A 2-kW Single-Phase Seven-Level Flying Capacitor Multilevel Inverter With an Active Energy Buffer

作者：Lei Yutian^*; Barth Christopher; Qin Shibin; Liu Wen Chuen; Moon Intae; Stillwell Andrew; Chou Derek; Foulkes Thomas; Ye Zichao; Liao Zitao; Pilawa Podgurski Robert C N

来源：IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 2017, 32(11): 8570-8581.

DOI：10.1109/TPEL.2017.2650140

• Active energy buffer
• flying capacitor multilevel (FCML)
• GaN
• inverter
• multilevel inverter
• single phase

High-efficiency and compact single-phase inverters are desirable in many applications such as solar energy harvesting and electric vehicle chargers. This paper presents a 2-kW, 60-Hz, 450-V-DC-to-240-V-AC power inverter, designed and tested subject to the specifications of the Google/IEEE Little Box Challenge. The inverter features a seven-level flying capacitor multilevel converter, with low-voltage GaN switches operating at 120 kHz. The inverter also includes an active buffer for twice-line-frequency power pulsation decoupling, which reduces the required capacitance by a factor of 8 compared to conventional passive decoupling capacitors, while maintaining an efficiency above 99%. The inverter prototype is a self-contained box that achieves a high power density of 216 W/in(3) and a peak overall efficiency of 97.6%, while meeting the constraints including input current ripple, load transient, thermal, and FCC Class B EMC specifications.

• 出版日期2017-11
• 单位MIT