The duty ratios are related to these signals as follows:
output voltage can be expressed in symmetrical compo-
2 3 2  3
d af vaf nents, namely positive sequence voltages ðvAN ;p ; vBN ;p ;
6 7 1 6  7 vCN ;p Þ, negative sequence voltages ðvAN ;n ; vBN ;n ; vCN ;n Þ and
4 d bf 5 ¼ 4v 5 ð12Þ
V DC bf  homopolar sequence voltages ðvAN ;h ; vBN ;h ; vCN ;h Þ. It must
d cf vcf
be noticed that all the homopolar sequence voltages are
 I. Vechiu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2119–2128 2123

Renewable
Energy
vd,p Ib Icb
v*d,p + i*d,p + + vfd,p Vbat DC/DC
PI PI VDC
vd,p - id,p - ωLf + +
db -
vq,p - iq,p ωLf PI DC-link
i*q,p - + - vfq,p + voltage control
*
v q,p PI PI
+ + vq,p + V*DC
v*d,n vd,n
+ i*d,n +
+ + daf
PI PI dq/abc
vd,n - id,n - + - vfd,n
ωLf & dbf
vq,n - iq,n ωLf Sequence
+ + vfq,n
*
i q,n - dcf
v*q,n PI PI composition
+ + vq,n +
θ
v*d,h vq,h + ic ib ia iN
+ i*d,h +
PI PI
vd,h - id,h - + vfd,h ω ∫
vq,h - iq,h Lf
i*q,h - +
* PI PI θ
v q,h + + vq,h + vfq,h i ic
dq,p
Sequence
idq,n decomposition ib
idq,h & ia
abc/dq
vdq,p vCN
Sequence
vdq,n decomposition vBN
vdq,h & vAN
abc/dq
iCD D
θ iBD
G
iCl iBl iAl iAD

Load

Fig. 5. Control strategy of the four leg inverter based on symmetrical components.

identical. Therefore, the inverter output voltages are vABC, p

expressed as [F ]p

2 3 2 3 vABC T vABC vABC,n

vAN vAN ;p þ vAN ;n þ vAN ;h j +
[Fn ]
4
6 7 6 7 +
4 vBN 5 ¼ 4 vBN ;p þ vBN ;n þ vBN ;h 5 ð13Þ Delay
vABC,h
vCN vCN ;p þ vCN ;n þ vCN ;h [Fh ]
The transformation of the ABC signals into symmetrical Fig. 6. Online sequence separation method.
components can be expressed by the following compact
form:
The separation method that allows identifying the sym-
½vp  ¼ ½F p   ½v ð14Þ metrical components of the measured voltages is presented
½vn  ¼ ½F n   ½v ð15Þ in Fig. 6. The proposed method implies delaying the mea-
½vh  ¼ ½F h   ½v ð16Þ sured voltage vABC by one fourth of the period at the fun-
damental frequency (T = 1/f, f = 50 Hz). The addition of
where ½vp  ¼ ½ vAN ;p vBN ;p vCN ;p T , ½vn  ¼ ½ vAN ;n vBN ;n the measured voltage and the same signal delayed in space
vCN ;n T , ½vh  ¼ ½ vAN ;h vBN ;h vBN ;h T and ½v ¼ ½ vAN vBN quadrature gives the phasor representation vABC .
vCN T . Fig. 7 shows the voltage decomposition into symmetri-
The transformation matrixes Fp, Fn and Fh have the fol- cal components and the effect of the delay when applying
lowing expressions: the method proposed above. The same transformation is
2 3 2 3
1 a a2 1 a2 a also applied to the measured currents.
16 7 16 7
½F p  ¼ 4 a2 1 a 5; ½F n  ¼ 4 a 1 a2 5;
3 3 4.2. Positive sequence transformation
a a2 1 a2 a 1
2 3
1 1 1 As noted in the introduction, voltage and current regu-
16 7 lation is performed in a dq synchronous reference frame
½F h  ¼ 4 1 1 1 5
3 rotating at the fundamental frequency.
1 1 1
In the positive reference frame, which rotates counter-
2p
where a ¼ ej 3 . clockwise, the positive sequence dq voltages and currents
2124 I. Vechiu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2119–2128

400
vAN,h
vABC [V]

