Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

A Medium Voltage DC Collection Grid for Large Scale PV

Power Plants with Interleaved Modular Multilevel Converter

Journal: Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

Manuscript ID JESTPE-2019-02-0167.R1

Manuscript Type: Regular Paper

Date Submitted by the

25-Apr-2019
Author:

Complete List of Authors: Alhuwaishel, Fahad; Texas A&M Engineering, ECE

Allehyani, Ahmed; Texas A&M University, Electrical Engineering;
Al-Obaidi, Sinan
Fo
Enjeti, Prasad; Texas A&M University, Electrical Engineering

Keywords: DC-DC power converters, Photovoltaic systems, Modular construction

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Page 1 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

1
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3 A New Medium Voltage DC Collection Grid for Large
4
5 Scale PV Power Plants
6
7 Fahad Alhuwaishel, Member, IEEE, Ahmed Allehyani. Member, IEEE, Sinan Al-Obaidi, Member,
8 IEEE, and Prasad Enjeti, Fellow, IEEE
9 Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
10 The Topology has been presented at IEEE COMPEL 2018 in Padova, Italy. Additional work and
11
changes were made to submit it to IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power
12
Electronics
13
14
15
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17 Abstract— In this paper, a new medium voltage DC collection grid method for large-scale PV plants is proposed. An
18
19 Interleaved Modular Multilevel (IMMC) DC-DC boost converter is proposed in order to enable medium voltage DC power
Fo
20
21 collection grid followed by a central medium voltage class DC-AC inverter for utility interface. The proposed IMMC
22
converter is synthesized with lower voltage half-bridge SiC inverter blocks connected in series to support medium voltage
23
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24
DC conversion. The half-bridge blocks of the IMMC employ SiC switches, along with high frequency PWM operation
25
26
ee

enable compact size/weight along with high efficiency conversion. Simulation results are shown for 1500V (DC) to 16kV
27
28 (DC) conversion with four series connected IMMC inverter blocks powered from two PV plants. A power sharing stage is
29
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30 an integral part of the proposed converter. This enable two series connected PV plants to supply unequal power under
31
32 partial shading conditions. Control of the power sharing stage for varying insolation from PV (1000-500W/m2) due to
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34 shading effect is shown. A design example for 1MW PV power plant block based on the specifications derived from Kuwait
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Shagaya 60MW solar power plant is discussed. Experimental results on scale down laboratory prototype is included in the
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38 paper.
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Index Terms— DCDC IMMC Converter, DC Collection grids, MPPT, Large PV Plant, SiC Devices, Power Sharing, Passive elements
42
43 size reduction, shaqaya power plant, power harvesting
44
45
46 I. INTRODUCTION
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48
The global solar market is expected to have cumulative 500GW power production in the end of 2018 [1]. The Kuwait
49
50
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Institute Scientific Research (KISR) has initiated and developed the master plan of a 2,000 MW multi-technology renewable
52
53 energy park over 100km2 that has been allocated for the initiative. Generally, power is harvested from a large-scale solar energy
54
power system through AC or DC collection grid [3-7] as shown in Fig. 1. The AC collection grid (Fig. 1a) requires large line
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filters, boost converters, and step-up-transformers. Further, AC collection grid also employs multiple distributed DC-AC inverters
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 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 2 of 30

1 and suffers from relatively higher losses [3-7]. A DC Collection grid is another viable option for large-scale PV [8-9]. Fig. 1 shows
2
3 various configurations of solar pv interconnection to electric grid. Fig. 1b shows the dc-collection approaches.
4
5 Reference [10-11] discusses the benefit of increasing the PV system voltage from 1000V to 1500V in reducing system losses and
6
7 increasing conversion efficiency. Similarly, reference [12-13] discusses benefits of dc-collection grid in large-scale offshore wind
8
9 power systems. It can be observed that the DC-DC converters are the most significant components in DC Collection grids.
10
11 References [14-15] discuss various high step-up ratio DC-DC converters suitable for dc-collection grid applications. In reference
12
13 [14], Rainstick converter with a cascaded half bridge inverter submodule that operates in step down is discussed.
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15
16
17
1000V DC
18 DC
AC
19 PV Plant 1
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20
21 1000V DC
DC
400V AC 11kV AC 132kV AC
22 AC

23
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PV Plant 2
MV Substation Power Grid
24 1000V DC Transformer
25
DC
AC
(a)
26 Inverters with droop
ee

PV Plant n
control
27
28
29 1500V DC
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DC 11kV AC 132kV AC
30 AC

31 PV Plant 1

32 1500V DC Substation Power Grid

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33 DC
AC

34 PV Plant 2 DC/DC Converter Inverter Transformer

35 (b)
36
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PV Plant 1

37 1500V DC

38
39 16kV DC 11 kV AC 132kV AC

40
41
1500V DC
GND Substation Power Grid
42 IMMC (DC/DC) Converter
PV Plant 2 MV Inverter with
43 Power-Sharing Stage SiC
44 (c)
45
Fig. 1 Large Scale PV Power collection grid evolution: (a) Conventional low voltage 3-phase AC-Collection grid [7], (b) Conventional low voltage DC-Collection grid [8-9],
46 and (c) Proposed new medium DC collection grid with SiC converters employing the integrated modular multilevel (IMMC) DC-DC converter.
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Page 3 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

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2 Power-Sharing Converter with Interleaved Modular Multilevel MV Class DC-AC Power Grid
3 two 1.5kV Plants DC/DC Converter Inverter with SiC s
4 IO
5 SM4+ +
6 VC4
7 IL4 -
8 + SM3
9 VC3
10 1.5 kV PV Plant 1 - IL3
11 IPV1 SM2 +
12 + VC2 VIMMC1
13 IL2
- (8 kV)
14 + SM1
15
Vpv1 VC1
IS IL1
16 -
17 +
-
18 VA
Ls - -
19 ISHARE +
+
Fo
20 VBUS
GND VB
21 + (`16 kV)
SM9 -
22 IS + IL5
23
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Vpv2 VC5
24 IL6
- SM5
25 +
26 - VC6 VIMMC2
ee

27 SM6 - IL7 (8 kV)

IPV2
28 +
1.5 kV PV Plant 2
29 VC7
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30 IL8 - SM7
31 +
32 VC8
a b c
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33 SM8 - - -
34
35
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38 Fig. 2 Circuit topology of the proposed interleaved modular multilevel (IMMC) DC-DC converter for the medium voltage dc collection grid architecture for large scale pv
power plants with the capability to adjust MPPT for PV-Plant 1 and 2 independently.
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 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 4 of 30

1
2
3
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5 This Converter suffers from unbalanced capacitor voltages that eventually limits its modularity. Another version of
6
7 this converter is proposed in [15] and titled as triangular modular multilevel converter (TMMC). TMMC facilitate
8
9 step up and step-down operation while achieving a higher gain ratio. TMMC is designed and controlled to balance its
10
11 capacitors voltages. However, TMMC configuration involves a significant large passive elements sizing. TMMC
12
13 submodule voltages across the capacitors suffers from ripple voltage that enforce a large capacitance design. This
14
15 voltage ripple is doubled with each extra boosting stage added in case of 50% duty cycle operation.
16
17 In view of this, this paper proposes a new medium voltage DC-Collection grid for large scale PV power plants as
18
shown in Fig. 2. The approach consists of a collection of two 1500V solar panels connected in series with a center
19
Fo
20
point ground followed by power sharing stage (see SM9 in Fig. 2). The power sharing stage (SM9) facilitates the
21
22 adjustment of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of PV-Plant-1 and PV-Plant-2 independently. The power
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24 sharing stage is followed by two sets (a positive set and a negative set) of the proposed interleaved modular multilevel
25
26 DC-DC converter (IMMC) to achieve 16kV DC. Each set of DC-DC IMMC boost the PV plant voltage of 1500V DC
ee

27
28 to 8kV with the help of lower voltage half-bridge modules to achieve a total of 16kV.
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30 Each DC-DC IMMC (Fig. 2) consists of four interleaved half-bridge submodules that employs 6.5 kV SiC switches
31
32 [16] and high frequency operation enables compact size/weight of L-C components along with high conversion
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34 efficiency. The IMMC stage is followed by medium voltage class inverter with SiC devices directly coupled to the
35
36 substation to achieve high voltage power grid tie requirement. The technical focus of this paper is limited to the DC-
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38 DC converter stage. The proposed IMMC based MVDC architecture has the following advantages:
39
40  Modular architecture with interleaved half bridge submodules ensures the system is scalable.
41
42  Employing SiC switching devices results in higher power density for large-scale PV power plants.
43
44  The IMMC DC-DC converter regulates the MVDC grid voltage under varying solar insolation. Control strategy to
45
achieve maximum power point tracking is implemented via PWM control.
46
47
 MVDC architecture results is lower ohmic losses and improves power density [7,13]
48
49
 The 180-degree phase shift between the sets of the two DC-DC IMMC configuration allow voltage ripple
50
51 cancelation at the DC output port allowing compact capacitors design
52
53  High quality DC output with minimized voltage ripple
54
55  Proposed architecture does not require combiner boxes thus saving cost and reducing complexity
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Page 5 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

