748 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 33, NO.

3, MAY/JUNE 1997

Dynamic Performance and Control of a Static Var

Generator Using Cascade Multilevel Inverters
Fang Zheng Peng, Senior Member, IEEE, and Jih-Sheng Lai, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—A cascade multilevel inverter is proposed for static slow because their inverters are usually operated in the six-
var compensation/generation applications. The new cascade pulse mode with phase shifting, and the output voltage is
M-level inverter consists of (M-1)/2 single-phase full bridges solely in proportion to the dc voltage which cannot have an
in which each bridge has its own separate dc source. This
inverter can generate almost sinusoidal waveform voltage with instantaneous change. Although the pulsewidth modulation
only one time switching per cycle. It can eliminate the need (PWM) can be applied to these ASVC’s, the losses introduced
for transformers in multipulse inverters. A prototype static var by switching are not acceptable in high-power applications.
generator (SVG) system using 11-level cascade inverter (21-level It has been shown that these ASVC’s cannot respond faster
line–to–line voltage waveform) has been built. The output voltage than a quarter of line cycle, i.e., about 4–5 ms, from the rated
waveform is equivalent to that of a 60-pulse inverter. This paper
focuses on dynamic performance of the cascade-inverter-based lagging reactive power to rated leading reactive power [5], [6].
SVG system. Control schemes are proposed to achieve a fast For rapidly changing loads and line disturbances, such as arc
response which is impossible for a conventional static var furnaces, a faster response within a couple of milliseconds is
compensator (SVC). Analytical, simulated, and experimental required. To achieve this order of response, a high-frequency
results show the superiority of the proposed SVG system. (HF) PWM inverter is required; however, one cannot afford
Index Terms—Multilevel inverter, static var generator. this due to switching losses [10].
A cascade multilevel inverter has been proposed [9].
The new cascade inverter not only can eliminate the bulky
I. INTRODUCTION
transformers of the ASVC’s, but can also respond within 1

R EACTIVE POWER (var) compensation or control is an

essential part in a power system to minimize power trans-
mission losses, to maximize power transmission capability, to
ms—much faster than the ASVC’s do. A prototype static var
generator (SVG) system using an 11-level cascade inverter has
been built. The output line–to–line voltage waveform presents
stabilize the power system, and to maintain the supply voltage. 21 levels, almost sinusoidal with only one time switching per
The so-called advanced static var compensators (ASVC’s) line cycle and without HF PWM operation. This paper focuses
using multipulse voltage-source inverters have been widely on dynamic performance of the cascade-inverter-based SVG
accepted as the state-of-the-art reactive power controllers of system. System models and control schemes are presented to
power systems to replace the conventional var compensators achieve a fast response within 1 ms, which is impossible for
such as thyristor switched capacitors and thyristor controlled today’s ASVC’s. A fully digital control is implemented with
reactors [1]–[6]. a digital signal processor (DSP) board. Analytical, simulated,
Typically, a 48-pulse ASVC consists of eight three-phase and experimental results show the superiority of the proposed
voltage-source inverters connected together through eight SVG system.
zigzag-arrangement transformers, in order to reduce harmonic
distortion using the harmonic neutralization (cancellation) II. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION OF SVG
technique and to reach high voltage. These transformers: 1)
are the most expensive equipment in the system; 2) produce A. Cascade Inverter Structure and Control
about 50% of the total losses of the system; 3) occupy a
Fig. 1 shows the Y-configured 11-level cascade inverter
large area of real estate (about 40% of the total system);
used in the experimental SVG system. As shown in Fig. 1, the
4) cause difficulties in control due to dc magnetizing and
cascade inverter uses a separate dc source for each H-bridge
surge overvoltage problems resulting from saturation of the
inverter unit of each phase. The required dc capacitance
transformers in transient state; and 5) are prone to fail. In
is slightly higher than the ASVC [9]. These dc capacitors,
addition, the dynamic response of these ASVC’s is very
however, are far smaller and much more efficient than the
Paper IPCSD–97–05, approved by the Industrial Power Converter Com- bulky transformers of the ASVC according to the experimental
mittee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society for presentation at the 1996 system and analysis.
Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, October 6–10. Fig. 2 shows output waveforms of phase . Each H-bridge
Manuscript released for publication January 6, 1997.
F. Z. Peng is with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Engineering inverter unit generates a quasi-square wave,
Technology Division, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8058 USA. , as shown. As a result, a staircase voltage
J.-S. Lai is with the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, waveform, , is obtained. The switching phase angles
The Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering, Virginia Power Electronics
Center, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0111 USA. are off-line calculated to minimize
Publisher Item Identifier S 0093-9994(97)03626-8. harmonics for each modulation index (MI). The MI is defined
0093–9994/97$10.00  1997 IEEE