200 vAN vBN vCN

0
-200 vAN, h vBN,h vCN,h
-400
0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08
120˚
200
vABC,p [V]

0 vBN,h ω
-200 ω
-400 vAN,p vBN,p vCN,p
T/4
240˚
0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08
100
vABC,n [V]

0
-100 T/4 vAN,n v
CN,n vBN,n vCN,h
0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08
100 Fig. 8. Homopolar sequence vectors displacement.
vABC,h [V]

vAN,h vBN,h v
CN,h
0

-100
0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08
Time [s]

Fig. 7. Voltage decomposition into symmetrical components.

appear as DC signals. Consequently, the positive sequence

voltage and current are regulated by PI controllers in a
positive dq rotating frame. The angular frequency x is fixed
at 314 rad/s.
Fig. 9. Online sequences decomposition and dq rotating frames
4.3. Negative sequence transformation transformation.

In the positive reference frame, which rotates counter- the DC signals can be equally done using the positive
clockwise, the negative sequence dq voltages and currents reference frame. Once transformed into DC signals, the
appear as a ripple with 2x rad/s. In contrast, in the negative homopolar sequence is easily regulated by the PI
reference frame, which rotates clockwise, the negative controllers.
sequence dq voltages and currents appear as DC signals The complete transformation of the measured voltages
[7]. Thus, the negative sequence voltage and current are reg- (currents) is shown in Fig. 9. As can be seen, only the real
ulated by the PI controllers in a negative dq rotating frame. part of the phasor representation is used to obtain DC
signals.
4.4. Homopolar sequence transformation This trick, which allows obtaining DC signals and, thus,
a good regulation of the homopolar sequence voltage and
In any rotating system reference frame, the homopolar current, is possible because the applied transformations
sequence voltage or current appears as a disturbance in do not affect the amplitude of the processed signals.
the 0 variable at the fundamental angular frequency x,
while the d and q components do not exist. Thus, it is 4.5. Current and voltage loops
not possible to rotate the 0 variable voltage in order to
transform it into a DC signal and to facilitate its 4.5.1. Inner current loops
regulation. In the positive reference frame (the first channel of the
As mentioned in Ref. [11], the vectors of the homopolar control structure presented in Fig. 5), the positive sequence
sequence system are in phase and equal in amplitude. They voltages (vfd,p, vfq,p) are determined by
are also independent, from the point of view of the ampli- vfd;p ¼ vd;p þ ðPIÞ  ðid;p  id;p Þ þ xLf iq;p ð18Þ
tude, with regard to the positive and negative sequence sys-
tems. Thus, it is possible to apply a spatial displacement of vfq;p ¼ vq;p þ ðPIÞ  ðiq;p  iq;p Þ  xLf id;p ð19Þ
120 and 240 to the homopolar phasors (Fig. 8) and the The terms xLfiq,p, xLfid,p are inserted to decouple the dq
transformation matrix Fh becomes axes dynamics.
2 3
1 1 1 The negative sequence current in the second channel of
16 7 the control structure is controlled in the negative rotating
½F h  ¼ 4 a a a 5 ð17Þ
3 2 2 2
reference frame, and the negative sequence voltages
a a a (vfd,n, vfq,n) are determined by
The obtained three phase balanced voltage system is trans- vfd;n ¼ vd;n þ ðPIÞ  ðid;n  id;p Þ  xLf iq;n ð20Þ
formed in DC dq signals using the rotating negative refer-
ence frame. Depending on the succession of the phasors, vfq;n ¼ vq;n þ ðPIÞ  ðiq;n  iq;n Þ þ xLf id;n ð21Þ
 I. Vechiu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2119–2128 2125

ω * Table 1
vdq,p dq v abc_f,p Parameters of the four leg inverter used for simulation
abc Parameters Value
da
-ω Input/output Rated input voltage (VDC) 700 [VDC]
vdq,n dq v*abc_f,n Sequence db Rated output voltage (vAN, vBN, vCN) 230 [Vrms],
composition
abc (eq. (24)) dc Rated output frequency 50 [Hz]
-ω Rated power (total) 70 [KW]
vdq,h dq
Filter components Filter inductance (Lf, LN) 3 [mH]
abc v*
abc_f,h Filter resistance (Rf, RN) 0.1 [X]