1
2
3 II. DC-DC IMMC CIRCUIT ANALYSIS
4
5
6 A. DC-DC IMMC Design and operation
7
8 Fig. 2 shows the proposed converter that can be viewed as twin series cascaded blocks of half bridge modules. Fig.
9
10 3 shows the upper half with the voltages and with the current loops marked. As detailed before, the IMMC is series
11
12 connection of half-bridge modules operated at high frequency with a PWM duty ratio to regulate voltages across the
13
series connected capacitors. Fig. 3 also demonstrate the two states of DC-DC IMMC operation. Fig. 3(a) shows state
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1 operation where the lower switches for SM1 to SM4 are turned on while the upper switches are off. Fig. 3b shows
16
17 state 2 where the upper switches are turned on while the lower switches are off. Employing high switching frequency
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19 the required inductor and capacitor sizes can be maintained small. From Fig. 3, the voltage 𝑉𝑐1 across the capacitor
Fo
20
21 C1 can be expressed as,
22
23
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24
25 δ1
𝑉𝑐1 = 𝑉 (1)
26 1 − δ1 𝐴
ee

27
28
29
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30 Where δ1 is the duty ratio of half-bridge module as shown (Fig. 3). For the remaining submodules, the capacitor
31
32 voltages C2 to C4 can be defined as,
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33
δn
34 𝑉𝑐𝑛 = 𝑉 (2)
35 1 − δn 𝑐𝑛−1
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Where n = 2 to 4. Thus each 𝑉𝑐𝑛 voltage can be independently controlled via its corresponding duty cycle δn by the
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half-bridge modules. The output voltage of the converter 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 (Fig. 3) is the sum of the capacitor voltages and
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𝑉𝐴 :
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42
43
44 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 = 𝑉𝐴 + 𝑉𝑐1 + 𝑉𝑐2 + … . + 𝑉𝑐𝑛 (3)
45
The output voltage 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 is a function of the duty cycles δ1 to δn . By choosing a proper duty cycle, the incoming
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47
voltage of the PV plant 1 can be suitably boosted.
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49 Further, from Fig. 3 node voltage/current loops equations can be written to express inductor and capacitor values in
50
51 terms of current/voltage ripple, PWM duty cycle and switching frequency.
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 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 6 of 30

1
2
3
4
5 Io
6
7 1-δ4 Node 1 VC4
C4
8
IL4 IC4
9 (a) L4
10 1-δ3
δ4 Node 2 VC3 C3
11
IC3 IL3
12
L3 +
13 δ3 VIMMC1
1-δ2 Node 3 VC2
14 C2 8kV
15 IL2 IC2 -
16 L2
δ2 Node 4 VC1
17 C1 1-δ1

18 IC1 IL1
19 VA Is L1
Fo
20 Node 5 δ1
21
22
23
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24 Io
25
1-δ4 +
26
ee

Loop 4* VC4
27 - VL4 + C4
-
28 L4
+ 1-δ3
29 δ4 Loop 4 Loop 3*
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VC3 C3
30 + VL3 -
-
31 +
L3
32 1-δ2
+ δ3 VIMMC1
Loop 2* Loop 3
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33 (b) - VL2 +
V2 C2 8kV
- -
34
L2
35
Loop 2 +
δ2 Loop 1* 1-δ1
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VC1 C1 + VL1 -
37 -
38 L1
Loop 1
39 VA δ1

40
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42
Fig. 3. Equivalent circuit of the upper half of the proposed DC-DC IMMC in Fig. 2. (a) Shows the defined node voltages (b) defined loop currents
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48 From Fig. 3 (a) and (b), expressing the voltage across the inductor for one switching cycle, the required inductor value
49
50 L1 can be expressed as,
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52 𝑉𝐴
L1 =
53 ∆𝑖𝐿1
( )
54 𝛿1 𝑇 (4)
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Page 7 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

1
2
3 A general equation to determine inductor L2 to L𝑛 is given by,
4
5
6
7 𝑉𝑐𝑛−1
L𝑛 =
8 ∆𝑖𝐿n (5)
9 𝛿n 𝑇
10
11
12 From Fig. 3 node equations, capacitor currents can be derived. It is clear that 𝐼𝐶1 can be expressed as,
13
14 dVC1
15 𝐼𝐶1 = 𝐼𝑠 + δ2 𝐼𝐿2 − 𝐼𝐿1 = C1 (6)
dt
16
17 Design of Capacitors C1 to C𝑛
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19 In this section design equations for the capacitors and ripple voltage cancellation is explored, Capacitor C1 can be
Fo
20
21 expressed as,
22
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24
25 𝐼𝑠 + δ2 𝐼𝐿2 − 𝐼𝐿1
C1 =
26 𝛥𝑉𝐶1 (7)
ee

27 δ2 𝑇
28
29 A general equation to determine capacitors C2 to C𝑛−1 is given by,
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30
31 𝐼𝑠 − 𝛿1 𝐼𝐿1 − (1 − δn−1 )𝐼𝐿𝑛−1 + δn 𝐼𝐿𝑛
C𝑛−1 =
32 𝛥𝑉𝐶𝑛 (8)
δn 𝑇
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33
34
35 While the last capacitor C𝑛 can be expressed as:
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38
𝐼𝑜 − (1 − δn )𝐼𝐿𝑛
39 C𝑛 =
𝛥𝑉𝐶𝑛 (9)
40
(1 − δ𝑛 )𝑇
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42 The total voltage ripple of the upper half of the IMMC is 𝛥𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 can be found using equations 7, 8 and 9 as:
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46 𝛥𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 = ∑𝑛1 𝛥𝑉𝐶𝑛 (10)
47
48
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50 Similarly, 𝛥𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶2 for the lower half of IMMC is,
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52
53
54 𝛥𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶2 =− ∑𝑛1 𝛥𝑉𝐶𝑛 (11)
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 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 8 of 30

1
2
3 Consequently, the total ripple across the output 𝑉𝐵𝑈𝑆 is given by,
4
5 𝑛 𝑛

6 𝑉𝐵𝑈𝑆 = (𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 + ∑ 𝛥𝑉𝐶𝑛 ) + (𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶2 − ∑ 𝛥𝑉𝐶𝑛 ) (12)

1 1
7
8 The capacitor voltage ripple across 𝑉𝐵𝑈𝑆 is therefore cancelled. As a result, the capacitor C1 to C𝑛 can be designed
9
10 for a high capacitors ripple 𝛥𝑉𝐶𝑛 of 30% allowing a compact capacitor sizing. Average inductor currents 𝐼𝐿1 is
11
12 derived as:
13
14 𝐼𝐿1 = 𝐼𝑠 + δ2 𝐼𝐿2 (13)
15
16 A general equation to determine average inductor currents 𝐼𝐿2 to 𝐼𝐿𝑛−1 is given by,
17
18
19
[𝐼𝑠 − δ1 𝐼𝐿1 + δn 𝐼𝐿𝑛 ]
Fo
20 𝐼𝐿𝑛−1 = (14)
21 1 − δn−1
22
23 𝐼𝐿𝑛 is a boosted version of the output current 𝐼𝑜 Such that:
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24
25 𝐼𝑜
𝐼𝐿𝑛 = (15)
26 1 − δn
ee

27
28 B. Power sharing converter-operating principle:
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30
Fig. 2 shows two series connected solar field (PV Plant 1 & 2). Under varying climate conditions and cloud
31
32 coverage, each plant is expected to operate at a different maximum power point on the V-I curve (see Fig. 5 and
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33
34 Fig. 6). The power sharing converter is a half-bridge modules SM9 (Fig. 2) along with the inductor is operated in high
35
36
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frequency with a duty cycle that allows of independent control of PV Plant 1 and PV plant 2 output currents 𝑰𝑷𝑽𝟏 and
37
38 𝑰𝑷𝑽𝟐 respectively. The difference the two current 𝑰𝑷𝑽𝟏 and 𝑰𝑷𝑽𝟐 (due to different MPPT operation) circulates in the
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40 inductor 𝑳𝒔 in the form of 𝑰𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑬 . The PWM operation of the SM9 therefore guarantees individual MPPT for PV
41
42 Plant 1 and 2. The inductor current 𝑰𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑬 is given by,
43
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45 𝐼𝑆𝐻𝐴𝑅𝐸 = 𝐼𝑃𝑉1𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝐼𝑃𝑉2𝑚𝑎𝑥 (16)
46
47 The control aspect of the power sharing unit (Sm9) is illustrated in Fig. 4. Once the insolation data is collected from
48
49 each PV plants, the respective maximum power point currents I_MP1 & I_MP2 can be obtained. Then the deference
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51 current 𝐼𝑆𝐻𝐴𝑅𝐸_𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 is computed and compared with sensed current𝐼𝑆𝐻𝐴𝑅𝐸_𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑑 . Then the resulted signals is
52
53 sent to SM9 via pulse width modulation operation.
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Page 9 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