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PENG AND LAI: DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE AND CONTROL OF A STATIC VAR GENERATOR 749

Fig. 1. The 11-level cascade inverter used in the experimental SVG system.

TABLE I
SWITCHING ANGLE TABLE OF 11-LEVEL CASCADE INVERTER

Table I shows the off-line calculated phase angles, which are

stored in a look-up table to generate gate signals for each
inverter unit.

B. System Configuration of SVG

Fig. 3 shows the experimental system configuration of the
11-level cascade-inverter-based SVG, where is the inter-
face inductor coupling the inverter to the line and is the
line impedance. (or ) is the reactive current (or reactive
Fig. 2. Waveforms of phase a in the 11-level cascade inverter of Fig. 1. power) reference, and is the dc-voltage reference. The
SVG system control block provides amplitude reference
and phase-shift reference of the output voltage. Control of
as , where is the magnitude reference of the
this SVG system is different from the conventional control
inverter output voltage
scheme of the ASVC’s which have only one controllable
variable is the phase angle of the source voltage.
Switching gate signals are then generated from the amplitude
and is the maximum obtainable magnitude of voltage reference and phase reference through the look-up
when all the switching phase angles equal zero table.
The SVG in steady state will generate a leading reactive
current when the amplitude of the output voltage is larger
than the source voltage’s amplitude , and it will draw a

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750 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 33, NO. 3, MAY/JUNE 1997

Fig. 5. The dq! coordinates.

From the equivalent circuit of Fig. 4, one has

(1)

Assuming that the source voltage is sinusoidal, can be

Fig. 3. Experimental system configuration of the SVG.
represented as

(2)

where is the rms value of the line–to–line voltage, and

is the phase angle. Furthermore, one can get the -coordinate
expressions of (1) and (2) by using the synchronous reference
frame transformation , i.e.,

Fig. 4. Equivalent circuit of the SVG system.

lagging current from the source when is smaller than .

However, both the amplitude and phase-shifting angle and
need to be controlled at transient states. and

III. DYNAMIC ANALYSIS AND CONTROL SCHEMES

thus resulting in

A. Dynamic Models of SVG System (3)

Fig. 4 shows the equivalent circuit of the SVG system, or
where is the source voltage, is the generated voltage
of the SVG, is the current drawn by the SVG, and and
are the total ac inductance and resistance. The source voltage
, SVG voltage , and SVG current are instantaneous (4)
quantities and represented in the -phase frame through the and
–to– transformation [C] as follows:
(5)

Fig. 5 shows the coordinates where —both

and are vectors. “ ” in (3) denotes the vector or cross
product. Since and , the instantaneous
active power flowing into the SVG, and instantaneous
reactive power drawn by the SVG, can be obtained as
and and (6)
Therefore, and are the active current component
and reactive current component of the SVG, respectively.
where This feature enables a decoupled control of the two current
components, thus decoupling the control of the two power
components and . Both and can be positive
and negative. Active power flows into the inverter for positive
and out from the inverter for negative . The SVG

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PENG AND LAI: DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE AND CONTROL OF A STATIC VAR GENERATOR 751

TABLE II
SYSTEM PARAMETERS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL PROTOTYPE
Source voltage rating VS 240 V (rms)
Var rating QC /current rating I 61 kvar/2.4 A (rms)
DC voltage Vdc /regulation factor " 43.5 V/610%
Interface inductance LC 20% (32 mH)
Source impedance LS 3% (0.03 pu)
Total ac resistance R 1.6% (1.0 )

Fig. 6. Block diagram of the SVG main system.