Fig. 10. dq-abc Transformation and sequences composition.

the ABC frame, when the inverter and the DG supply a

The homopolar sequence current in the third channel of
the control structure is controlled in the negative rotating
reference frame. The homopolar sequence voltages
(vfd,h, vfq,h) are defined by
vfd;h ¼ vd;h þ ðPIÞ  ðid;h  id;h Þ
vfq;h ¼ vq;h þ ðPIÞ  ðiq;h  iq;h Þ
4.5.2. Outer voltage loops
The outer voltage loops give the reference currents
fid;p ; iq;p ; id;n ; iq;n ; id;h ; iq;h g in order to keep the measured
voltages at constant values (Fig. 5). The positive sequence
voltage vd,p is compared with the desired output voltage
amplitude and the error is processed in a PI controller.
All the remaining sequence voltages are kept at zero values
using the same procedure. These voltage set points corre-
spond to a balanced three phase AC voltage.
4.6. Duty ratios
The duty ratios to be applied to the inverter are obtained
using the inverse Park and Clarke transformations with the
addition of the symmetrical components, as shown in
Fig. 10. The addition is accomplished phase by phase,
using only one phase from the homopolar sequence:
2 3 2  3 centage of negative sequence unbalance is expressed in
d af vaf ;p þ vaf ;n þ vaf ;h
6 7 1 6    7 in three phase system’’ [13]. In the case of the dq0 control-
4 d bf 5 ¼ 4 v ;p þ vbf ;n þ vaf ;h 5
V DC bf  
d cf vcf ;p þ vcf ;n þ vaf ;h
5. Simulation results
To analyse the performance of the four leg inverter with
the proposed control strategies, computer simulations were
conducted with the average inverter model and the param-
eters shown in Table 1.
5.1. AC bus behaviour
For this simulation, the HPS supplies a heavily unbal-
anced resistive load. Fig. 11 illustrates the simulation
results of the inverter current, the DG current, the load
current, the neutral current and the output voltage in
three phase load with a neutral point connection. Phase
A is loaded with 21 kW, phase B with 2.6 kW and phase
C with 8.8 kW. During this simulation, the renewable
energy sources of the HPS generate 35 kW and the Diesel
generator 30.5 kW. The batteries bank, which ensures the
ð22Þ power balance of the system, has a rated capacity of
230Ah. The plots in Fig. 11a show the results in the case
ð23Þ
of the four leg inverter with the dq0 controllers. The plots
in Fig. 11b show the results in the case of the four leg
inverter with the proposed controller based on symmetri-
cal components.
As can be seen in Fig. 11a, in the case of a HPS using the
four leg inverter and the dq0 controller, the three phase
unbalanced load induces an unbalanced load current il,
but also an unbalance on the DG and the inverter currents.
Moreover, the phase currents of the inverter are not sinu-
soidal. The unbalanced load current induces also a non-
negligible neutral current iN and the output voltage
becomes unbalanced.
With the proposed control strategy based on symmetri-
cal components (Fig. 11b), the effect of the unbalanced
load on the output voltage is much lower and, conse-
quently, the DG phase currents are also not so affected.
Because the inverter is bidirectional, the excess current of
the low loaded phase goes into the batteries.
To quantify the level of the voltage unbalance, the per-
accordance with the definition of the ‘‘degree of unbalance
ð24Þ
ler, the degree of the negative sequence unbalance is about
11%. In contrast, with the proposed sequence controller,
the degree of the negative sequence unbalance is lower then
1%. It must be noticed that international standards admit
unbalances lower than 2% [13].
5.2. Voltage and current loop behaviour
In order to compare the performances of both control
strategies, some internal variables are illustrated in
Fig. 12. The plots in Figs. 12a and 13a show the voltage
and the current loops behaviour in the case of the inverter
with the dq0 controller. The plots in Figs. 12b and 13b
show the voltage and the current loops behaviour in the
case of the proposed control strategy based on the symmet-
rical sequences controller.
2126 I. Vechiu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2119–2128

50 A C B 50 A B
iin [A]

iin [A]
0 0 C
-50 -50
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
100 100
B
iDG [A]

iDG [A]
C A B C
0 0

-100 -100
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
200 200
A C A C
B B
il [A]

il [A]
0 0

-200 -200
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
100 100
iN [A]

iN [A]
0 0

-100 -100
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
Time [s] Time [s]

400 400
C B C
B A
A 300
300

200 200

100 100
Vl [V]
vl [V]

0 0

-100 -100

-200 -200

-300 -300

-400 -400
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
Time [s] Time [s]

Fig. 11. Inverter current, DG current, load current, neutral current and output voltage in the stationary ABC frame. (a) Inventer with dq0 controller. (b)
Inverter with symmetrical sequences controller.