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2
3
Ishare_sensed
4 Insolation Insolation 1
Look-up Ipv1max
5 Sensor for
table
PV plant 1 +
6
7 PWM SM9
8 +
9 Insolation Insolation 2 - - Ishare_reference
Look-up Ipv2max
10 Sensor for
table
11 PV plant 2
12
13 Fig. 4. Shows the control loop of power sharing unit (SM9)
14
15
16 III. DESIGN EXAMPLE
17
18 In this section a design example for 1MW PV power plant is detailed. Plant specifications are derived from Kuwait
19
Fo
20 Shagaya 60MW solar power plant as discussed. Table. 1 shows the design specification for the 1MW PV plant block.
21
22 The 1MW PV plants is divided into two sets of PV Plants 1 and 2 as shown in Fig. 2. A Monocrystalline type “Helios
23
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24 9T6” rated at 420W is selected as a building block due to its high efficiency and elevated temperature endurance [15].
25
To realize, 1.5kV DC output, each PV string can accommodate 30 series connected panels per string. A total of 40
26
ee

27
parallel string structures are needed for a 500kW capacity (see Table 1). Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 show a typical PV, current
28
29
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voltage (IV) curves for the two PV plants 1 and 2.

30
31
32
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33 IMMC Half-bridge submodule voltage rating:

34
35 Fig. 2 shows the proposed DC-DC IMMC connected to two PV Plants with center point grounded. The upper half
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37 of the IMMC processes the power from PV-Plant-1 and boosts the voltage 𝑉𝐴 (~1.5kV) to 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 (~8kV). For the
38
39 converter shown in Fig. 2, we can write the following from equation (3),
40
41
42
43 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 = 𝑉𝐴 + 𝑉𝑐1 + 𝑉𝑐2 + 𝑉𝑐3 + 𝑉𝑐4
(17)
44
45
46 Given 𝑉𝐴 ≈ 1.5𝑘𝑉 and 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 ≈ 8𝑘𝑉; from (17) we have,
47
48
49
50 𝑉𝑐1 = 𝑉𝑐2 = 𝑉𝑐3 = 𝑉𝑐4 = 1.625𝑘𝑉
51 (18)
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53 It is clear from Fig. 2 that each semiconductor switch in the half-bridge submodule SM1to SM9 has a blocking voltage
54
55 of 2*𝑉𝑐𝑛 , which is equal to 3.25kV. Therefore a 6.5kV SiC developed by CREE and other manufacturers would be
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 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 10 of 30

1
2
3 suitable. Reference [16] discusses the operational characteristics of a 6.5kV, 200A SiC MOSFETs developed by CREE
4
5 that has been chosen for the proposed design.
6
7
8
IMMC Half-bridge submodule current rating:
9
10
The next step is to determine IMMC device current ratings. From Fig. 2 and equation (15) the submodule SM4 inductor
11
12 current is given by,
13
14
15
16 𝐼𝑜
17 𝐼𝐿4 =
1 − δ4
18 (19)
19
Fo
20 Substituting 𝐼0 = 56A and δ4 ≈ 0.5, we have 𝐼𝐿4 = 112A from (19). Therefore, for SM4 submodule, two 6.5kV SiC
21
22 devices from CREE rated at 200A is sufficient. Repeating the same calculation for 𝐼𝐿1 we can show from (13) that 𝐼𝐿1
23
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24 = 448A. Therefore, the submodules closer to the center of the IMMC converter (SM1 and SM5) carry the maximum
25
26 current (i.e. 4 times), while the submodule located at the top/bottom SM4 and SM8 (Fig. 2) are rated lowest in terms
ee

27
28 of the current. Having concluded this, Fig. 7 shows the interleaved parallel arrangement of 6.5kV, 200A, CREE
29
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30 submodules to meet the converter rating shown in Table 1.

31
32 IMMC Capacitors / Inductor selection:
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Required inductor value can be determined from equation (5). Choosing a ripple of ∆𝑖𝐿n = 5% ; 𝑉𝑐𝑛 = 1500V; switching
34
35
frequency of 20kHz, L = 3mH. Further, capacitor value is given by (7) to (9). Defining voltage ripple 𝛥𝑉𝐶𝑛 = 3%; C
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= 100uF. Table. 2 Summarizes the design parameters for each DC-DC IMMC.
38
39
40 Table. 1 1MW PV plant design specifications
41
42 Parameter
43
44
45 Total maximum power capacity 1MW
46
47 Number of PV Plants 2
48
49 Each PV plant output voltage 1500V
50
51 Selected PV module building block Helios 9T6 [17]
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53 Maximum power, voltage, current power for each PV panel respectively 420W, 49.5v,8.5A
54
55 Number of PV panels per String 30
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Page 11 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

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2
3
4 Number of PV strings 40
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6 Number of sets DC-DC IMMC converter 2
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8 Output DC bus voltage (𝑉𝐵𝑈𝑆 ) 16kV
9
10 Output DC current (𝐼0 ) 56A
11
12
13 600K
500 W/m2 750 W/m2 1000 W/m2

14
15
Power (kW)

16 400K

17
18
200K
19
Fo
20
21 0K
22 0 500 1000 1500 2000
𝑉𝑃𝑉1 (v)
Vpv_(insolation_1000_)
23
rP

Fig. 5. Variation of power vs voltage for PV Plant 1 and 2 for different insolation conditions
24
25
26
ee

27 500 W/m2 750 W/m2 1000 W/m2

28 400
29
rR

30
Power (kW)

300
31
32 200
ev

33
34 100

35
0
36
iew

0 500 1000 1500 2000

37 𝑉𝑃𝑉1 (v)
Vpv_(insolation_1000_)

38
39 Fig. 6. Variation of current vs voltage for PV Plant 1 and 2 for different insolation conditions
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 12 of 30

1
2
3
SM4 +
4
VC4
5
6 IL4 -
7 + SM3
8 VC3
9 IL3 / 2
-
10
SM2 +
11 IL2
8 kV
12 IL2 / 3
VC2
13 -
14 + SM1
15 VC1 IL1 / 4
16 a b c -
17
18 +
19 Power Sharing VA
Stage
Fo
20 -
21
22
23
rP
Fig. 7 Parallel interleaved half bridge modules to handle the current of the proposed upper half of the DC-DC IMMC shown in Fig. 2. Example 6.5 kV, 200A
SiC half bridge modules developed by CREE [16] are employed.
24
25
26
ee

27
28
29 Table. 2 design criteria for each DC-DC IMMC.
rR

30
31 Design Criteria
32
ev

33 Number of Submodules per DCDC-IMMC 4

34
35 Switching Frequency 20kHz
36
iew

37 Switching device type SiC 6.5 kV, 200A, 12.5mΩ developed by CREE [16]
38 Inductors values 3mH
39
40 Capacitors values 100µF
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
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Page 13 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

1
2
3 IV. COMPARISON OF DC-DC IMMC WITH TMMC
4
5
6
7
SM9 +
VCT9
+
8 IL9 (=Id)
9 -
10 ++ SM8
11 VCT8
12 -- IL8 (2*Id)
13
+
14 VCT7
15
16 IL7 (3*Id)
-
17 +
18 VCT6
19
SM7 - IL6 (4*Id)
Fo
20
21 +
22 VCT5
23 IL5 (5*Id) - SM6
VBUS
rP

24 (16 kV)
25
26
VCT4
ee

27 SM5 IL4 (6*Id)

28 +
29 VCT3
rR

30 IL3 (7*Id) SM4

31 -
32 + SM2
VCT2
ev

33
34 SM3 - IL2 (8*Id)
35
36 SM1 +
iew

37 VCT1
IL1 (9*Id)
38 -
39
40 MPPT
41 + Conroller
42
43
44
45
Vpv
46
47
48
49 - -
50
51 1.5 kV/1MW PV Plant
52
53 Fig. 8 1.5kV 1MW rated power conversion stage that is design in accordance with triangular modular multilevel converter (TMMC) [15]. The current 𝑰𝒅
54 describes the submodule rating that is suitable for 6.5kV-200A SiC CREE model [16]. Note that parallel submodule configuration similar
to Fig.7 is needed
55
56
57
58
59
60
 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 14 of 30