Fig. 7. Block diagram of decoupling feedforward control of the SVG system.

Fig. 9. Waveforms of decoupling feedforward control for a ramp-change

reference of reactive current (or reactive power).

Fig. 8. Vector PLL circuit.

and , and and , should be given as

generates leading reactive power when is positive and

lagging reactive power when is negative.
Fig. 6 shows the block diagram of the SVG derived from
(3) or (4). Here, two models have been derived to describe the and
SVG main system. One is represented by (1) and Fig. 4, in (7)
which the stationary frame is used. The other is described
in the synchronous frame based on (4) and Fig. 6. Fig. 6
shows that the active current component and reactive current
component and , which are coupled with each other (8)
through the ac inductance , although the instantaneous
voltages and currents of phases represented in (2) and Based on (7) and (8), one has a decoupling feedforward control
Fig. 4 are independent of each other. For most cases, it is as shown in Fig. 7. In this figure, the active current reference
required that one can directly and independently control the is generated from a PI controller, which regulates the
instantaneous active current component and reactive current dc voltage of each inverter unit. The detailed control principle
component and . has been presented in [9]. The reactive current reference is
given according to different compensation aims. For instance,
for an SVG to compensate the reactive power of a load, it will
B. Decoupling Feedforward Control be the load reactive current. The components of source
voltage are obtained from the
It is straightforward from (4) or Fig. 6, that in order for the directly sensed source voltage , and through the
SVG system to generate the desired active and reactive current –to– transformation— and the synchronous refer-
components and , the references of the SVG voltages ence frame transformation as previously mentioned. The

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752 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 33, NO. 3, MAY/JUNE 1997

(a) (b)
Fig. 10. (a) Decoupling feedback control diagram of the SVG system, where a PI controller is used in the active current and reactive current feedback
G G
loops with PI gains as P = 70 and I = 2000. (b) Equivalent control diagrams for Cd and Cq . I I

Fig. 11. Simulated waveforms showing decoupling feedback control.

phase angle of the source voltage can be obtained from a and inductance on the ac side of the SVG to achieve the
vector phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit as shown in Fig. 8. In feedforward decoupling control. It is often impossible to
the experimental system, a digital PLL circuit is implemented. precisely know the source impedance and source voltage.
Fig. 9 shows the calculated waveforms for a 1-ms ramp- Uncertainties in these parameters will result in deterioration
change reference from zero to the rated leading reactive power of dynamic response and steady-state errors of control. A
according to (7) and (8). Table II shows the detailed system feedback decoupling control is, hence, proposed as shown in
parameters. The calculated results shown in Fig. 9 help system Fig. 10(a) to resolve this problem. A PI controller is used for
design. Given a required or desirable response, in this case, both active and reactive current control loops. Because of this
1 ms from zero to the rated leading reactive power, one can decoupling control, the equivalent control diagrams for
calculate , which in turn helps the determination of the dc and can be derived as shown in Fig. 10(b). The controlled
voltage since the maximum MI is one. Fig. 9 also shows that system is reduced to a first-order transfer function. Therefore,
a large lagging phase-shift angle will result during the the PI gains can be arbitrarily designed to meet the required
building current transient, although it becomes almost zero in response.
the steady state since the ac resistance is normally very small. Fig. 11 shows simulated waveforms, where the active cur-
rent reference stays zero, while the reactive current
reference is given a step change. It is seen that the actual
C. Decoupling Feedback Control reactive current rapidly tracks the step-changing reference
From (7), it can be seen that one needs to know the while the actual active current maintains zero. Complete
source voltage and exact parameters of the total resistance decoupled control is achieved. The figure also shows a large

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PENG AND LAI: DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE AND CONTROL OF A STATIC VAR GENERATOR 753

Fig. 12. Experimental waveforms of decoupling feedforward control with a Fig. 14. Experimental current waveforms of decoupling feedforward control
ramp-change reference of the reactive current (or reactive power). with a ramp-change reference.