380 327
vd * vd,p
vd,p[V]

360 326
vd 325 v*d,p
340
vd [V]

324
320 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
2
vq,p [V]

300 vq,n
0
280 v*q,n
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 -2
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
2
40
vd,n [V]

vd,n
*
vq 0
20 v*d,n
vq
vq [V]

-2
0 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
2
vq,n [V]

vq,n
-20
0
v*q,n
-40
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 -2
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
2
vd,h [V]

vd,h
v0 * 0
20 v*d,h
v0 -2
v0 [V]

1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06

0 2
vq,h [V]

vq,h
0
-20 v*q,h
-2
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
Time [s] Time [s]

Fig. 12. Outer voltage loop. (a) dq0 controller. (b) Proposed symmetrical sequences controller.

The goal of the outer voltage regulation loop is to set the at 2x in the dq plane. These ripples are caused by the exis-
magnitude and the phase of the voltage at the output of the tence of the negative sequence, which is totally ignored by
filter. The voltage error feeds the dq0 PI controllers having the dq0 controller. The negative sequence rotates at an
the current references as output. angular frequency of x in the opposite direction of the
With the dq0 controller (Figs. 12a and 13a), the effects of positive dq reference frame used for voltage and current
the unbalanced load appear as voltage and current ripples transformation. The homopolar sequence appears in the
 I. Vechiu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2119–2128 2127

30 6
id,p
id *

id,p[A]
20
4
10 id i*d,p

id [A] 0 2
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
-10
-4

iq,p [A]
iq,p
-20
-6
-30 i*q,p
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 -8
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
35
10 id,n

id,n [A]
*
iq
0 30 i*d,n
iq
iq [A]

-10 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06

14
iq,n

iq,n [A]
-20 12
10
i*q,n
-30 8
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
35
id,h

id,h [A]
20 i0 * 30 i*d,h
i0
i0 [A]

1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06

0
-8

iq,h [A]
iq,h
-10
-20 -12 i*q,h
-14
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06
Time [s] Time [s]

Fig. 13. Inner current loop. (a) dq0 controller. (b) Proposed symmetrical sequences controller.

0voltage and current signals at a frequency of x. As can be
seen in Fig. 13a, the effects of the unbalanced load are also
reflected in the inner current loop. Moreover, the PI con-
trollers cause a phase shift and are not able to cancel the
error completely.
Figs. 12b and 13b show the same internal control signals
in the case of the proposed control strategy based on the sym-
metrical components. The big advantage of this control
strategy is its ability to control separately the positive, nega-
tive and homopolar sequences. In this case, all voltage and
current control signals are DC quantities, and consequently,
as shown in Fig. 13b, the static error can be easily eliminated.
6. Conclusions
In this paper, the control of a four leg inverter under
unbalanced load conditions for HPS applications has
been investigated. The model of the four leg inverter
has been described and two different control strategies
have been compared. The first one uses the conventional
dq0 frame rotating with the angular frequency and PI
controllers to regulate the voltage and current. Because
the performances of this conventional control strategy
are insufficient, an improved control strategy has been
proposed. This strategy is based on the decomposition
of the voltages and currents into instantaneous positive,
negative and homopolar sequence components. The
decomposition method uses phasor representation and
implies delaying the measured signals by one fourth of
period at the fundamental frequency and applying a spa-
tial displacement of 120 and 240 to the superposed
homopolar phasors. Since positive, negative and homo-
polar sequences appear as DC in their own synchro-
nously rotating reference frames, each of them is
independently controlled. The independent control strat-
egy makes it possible to eliminate the disturbance of
the output voltage caused by the load unbalances. For
the same unbalanced load conditions, simulation results
have shown the effectiveness of the proposed control
strategy versus the classical solution.
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