1
2
3 In this section the proposed DC-DC interleaved modular multilevel converter (DC-DC IMMC) concept (Fig. 2) is
4
5 compared with the triangular modular multilevel converter (TMMC) configuration (Fig. 8). TMMC is designed to
6
7 process power for solo 1MW 1.5kV PV. Table 3 provides a detailed comparison between the proposed DC-DC IMMC
8
9 is shown in Fig. 2. The TMMC configuration shown in Fig. 8. Equations (1) to (9) detail the passive elements (L &
10
11 C) design of DC-DC IMMC and are tabulated in Table 3. Equations 1-9 can is also ben used in designing TMMC
12
13 configuration. Hence, TMMC configuration is designed to boost the voltage from 1.5kV to 16kV as result, nine
14
15 submodules (SM) boosting stages are needed. In addition, the first submodule SM1 (In Fig. 8) will be forced to process
16
17 a large current of 1.1kA as can be concluded from equations 13-15. Therefore a parallel configuration similar to Fig.6
18
is required. The current 𝐼𝑑 shown in Fig. 8 describes the SM submodule rated current. Thus, in case of the very first
19
Fo
20
submodule (SM1), the inductor current 𝐼𝐿1 is equivalent to nine times the rated current 𝐼𝑑 . As results, SM1 must be
21
22
divided into nine smaller parallel identical submodules to overcome 200A current limitation specified for SiC 6.5
23
rP

24 CREE device. The total number of submodules for TMMC can found as:
25
26 𝑦
ee

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑀𝑀𝐶 𝑆𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 = ∑ (𝑥)

(20)
27 1
28 Where y is the number of original submodules before performing parallel configuration which equal to nine in case
29
rR

30 of TMMC. Table 3, shows that TMMC requires a total of 45 submodules resulting in 25 submodule more than
31
32 Proposed DC-DC IMMC. As shown (in Table 3), the total energy stored in capacitors for proposed DC-DC IMMC
ev

33
34 is 10.5% of TMMC due to voltage ripple cancelation described in equation 12. Also, the total energy stored in
35
36 capacitors for DC-DC IMMC is reduced by 55.5% relative to TMMC. It is clear that the proposed IMMC passive
iew

37
38 elements sizing is reduced by 73%. The Power losses per submodule contains losses associated by the inductor the
39
SiC device pairs. The inductor losses (174W) are also contained and the current ripple is within 5%. The half bridge
40
41
SiC module losses are also detailed in Table 3 using the data available in reference [16]. Table 3 demonstrates that the
42
43 power losses of TMMC is 2.25 more than proposed DC-DC IMMC. Consequently, the power efficiency of the
44
45 proposed DC-DC IMMC is 95.2% while the efficiency of the TMMC is 89.3%.
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
Page 15 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

1
2
3 Table 3 Comparison of the proposed DC-DC IMMC with TMMC: Comparison of the proposed DC-DC modular multilevel
4 converter (DC-DC IMMC) design (Fig. 2) with a conventional triangular modular multilevel configuration (TMMC) general
5 converter design (Fig. 8).
6
7 Proposed DC-DC IMMC TMMC
8 Criteria of Comparison
Configuration
9
10 Power Generation 1MW 1MW
11
12 Number of PV plants Two 0.5MW PV Plant One 1MW PV plant
13
14 Each PV Plant output voltage 1500v 1500v
15
16 Switching Frequency 20kHz 20kHz
17
18 DC-DC converter Modularity Modular (optimizing parallel submodules Modular (optimizing parallel submodules
described in Fig. 7) described similar to Fig. 7)
19
Fo
20 Number of half bridge submodules 𝑦=4 𝑦=9
21 (SM) 2∗ ∑ (𝑥) = 20 ∑ (𝑥) = 45
𝑘=1 𝑘=1
22
23
rP
Controller complexity Less complex More complex due higher number of SM
24
25 Power sharing capability Allow power sharing between two PV plant Each PV plants has its own independent MPPT
26 controlled
ee

27
Switching device type SiC 6.5 kV, 200A, 12.5mΩ developed by SiC 6.5 kV, 200A, 12.5mΩ developed by CREE
28
CREE
29
rR

30 Inductance, % ripple 3mH, 5% 3mH, 5%

31
32 Capacitance, % ripple 10µF, 15% Max (Fig. 18) 100µF, 5.5% Max (Fig. 19)
ev

33
DC link capacitor, Ripple 20µF, 0.04% (Fig. 18) 20µF, 1.4% (Fig. 19)
34
35 Total energy stored in capacitors 129J (10.5%) 1228J (100%)
36
iew

(Excluding DC –Link)
37
38 Total energy stored in inductors 517J (44.5%) 1163J (100%)
39 2 2
Power loss per Inducer in SM 𝑃𝐸𝑆𝑅 = 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 ∗ 𝐸𝑆𝑅 = 𝑃𝐸𝑆𝑅 = 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 ∗ 𝐸𝑆𝑅 =
40 (SM 4 shown In Fig. 2) 6 ∗ (1272 ∗0.0018) =174W 6 ∗ (1272 ∗ 0.0018) = 174W
41
42 Power Losses Per devices Pairs in SM 𝑃𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 = 𝑃𝑆𝑤 + 𝑃𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑑 = 𝑃𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 = 𝑃𝑆𝑤 + 𝑃𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑑 =
43 (2000 +208)=2208W 2000 +2200=2208W
44 Power Loss per SM 2382W 2382W
45
46 Total Power Losses 20 ∗ (𝑃𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 + 𝑃𝐸𝑆𝑅 ) = 45 ∗ (𝑃𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 + 𝑃𝐸𝑆𝑅 )=
47 = 47.6kW (44.4%) = 107.2kW (100%)
48
49 Efficiency 95.2% 89.3%
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 16 of 30

1
2
3 V. SIMULATION RESULTS
4
5
In this section simulation results of the proposed converter (Fig. 2) with the design example parameters specified
6
7 in Table 1 and 2 are discussed. Fig. 9 shows VIMMC1, VIMMC2, VBUS, VA, VB voltages illustrated in Fig. 2. It is clear that VBUS
8
9 of 16kV DC is achieved with a less than 1% voltage ripple. This high-quality output DC voltage with low voltage
10
11 ripple is realized without the need of over sizing the DC-DC IMMC submodule capacitors due to ripple cancelation
12
13 technique implemented by phase shifting VIMMC1 and VIMMC2 by 180º (as detailed in equation (12)). Fig. 10 displays the
14
15 inductor currents IL1, IL2, IL3 and IL4. As detailed in equations (4) and (5) the current ripple in the inductors are equal.
16
17 Also notice the inductors average current varies from IL1 to IL4 as illustrated by equations (13) to (15). Fig. 11 shows
18
19 DC-DC IMMC capacitor voltages VC1, VC2, VC3, VC4, as expected, they are all balanced at 1625v. The power sharing
Fo
20
21 aspects of the proposed approach are demonstrated in Fig. 12 to Fig. 15. Due to the effect of unequal shading on PV
22
23 Plant 1 and 2, (i.e. PV Plants 2 insolation is set at half of its original value), the proposed converter is capable of
rP

24
25 harvesting the total available power which 750kW (i.e. 500kW from Plant 1 and 250kW from Plan 2) while regulating
26
ee

VBus, at 16kV. Also, the current IShare is equal to zero when PV1 and PV2 plants have the same insolation. Fig. 16
27
28
shows dynamic response of the proposed converter for different loading and insolation conditions. The transient
29
rR

30 operation exhibits stable response. Fig. 17 shows Parallel submodule (Fig. 6) simulation Hence, Fig. 17(A) shows that
31
32 VC1 ripple is not changed. Fig.17 (B) Shows the original inductor current 𝐼𝐿1_𝐷 is reduced 4 times to four equal currents
ev

33
34 𝐼𝐿1_𝐴 , 𝐼𝐿1_𝐵 , 𝐼𝐿1_𝐶 , and 𝐼𝐿1_𝐷 as illustrated in Fig. 7. Fig.18-19 shows a simulation comparison between of DC-DC IMMC
35
36
iew

and IMMC in terms of capacitors voltage ripple and VBus ripple as emphasized in table 3. Fig 20 depicts TMMC
37
38 inductor current ripple simulation. It can noticed that the current ripple is increasing towards the PV plant power
39
40 source which enforce more parallel SM requirement (See equation 20).
41
42
43 𝑉𝐵𝑈𝑆
Vbus 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶2 Vimmc2
Vimmc1 𝑉𝐴 𝑉𝐵 Vpv1 Vpv2
Vbus