Fig. 13. Experimental inverter voltage waveforms of decoupling feedfor- Fig. 15. Experimental waveforms of decoupling feedback control with a
ward control with a ramp-change reference. step-change reference of the reactive current (or reactive power).

voltage reference during the transient state. Because the rated leading reactive power within 1 ms. The experimental
output voltage is bounded at , the results are consistent with the calculated waveforms of Fig. 9,
response speed of this system is only constrained by a practical showing excellent dynamic response.
dc voltage, although in principle its response has no limit. Figs. 15–17 show experimental results of the dynamic re-
sponse at a step-change reference of reactive power. The
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS results show excellent dynamic response with a 0.6-ms time
constant to the step change.
Based on the previously mentioned prototype system, an
The control schemes presented are applicable to PWM-
experiment has been carried out using the proposed decoupling
inverter-based SVG systems. Their dynamic response is also
feedforward control and decoupling feedback control. The
expected to be fast. However, such a fast response cannot be
control circuit is fully digitized and based on a TMS320C31
obtained for today’s ASVC’s.
DSP board. The sampling rate is (60 Hz 1024 Hz), and the
switching pattern for each MI of Table I is stored in a look-up
table with 1024-point data per fundamental cycle. V. CONCLUSIONS
Figs. 12–14 show the experimental results of the ramp- A newly developed multilevel inverter has been presented
change reference of the reactive power from zero to the for static var compensation/generation applications. With the

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754 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 33, NO. 3, MAY/JUNE 1997

the best candidate for medium- to high-voltage-power system

applications. This new inverter is also suited for other utility
applications, such as active power filters, series compensation,
etc.

REFERENCES
[1] C. Schauder et al., “Development of a 100 MVAR static condenser for
voltage control of transmission systems,” presented at the IEEE PES
Summer Power Meeting, San Francisco, CA, July 24–28, 1994, Paper
94SM479-6PWRD.
[2] S. Mori et al., “Development of large static var generator using self-
commutated inverters for improving power system stability,” presented
at the IEEE PES Winter Power Meeting, New York, NY, Jan. 26–30,
1992, Paper 92WM165-1.
[3] J. Van Wyk, D. A. Marshall, and S. Boshoff, “Simulation and experi-
mental study of a reactively loaded PWM converter as a fast source of
reactive power,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. IA-22, pp. 1082–1090,
Nov./Dec. 1986.
[4] L. H. Walker, “Force-commutated reactive power compensator,” IEEE
Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. IA-22, pp. 1091–1104, Nov./Dec. 1986.
[5] H. Fujita, S. Tominaga, and H. Akagi, “Analysis and design of an
Fig. 16. Experimental inverter voltage waveforms of decoupling feedback advanced static var compensator using quad-series voltage-source in-
control with a step-change reference of the reactive current. verters,” in Proc. IEEE/IAS Annu. Meeting, Orlando, FL, 1995, pp.
2565–2572.
[6] C. D. Schauder, “Advanced static var compensator control system,” U.S.
Patent 5,329,221. July 12, 1994.
[7] L. T. Moran, P. D. Ziogas, and G. Joos, “Analysis and design of a
three-phase current source solid-state var compensator,” IEEE Trans.
Ind. Applicat., vol. 25, pp. 356–365, Mar./Apr. 1989.
[8] N. S. Choi, G. C. Cho, and G. H. Cho, “Modeling and analysis of a
static var compensator using multilevel voltage source inverter,” in Proc.
IEEE/IAS Annu. Meeting, Toronto, Ont., Canada, 1993, pp. 901–908.
[9] F. Z. Peng, and J. S. Lai, “A multilevel voltage-source inverter with
separate dc sources for static var generation,” in Proc. IEEE/IAS Annu.
Meeting, Orlando, FL, 1995, pp. 2541–2548.
[10] N. Seki, et al., “Which is better at a high power reactive power
compensation system, high PWM frequency or multiple connection?,”
in Proc. IEEE/IAS Annu. Meeting, Denver, CO, 1994, pp. 946–953.
[11] C. Hochgraf, R. Lasseter, D. Divan, and T. A. Lipo, “Comparison
of multilevel inverters for static var compensation,”in Proc. IEEE/IAS
Annu. Meeting, Denver, CO, 1994, pp. 921–928.
[12] M. Carpita and S. Teconi, “A novel multilevel structure for voltage
source inverter,” EPE, pp. 90–94, 1991.
[13] M. Maresoni, “High-performance current control techniques for appli-
cations to multilevel high-power voltage source inverters,” IEEE Trans.
Power Electron., vol. 7, pp. 189–204, Jan. 1992.
[14] N. Mohan and D. R. Kamath, “A novel, high-frequency, per-phase static
var compensator,” in Proc. IEEE/IAS Annu. Meeting, Orlando, FL, 1995,
pp. 2581–2586.