44 16K 16.036133K
16.035156K

45 14K
16.03418K
16.033203K
16.032227K

46 12K
16.03125K
0.39992
Vimmc1
0.39996
Vimmc2
Time (s)
0.4

47
Voltage (v)

8.1875K
8.125K
10K 8.0625K

48 8K
8K
7.9375K
7.875K

49
7.8125K
0.39992 0.39996 0.4
Vpv1 Vpv2
6K Time (s)

50
1.6875K
1.625K
4K 1.5625K

51
1.5K
1.4375K
1.375K
2K
52
1.3125K
0.39992 0.39996 0.4
0 Time (s)

53 0.399 0.3992 0.3994 0.3996 0.3998 0.4

54 Time
Time(s)
(s)

55 Fig. 9 Steady state voltages of the IMMC (Fig. 2): VIMMC1, VIMMC2, Vbus, VA, VB
56
57
58
59
60
Page 17 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

1
2
3
4 𝐼𝐿1
IL1 𝐼𝐿2
IL2 𝐼𝐿3 IL3
𝐼𝐿4 IL4

5
500
6
450
7

Current (A)
400
8
350
9
300
10
250
11
200
12
150
13
100
14 0.4416 0.4418 0.442 0.4422 0.4424
15 TimeTime
(s) (s)
16
17 Fig. 10 Steady state inductor currents (Fig. 2): IL1, IL2, IL3 and IL4

18
19 𝑉𝐶1
Vc1 𝑉𝐶2
Vc2 𝑉𝐶3 Vc3
𝑉𝐶4 Vc4
Fo
20
21 1.66016K

22
Voltage (v)

23
rP
1.64063K

24
25 1.62109K

26
ee

27 1.60156K

28
29 0.4264 0.42645 0.4265 0.42655
rR

Time (s)(s)
Time
30
31 Fig. 11 Steady state capacitor voltages (Fig. 2) : VC1, VC2, VC3, VC4, as expected, they are all balanced at 1625v
32
ev

33
𝑉𝐵𝑈𝑆
Vbus 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶2Vimmc2
𝑉𝐴 𝑉𝐵
34
Vimmc1 Vpv1 Vpv2

35 15K
Voltage (V)

12.5K
36
iew

10K
7.5K
37 5K
2.5K
38 0
39 𝑃𝑉1 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
PV1_Plant_Insolation 𝑃𝑉2 𝑃𝐿𝐴𝑁𝑇 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
PV2_Plant_Insolation

40
Insolation (W/M2)

1K
900
41 800
42 700
600
43 500
44 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Time (s) 0.6 0.7 0.8
Time (s)
45 Fig. 12. Simulation results showing a change in insolation level (due to partial shading) on PV Plant 2 and the resultant DC voltages: VIMMC1,
46 VIMMC2, Vbus, VA, VB . Notice the DC voltages are regulated
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 18 of 30

1
2
3
4 𝐼𝐿1
IL1 𝐼𝐿2
IL2 𝐼
𝐿3 𝐼𝐿4 𝐼𝑂
IL3 IL4 Io
5 600

Current (A)
500
6 400

7 300
200
8 100

9 0

𝑃𝑉1 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

PV1_Plant_Insolation 𝑃𝑉2 𝑃𝐿𝐴𝑁𝑇
PV2_Plant_Insolation 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
10

Insolation (W/M2)
1K
11 900
800
12 700
13 600
500
14 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Time (s)Time
15 (s)

16 Fig. 13. Simulation results showing a change in insolation level (due to partial shading) on PV Plant 2 and the resultant inductor currents.
Notice the decrease in the average current due to insolation reduction.
17
18 𝑉𝐶1
Vc1 𝑉Vc2
𝐶2 𝑉𝐶3 𝑉𝐶4
Vc3 Vc4
19 2K
Voltage (V)

1.875K
Fo
20 1.75K
1.625K
21 1.5K
1.375K
22 1.25K
1.125K
23
rP

𝑃𝑉1 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

PV1_Plant_Insolation
𝑃𝑉2 𝑃𝐿𝐴𝑁𝑇 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
PV2_Plant_Insolation
24
Insolation (W/M2)

1K

25 900
800
26 700
ee

600
27 500
28 0.3 0.4 Time (s) 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Time (s)
29 Fig. 14. Simulation results showing a change in insolation level (due to partial shading) on PV Plant 2 and the resultant capacitor voltages.
rR

Notice the voltages are regulated.

30
31
32
𝑃𝑉1 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑
PV1_Plant_Power
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑃𝑉2 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
PV2_Plant_Power
ev

33
Power (kW)

500K
34 400K
300K
35 200K

36 𝐼𝑆𝐻𝐴𝑅𝐸
iew

Ishare
Current (A)

37
0
-100
38 -200
39
𝑃𝑉1 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
PV1_Plant_Insolation
𝑃𝑉2 𝑃𝐿𝐴𝑁𝑇 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
PV2_Plant_Insolation
40
Insolation
(W/M2)

1K

41 800
600
42 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
43 Time (s)
Time (s)

44 Fig. 15. Simulation results showing the performance of the power sharing converter (SM9 in Fig. 2). The current 𝑰𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑬 is altered to adjust to a different
MPPT point due to insolation change
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
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58
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Page 19 of 30 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

1
2
3 𝑃𝑉1 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑
PV1_Plant_Power 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
PV2_Plant_Power 𝑃𝑉2 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
4 600K

5 400K

6 200K

7 0K

8 -200K

9 𝑉
Vbus
𝐵𝑢𝑠
10 17.5K

11 15K
12.5K
12 10K
7.5K
13 5K

14 2.5K
0K
15 𝐼Ishare
𝑆𝐻𝐴𝑅𝐸
16 4
17 2

18 0

19 -2
Fo
-4
20 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
21 Time (s)

22 Fig. 16. Shows dynamic response of the proposed converter for different loading and insolation conditions
23
rP

𝑉 (𝐹𝑖𝑔.
𝐶1Vc1_ 2) 𝑉𝐶1 (𝐹𝑖𝑔. 7)
24
Vc1
1.725K

25 1.7K

26
1.675K
ee

1.65K

27 (𝐴)
1.625K

28
1.6K

1.575K

29 1.55K
rR

𝐼 𝐼 𝐼 𝐼 𝐼𝐿
30 𝐿1_𝐵
IL1_A 𝐿1_𝐴 IL1_C𝐿1_𝐶 IL1_D𝐿1_𝐷IL1
IL1_B

31 500

32 400

(𝐵)
ev

33 300

34 200

35 100

36
0.92554 0.92556 0.92558 0.9256 0.92562 0.92564
iew

0.92566 0.92568 0.9257 0.92572

Time (s)Time (s)
37 Fig. 17. Parallel submodule (Fig. 7) simulation. A) Shows 𝑽𝑪𝟏 is not changed. B) Shows the inductor current 𝑰𝑳𝟏 is divided 4 times equally (𝑰𝑳𝟏 /𝟒)
38
39 𝑉𝑏𝑢𝑠
Vbus

40 16.0352K

41 16.0156K

42 (𝐴) 15.9961K
15.9766K
43 15.957K

44
𝑉𝐶1
Vc1 𝑉Vc2
𝐶2 𝑉𝐶3Vc3𝑉𝐶4 Vc4
𝑉𝐶5 𝑉Vc5
𝐶6 𝑉Vc6
𝐶7 𝑉𝐶8
Vc7 Vc8
45 2000
46 1800

47 (𝐵) 1600
1400
48 1200

49 1000
0.104248 0.104297 0.104346 0.104395
50 TimeTime
(s) (s)
51
Fig. 18. A) Simulation of DC-DC IMMC showing 0.4% ripple of 𝑽𝑩𝒖𝒔 b) Showing 𝑽𝑪𝟏 𝒕𝒐 𝑽𝑪𝟖 voltages. It can be noticed that 𝑽𝑪𝟏 high 15% voltage
52 ripple (in upper IMMC) is 180 degree phased than 𝑽𝑪𝟓 ( in Lower IMMC) this there both ripples is canceled. Similarly, 𝑽𝑪𝟐 ripple cancels 𝑽𝑪𝟓 and so
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3 𝑉𝐵𝑢𝑠
Vbus1

4 16.3K

5
16.2K
16.1K

6 16K
15.9K
7 15.8K

8
15.7K

9 𝑉
Vct1
𝐶𝑇1 𝑉Vct2
𝐶𝑇2 𝑉𝐶𝑇3 𝑉𝐶𝑇4 𝑉𝐶𝑇5
Vct3 Vct4 Vct5 𝑉 Vct6 𝑉 Vct7 𝑉 Vct8 𝑉 Vct9
𝐶𝑇6 𝐶𝑇7 𝐶𝑇8 𝐶𝑇8
1.9K