Fig. 17. Experimental current waveforms of decoupling feedback control

with a step-change reference of the reactive current (or reactive power).

presented control schemes, the dynamic performance of the

cascade-inverter-based SVG system has been satisfactory.
Both simulation and experiment have demonstrated that the
new inverter-based SVG system can achieve much faster Fang Zheng Peng (M’92–SM’96) was born in
dynamic response than conventional static var compensators Hubei Province, P.R.C. He received the B.S. degree
in electrical engineering from Wuhan University
(SVC’s) and today’s ASVC’s using transformer-coupled in- of Hydraulic and Electrical Engineering, P.R.C., in
verters. With the minimum switching frequency, this new 1983 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical
inverter can achieve performance equal to that of a HF PWM engineering from Nagaoka University of Technol-
ogy, Japan, in 1987 and 1990, respectively.
inverter. He joined Toyo Electric Manufacturing Com-
In summary, the new cascade multilevel inverter: 1) can pany, Ltd., from 1990 to 1992 as a Research Scien-
eliminate the bulky transformers of a multipulse inverter; tist, where he was engaged in research and devel-
opment of active power filters, FACTS applications,
2) generate almost sinusoidal waveform voltage and current and motor drives. From 1992 to 1994, he worked with the Tokyo Institute of
with only a single switching per fundamental cycle; and 3) Technology as an Assistant Professor, where he initiated a multilevel inverter
has fast dynamic response. In addition, because of its simple project for FACTS applications and a speed-sensorless vector control project.
Since 1994, he has been a Research Assistant Professor at the University of
modular structure, the cascade inverter can be stacked up to a Tennessee, working with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.
practically unlimited number of levels. These features make it Dr. Peng is a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.

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PENG AND LAI: DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE AND CONTROL OF A STATIC VAR GENERATOR 755

Jih-Sheng Lai (S’84–M’87–SM’93) received the

M. S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering
from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, in
1985 and 1989, respectively.
From 1980 to 1983, he was the Head of the
Electrical Engineering Department of the Ming-Chi
Institute of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, where he
initiated a power electronics program and received
a grant from his college and a fellowship from the
National Science Council to study abroad. In 1986,
he became a Staff Member at the University of
Tennessee, where he taught control systems and energy conversion courses.
In 1989, he joined the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Power
Electronics Applications Center (PEAC), where he managed EPRI-sponsored
power-electronics research projects. From 1993 to 1996, he worked with
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as the Power Electronics Lead Scientist,
where he initiated a high power electronics program and developed several
novel high-power converters including multilevel converters and auxiliary
resonant-snubber-based soft-switching inverters. Since August 1996, he has
been with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, as
an Associate Professor. He has published over 55 technical papers and two
books and filed 13 invention disclosures with four U.S. patents awarded. His
main research areas are high power electronics converter topologies, motor
drives, and utility power electronics interface and application issues.
Dr. Lai is Chairman of the IEEE Power Electronics Society Standards
Committee. He is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Eta Kappa Nu honor
societies. His work has brought him several distinctive awards including
a Technical Achievement Award at Lockheed Martin Award Night, two
IEEE IAS Conference Paper Awards from the Industrial Power Converter
Committee, and an Advanced Technology Award from the Inventors Clubs
of America.

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