10 1.8K
1.7K

11
1.6K
1.5K

12
1.4K
1.3K
1.2K
13 0.154639 0.154688 0.154736 Time (s) 0.154785 0.154834

14 Fig. 19. TMMC voltage ripple simulation. Although the capacitance is 10 timesTime (s) than DC-DC IMMC. However the ripple accumulating towards the
bigger
DC link which enforce high capacitor design
15
16 𝐼 𝐿1
IL1 𝐼IL2
𝐿2 𝐼𝐿3
IL3 𝐼𝐿4 IL4 𝐼𝐿5 𝐼
IL5 𝐿6 𝐼 𝐼 𝐼
IL6 𝐿7 IL7 𝐿8 IL8 𝐿9 IL9

17 1200

18 1000
19
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20 800

21 600

22
400
23
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24 200

25
0.512598 Time (s) 0.512695
26
0.512402 0.5125 0.512793
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Fig. 20. TMMC inductor current ripple simulation. It can noticed that the current
Time (s)ripple is increasing towards the PV plant power source which enforce

27 more parallel SM requirement (See equation 20)

28
29 VI. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND RESULTS
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31 In this section experimental results from a scaled down laboratory prototype employing GaN switches is discussed.
32
Fig. 21 shows the hardware prototype of the proposed upper half of the IMMC (see Fig. 3). The input voltage 𝑉𝐴
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33
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35 shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 represent PV plant1 voltage after the power sharing stage and it is assumed to be an ideal
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37 dc source for simplicity. Four half-bridge modules are connected in series as shown in Fig. 3 along with the inductors
38
39 and capacitors. A TIF28335 DSP designed by Texas Instrument, Dallas, TX, USA was employed as PWM controller.
40
The selected switching devices for this experiment is LMG3410-HB-EVM GaN. The GaN belongs to the family of
41
42
wind band gap devices and shares similar high performance/low losses properties device as the proposed SiC devices.
43
44 Table 4 shows the experimental setup parameters. A power rating of 0.5kW is chosen based on the implementation
45
46 per Fig. 3.
47
48 Fig. 22 and Fig. 23 show the experimental waveforms for the four stages upper DC-DC IMMC. Fig. 22 (a) shows
49
50 high gain dc output 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 of 445V. Also the voltage ripple in the dc output 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 is noticeable. However, when the
51
52 lower half of the converter is implemented it can be controlled to have an opposite phase of the voltage ripple that
53
54 results in ripple cancellation as shown in simulation results. Fig. 22 (b) and (c) also verify the capacitor voltage
55
56 balance. Fig. 23 (a) to (c) show the current waveforms in the inductors respectively. The total power efficiency of
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3 tested prototype is 89.2%. This efficiency can be further improved with switching frequency reduction in the expanse
4
5 of higher passive elements sizing.
6
7 Table. 4 DC-DC IMMC Prototype design parameters.
8
9
Experimental Prototype
10
11
Input Voltage 𝑉𝐴 90 V
12
13 Output Voltage 𝑉𝐼𝑀𝑀𝐶1 445 V
14
15 Inductor values L1 to L4 100µH
16
17 Capacitors Values C1 to C4 100µF
18
19 Switching Frequency 100kHz
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21 Switching device used T1 to T4 LMG3410-HB-EVM GaN device rated 600v peak, 12A Peak
22
DC Load 0.5 kW
23
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24 Efficiency 89.2%
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30 T4 C4
SM4
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L4
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36 DSP SM3 T3
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L3 C3
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41 SM2 T2
42 L2 C2
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46
SM1 T1
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48 L1
49 T1 C1
50
51
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56 Fig. 20. Laboratory prototype of the upper half of the DC-DC IMMC shown in Fig. 2

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4 a
5
6 b c
7
8 c
9 d
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11 d
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
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20
21
22 Fig. 22. Experimental results of the proposed DC-DC IMMC operating at a reduced scale: (a) is 𝑽𝑰𝑴𝑴𝑪𝟏 y-axis—125 v/div and x-axis— 10µs/div) (b) is 𝑽𝒄𝟏
23
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y-axis—50v/div and x-axis— 10µs/div) (c) is 𝑽𝒄𝟐 y-axis—50v/div and x-axis— 10µs/div) (d) is 𝑰𝑳𝟏 (y-axis—2 A/div and x-axis— 10µs/div)
24
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a
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35 bb
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cc
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42
43
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45 Fig. 23. Experimental results of the proposed DC-DC IMMC operating at a reduced scale where (a),(b) and (c) depicts inductors current 𝑰𝑳𝟐 , 𝑰𝑳𝟑 and 𝑰𝑳𝟒
46
respectively (y-axis—5 A/div and x-axis— 10µs/div)
47
48
49 VII. CONCLUSION
50
51 In this paper, a medium voltage DC collection grid method for large-scale PV plants has been proposed. A twin
52
53 Interleaved Modular Multilevel (IMMC) DC-DC boost converter topology along with an integrated power-sharing
54
55 converter has been shown to control two solar PV plants. The power sharing stage has been shown to address
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3 individual MPPT under partial shading conditions. The IMMC DC-DC boost stage is composed of half-bridge
4
5 converter modules that are stacked in series. Analysis, design and detailed simulation results for 1MW PV plant have
6
7 been discussed. It has been shown that the two PV power plants can be operated at two different MPPT points.
8
9 Although the capacitor voltage ripple is set at 15%, the output DC voltage ripple is less than 1% due to 180 degrees
10
11 phase shift operation of the upper/lower IMMC stages. Control of the proposed converter and the performance under
12
13 different solar insolation shows stable operation. Simulation results of the proposed converter in Fig. 2 for various
14
15 operating conditions has been discussed. Experimental results from a low voltage laboratory prototype converter have
16
17 been presented to verify key results.
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19
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Acknowledgment
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23
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24 The first author would like to thank College of Technological Studies in Kuwait for their scholarship award.
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26
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28 References
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[1] “10 Trends That Will Shape the Global Solar Market in 2018,” Paperpile. [Online]. Available: https://paperpile.com/app/p/3470534b-8458-
31
32 0c69-982e- 2c48b28bc7f4. [Accessed: 27-Feb-2018].
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[2] Lude, S., et al. "Optimization of the technology mix for the Shagaya 2 GW renewable energy park in Kuwait." Energy Procedia 69 (2015):
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35 1633-1642.
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[3] M. R. Islam, A. M. Mahfuz-Ur-Rahman, M. M. Islam, Y. G. Guo, and J. G. Zhu, “Modular Medium-Voltage Grid-Connected Converter With
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38 Improved Switching Techniques for Solar Photovoltaic Systems,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 64, no. 11, pp. 8887–8896, 2017.
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[4] A. Cabrera-Tobar, E. Bullich-Massagué, M. Aragüés-Peñalba, and O. Gomis-Bellmunt, “Topologies for large scale photovoltaic power
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41 plants,” Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev., vol. 59, pp. 309–319, 2016.
42
43 [5] E. A. Gunther, “The state of medium voltage DC architectures for utility-scale PV,” PV Tech, 15-Feb-2018. [Online]. Available:
44 https://www.pv-tech.org/editors-blog/the-state-of-medium-voltage-dc-architectures-for-utility-scale-pv. [Accessed: 27-Feb-2018].
45
46 [6] E. Gkoutioudi, P. Bakas, and A. Marinopoulos, “Comparison of PV systems with maximum DC voltage 1000V and 1500V,” in 2013 IEEE
47 39th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2013.
48
49 [7] B. Hafez, H. S. Krishnamoorthy, P. Enjeti, U. Borup, and S. Ahmed, “Medium voltage AC collection grid for large scale photovoltaic plants
50 based on medium frequency transformers,” in 2014 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), 2014.
51
52 [8] H. Choi, M. Ciobotaru, M. Jang and V. G. Agelidis, "Performance of Medium-Voltage DC-Bus PV System Architecture Utilizing High-Gain
53
DC–DC Converter," in IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 464-473, April 2015.
54
55 [9] Advances in Utility-SCal PV Plants: Key Lessons Learned. 2017. First Solar [Online]. Available:
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3 http://sites.ieee.org/scv-photovoltaic/files/slides/20171101-Advances-in-Utility-Scale-PV-Plants-Key-Lessons-Learned.pdf
4
[10] E. Serban, M. Ordonez and C. Pondiche, "DC-Bus Voltage Range Extension in 1500 V Photovoltaic Inverters," in IEEE Journal of Emerging
5
6 and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 901-917, Dec. 2015.
7
[11] E. Gkoutioudi, P. Bakas and A. Marinopoulos, "Comparison of PV systems with maximum DC voltage 1000V and 1500V," 2013 IEEE 39th
8
9 Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), Tampa, FL, 2013, pp. 2873-2878.
10
11 [12] H. Krishnamoorthy, M. Daniel, J. Ramos-Ruiz, P. Enjeti, L. Liu and E. Aeloiza, "Isolated AC–DC Converter Using Medium Frequency
12 Transformer for Off-Shore Wind Turbine DC Collection Grid," in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 64, no. 11, pp. 8939-
13
14 8947, Nov. 2017.
15 [13] Y.Lian, G. P. Adam, D. Holliday and S. J. Finney, "Medium-voltage DC/DC converter for offshore wind collection grid," in IET Renewable
16
17 Power Generation, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 651-660, 5 2016.
18 [14] M. Kasper, D. Bortis and J. W. Kolar, "Novel high voltage conversion ratio “Rainstick” DC/DC converters," 2013 IEEE Energy Conversion
19
Fo
20 Congress and Exposition, Denver, CO, 2013, pp. 789-796.
21
[15] K. Filsoof and P. W. Lehn, "A Bidirectional Modular Multilevel DC–DC Converter of Triangular Structure," in IEEE Transactions on Power
22
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Electronics, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 54-64, Jan. 2015.
24
[16] A. H. Wijenayake et al., "Next-generation MVDC architecture based on 6.5 kV / 200 A, 12.5 mΩ SiC H-bridge and 10 kV / 240 A, 20 mΩ
25
26 SiC dual power modules," 2017 IEEE Electric Ship Technologies Symposium (ESTS), Arlington, VA, 2017, pp. 598-604.
ee

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[17] “Helios 9T6-420 > 420 Watt Solar Panel” Ecodirect. [Online]. Available: https://www.ecodirect.com/Helios-9T6-420-420W-49V-PV-Panel-
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29 p/helios-9t6-420.htm. [Accessed: 22-June-2018]
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[18] F. Alhuwaishel, A. Allehyani, S. Al-Obaidi and P. Enjeti, "A New Medium Voltage DC Collection Grid for Large Scale PV Power Plants
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32 with SiC Devices," 2018 IEEE 19th Workshop on Control and Modeling for Power Electronics (COMPEL), Padua, 2018, pp. 1-8.
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4 Response to Reviewers’ Comments
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6
7
8 Thank you for providing the reviewers’ comments and recommendations. The manuscript has
9
10
been revised carefully following the list of requirements and suggestions made by the reviewers
11 to improve the clarity and presentation of the paper.
12
13 In the following please find a detailed explanation and rebuttal against each point which is
14
15 being raised in the reviewers' comments. The changes and the modifications have been highlighted
16
in yellow color in the revised version.
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Comments to Author:
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Reviewer 1:
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28 Comment 1: Abstract must be rewritten to provide high-level summary of the followings: - Problem statement as
29 part of motivations and brief summary of the contributions of this work with reference to existing
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30 literature. - Brief description of theoretical principle of the IMMC plus emphasis

31 on relevant features to MV and PV applications. -
32 Articulation of the validation methodology, including highlights of the aspects to be demonstrated
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33 by simulations and verified experimentally. Please the abstract must be written as short and self-
34 contained philosophical description, preferred to be not more than 200 words. _
35 Reply: We have reviewed the abstract using the above guidelines and have made some changes. The word count
36 is now 197 (under 200)
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38 Comment 2: The present manuscript needs rewriting with clear reference to existing works and critical discussions,
39 including authors point of views.
40 Reply: The manuscript has been updated thanks to reviewers comments. Main reference of the previous work are
rainstick converter (reference 14) and TMMC converter (reference 15). Several other changes have
41
been made in the paper to compare the proposed approach with these two.
42
43
44 Comment 3: move it up as it meter square
45
46 Reply: This is fixed
47
48
49 Comment 4: For greater benefits for potential readers, I would like to stress that the introduction must be written as
50 critical review of previous works, with clear statements of the overall philosophy of each approach
51
52 or work and its attributes and shortcomings from device and power electronic system levels. If
53 possible the literature review must be presented in clear logical order.
54
Reply: Thank you for this suggestion. Changes to introduction have been made to reflect these observations.
55
56 Comment 5: General comments:
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 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 26 of 30

1
2
3 -For ease of illustration, a new section must be created to demonstrate the device aspects of the proposed
4
5 IMMC, which includes quantitative substantiation of the theoretical discussions and key equations
6 that illustrate current and voltage stresses and practical viability of the IMMC. The new section must
7
cover all device aspects. -Separate section is needed for brief theoretical arguments and analysis that
8
9 underpin the synthesis of the control loops that form the overall control system. Intensive referencing
10 could be used to avoid duplications.
11
12 Reply: Table 3 has been expanded considerably to illustrate the design example and practical viability. Further,
13 Section 2 part b has been expanded to show more details about the control-loop for power sharing
14
15 unit.
16 Comment 5: Too much details, you need to provide brief highlight of the contribution and its context, and research
17
methodology being used to confirm the validity of the proposed solution. The authors need to clarify,
18
19 is the main contributions is IMMC or DC collection network for PV.
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20
Reply: Thank you for this suggestion. Changes to the text have been made to reflect these observations.
21
22
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Comment 6: we need a short introductory paragraph that describes the objective of this section and aspects will be
24
25 covered.
26 Reply: Thank you for this suggestion. Changes to the text have been made to reflect these observations.
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Comment 7: blocks of what?
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32 Reply: Twin series cascaded blocks of half bridge modules – this text has been added to clarify the point.
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33 Comment 8: This section needs to be rewritten with clear logical and gradual order, starting operating principle,
34
35 conduction path, current and voltage stresses on the active and passive devices. Before equations,
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please state the context in which the assumptions have been made could justified. Equations must be
37
38 presented with reference to their origins. The authors need to e justify the selection of operating mode
39 CCM or DCM
40
Reply: Thank you for this suggestion. The equations have been derived using nodes and loops shown in Fig. 3.
41
42 The converter is operated in CCM with inductor current ripple of 5%.
43
Comment 9: I will suggest, Fig. 3 needs to be explained, starting from basic cell, followed by the simplest cascaded
44
45 cells of the boost converter, including a lot of interesting characteristics and connection patterns I
46 can see the authors have failed to explain and highlight. The mathematical description of the IMMC
47
48 must be developed from the basic cells, and then extended and generalized.
49 Reply: Thank you for this suggestion. Changes to the text have been made to reflect these observations.
50
51 Comment 10: This reviewer sees the inductors, capacitors and gate-drives of the proposed IMMC operate at
52 different insulation level from ground, these may limits the DC operating voltage of the proposed
DC-DC IMMC. Therefore, the authors need to comment on the point raised in my comment.
53
Reply: Any multilevel converter with cascaded modules have to deal with this issue. It is envisioned proper
54
55 gate drive technology with optical isolation will be used.
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4 Comment 11: The reviewer sees the viability of the proposed DC-DC converter is threaten by too many inductoors.
5 Are these inductors iron or air core based. It seems to me, the IMMC is expected to be very large and
6 heavy compared to similar competing topologies.
7 Reply: The proposed IMMC consists of a half bridge module along with an inductor. Inductors core material
8 such as powdered iron that can carry dc current and yield low core losses at the switching frequency
9 can be chosen.
10
11 Comment 12: Detailed derivations of the equations (4), (5) must be provided, including statement of the basic
12 theoretical principles and assumptions.
13 Reply: We believe the equations (4) and (5) are self explanatory employing the basic voltage across an inductor
14 for a giving switching cycle as a function of ripple current ∆𝑖𝐿1 and switch duty ratio 𝛿1
15
16
17 Comment 13: The derivation need to be link to specific figure as such 3a and 3b
18 Reply: This has been corrected.
19
Comment 14: systematic presentation is necessary to help reader make sense of the work and capacity to further
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20
extend the work.
21
Reply: Thank you for this suggestion. Changes have been made.
22
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Comment 15: Dropping equations without any context is not advisable, so the authors need to introduce each
24 equation, and state its relevant and what it serves here.
25 Reply: At the risk of adding too much text, changes made contribute to the clarity.
26
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27 Comment 16: Expression and discussions of current stresses in the switching devices to be added. Is the most lower
28 swicth sees much high current or not?
29 Reply: Yes, the lower SM have high current stresses than higher SM. Therefore parallel SM are needed as
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30 illustrated in Fig. 7. Fig. 17 is added to explain parallel submodule operation.

31
32 Comment 17: It is clear that the IMMC inductors are exposed to different current stresses, which entail absence on
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33 modualrity. The authors need to comment on these aspects.

34 Reply: Please refer to above comment 16
35
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Comment 18: This reviewer is surprised by extremely high values of current and voltage ripples assumed in the
37 design below despite the use of 20 kHz switching frequency.
38 Reply: The voltage ripple is corrected to 3% (incase of 100µF) and 5% ripple (3mH) which is resulted ripple at
39 steady state
40
41 Comment 19: Justification or needed or the design needs to be revised. Remember ripples increase inductor and
capacitor losses, instantaneous current and voltage stresses.
42
Reply: Please refer to comment 18 above.
43
44
45 Comment 20: The topology below need to be introduced appropriately, brief discussions of operating principle,
46 control, modulation and any aspects that could be seen as attributes and drawbacks that may justify its
47 selection in such application.
48 Reply: The control and modulation of the parallel SM configuration shown is similar to Fig. 3 configuration. For
49 example, the four parallel shown in Fig.7 are controller using the same PWM signal. Fig.17 is added
50 to describe a simulation of parallel SM configuration shown in Fig.7.
51
52 Comment 21: As I see 6.5kV, 200A IGBT every where, but no induction or justifications provided.
Reply: Please refer to comment 11 above.
53
Comment 22: Inductance
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55 Reply: This is fixed
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3 Comments 23: x needs index such as x_k and summation power limit needs an index such k=1
4
5 Reply: This is fixed
6 Comments 24: Inductance & capacitance
7
Reply: This is fixed
8
9 Comments 25: What is the merit in that?
10 Reply: A DC link capacitor row has been added to table 3. Although TMMC have higher capacitance value, still
11
12 the DC-link ripple of DC-DC IMMC is lower than TMMC due to ripple cancelation method explained
13 in equation 12. Fig. 18 is added to illustrate the ripple cancelation operation that results 0.04% Vbus
14
15 ripple despite 15% Vc1 ripple. Fig.19 shows the enlarged voltage ripple of TMMC that reaches 10%
16 at Vc1 and results 1.4% Vbus ripple.
17
Comment 26: For fair comparison, the same capacitor voltage and inductor current ripples must be assumed as these
18
ensure the passive components and switches of the two converters are exposed to the same stresses. Also, the overall
19
energy stored in the capacitors must be included. Also, current and voltage stresses must be included.
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20
Reply: This response is added to table 3
21
22 Comment 27: For completeness, results for 3 operating conditions must be provided, i.e., 25%, 50% and 100% of the
23
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rated power, incluing waveforms zoomed the current and voltage ripples in the inductors and capacitors.
24 Reply: Fig. 16 is added. It shows dynamic response of the proposed converter for different loading and insolation
25 conditions (including 25%, 50% and 100% rated power condition)
26
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27 Comment 28:VA and Vbus have the same colour. Change colour, and find better way to present the results.
28 Reply: This has been corrected.
29
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30 Comment 29: Discussions of the results must be linked to theoretical discussions and simulations. May be it will be
31 better to have scaled-down simulation and experiemts with identical parameters. Then the existing full-scale
32 simulation could be used for demonstration of scalability.
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33 Reply: Yes agree. This was not done in view of paper length.
34
35 Comment 30: I expect simulation and experiemnt must use the same per unit parameters
36 Reply: yes.
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38 Comment 31: Please change the background colour from black to while, and attach variable to each trace., with
39 reference points for the measurements must be clearly highlighted..
40 Reply: The color background has been changed to white.
41
Comment 32: Time and vertical scales must be given in the captions. Remove the table below.
42
Reply: This has been corrected.
43
Comment 33: where Vc1 and Vc2 do not change linearly as in simulation while IL1 is largely the same with some
44 signs of saturation.
45 Reply: This is due to device parasitic.
46
47 Comment 34: The same as above.
48 Reply: This is due to device parasitic
49
50 Comment 35: Conclusion must be written to highlights the main findings and emphasize the added valuse of the
51 contributions.
52 Reply: Thank you for the suggestion. Changes have been made.
53
54 Comment 36: The manuscript needs substantial work, and proper review and citations of previous and relevant works.
55 Reply: Thank you for the suggestion. Changes have been made.
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Reviewer 2:
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Comment 1: In this paper, IMMC integrated with power sharing converter is used for two PV-plants. However, if
7 more PV-Plants are considered, can the advantages of this topology still be retained? In this case, how to realize a)
8 the power sharing of PVplants and b) the reduced ripple of output DC voltage? Please make a brief discussion.
9 Reply: In the case of multiple PV-plants several IMMCs can be connected in parallel. The stated example is for 1MW
10 rating. Several such converters are envisioned to be connected in parallel.
11
12 Comment 2: If possible, please complement loss comparison analysis between IMMC and TMMC based on
13 theoretical deduction and numerical simulation. The loss comparison results listed in Table 3 seems to be inaccurate.
14 Reply: Please refer to reviewer 3 Comment 1 response. Section 4 and Table 3 have been expanded to address this
15 comment.
16
17 Comment 3: In traditional modular multilevel converter (MMC), the fault submodules (SMs) could be bypassed
18 easily and the system operation is nearly unaffected. However, the proposed IMMC have the difficulties to deal with
19 the SMs failure. The advantages of “modular” concept may not show up.
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20 Reply: The proposed IMMC does not have the same fault tolerance aspects of the traditional MMC. However, in Fig.
21 7 redundant parallel modules can be added to achieve fault tolerance. Fig. 17 shows the simulations results detailing
22 the operation of the parallel modules.
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24 Comment 4: Actually, the author claim that the one shortcomings of TMMC is that the first submodule SM1 (In
25 Fig. 8) will be forced to process a large current. However, this challenge is also appear on proposed IMMC when
26 much more half-bridge converters are required to achieve higher output DC voltage.
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27 Reply:
In the case of TMMC (Fig 8) nine stages of half bridge submodules are necessary as opposed to four sub modules in
28
the top half of the IMMC (Fig. 2). The current ratings of the bottom submodule as seen in Fig. 7 will be half compared
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to Fig. 8 of the TMMC.

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32 Comment 5: Try to check the spelling and grammar carefully. For example,
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33 a. in page 8 line 22, line 26 and page 15 line 27, “plant” rather than “plan” should be used;
34 b. in page 13 line 9, “Fig. 2. And TMMC” may be “Fig. 2 and TMMC”;
35 c. in page 20 line 8, “medium voltage medium voltage DC collection” may be “medium voltage DC collection”;
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d. in page 7, “ΔVC1” in eq. (7) and “ΔVIMMC2” in eq. (11) should be revised.
37 Reply: The errors has been fixed and added to the file.
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40 Comment 6: The typesetting of the paper needs to be further improved. For example, indentations for the first line
41 of each paragraph should be unified. Please refer to available template and make some revisions.
42 Reply: These have been fixed. However, IEEE editors have full control on type setting on all accepted papers.
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44 Comment 7: The proposed IMMC topology is interesting and important. But some technical issues that should be
45 further addressed.
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47 Reply: Thanks for the reviewer’s encouraging comment.
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50 Reviewer 3:
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Comment: I appreciate the authors for the work presented in the manuscript. But there are shortcomings in this
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paper, which need to be improved upon, before this paper can be considered for publication.
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Reply:
55 Thanks for the reviewer’s encouraging words.
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 Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics Page 30 of 30

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4 Comment 1: Simulation and experimental Efficiencies of the proposed converter should be added, also in table 3,
5 compare between
6 the two modules efficiencies.
7 Reply:
8 For simulation efficiency, the following response has been added in section 4 as the reviewer requested:
9 Table 3, shows the simulation efficiency the DC-DC IMMC is 95.2% which is 6 % more efficient than conventional
10 TMMC. Section 4 and table 3 has been expanded showing a more detailed losses calculation analysis.
11 Section 6 has been modified to show the total power efficiency of tested prototype is 89.2%. This efficiency can be
12 further improved with switching frequency reduction in the expanse of higher passive elements sizing as can be
13 comprehended from table 3.
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15 Comment 2: Switching states of the upper or lower converter may be added for the readers.
16 Reply: Fig. 3(a) shows state 1 operation where the lower switches for SM1 to SM4 are turned on while the upper
17 switches are off. Fig. 3b shows state 2 where the upper switches are turned on while the lower switches are off.
Also, Fig. 3 is updated
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Comment 3: Studying the dynamic response of the proposed converter is so important such as load variation and
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changing the output voltage, this may be added.
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Reply:
21 Fig. 16 is added. It shows dynamic response of the proposed converter for different loading and insolation
22 conditions
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Comment 4: The axis names of Fig. 4, Fig. 5, and Fig. 8 are not clear.
24 Reply:
25 Axis names font size has increased
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27 Comment 5: Finally, minor grammatical errors are present in the document (e.g. page-13, line-9: ' proposed DC-DC
28 IMMC in shown in Fig. 2; page-13, line-37 ' MC. Moreover, comparing passive elements sizing, the capacitors of
29 proposed DC-DC IMMC configuration is 90% etc.). This may be rectified
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31 Reply: This is fixed
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