Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. (ABB) Award 2009 - Chaudhuri Toufann

"Dr. Chaudhuri's proposal is a fully new topology for a power electronic circuit, which properties and performances are of highest interest in all applications of renewable energy sources connected to the electrical grid."

Cross connected multilevel voltage source inverter topologies for medium voltage applications.

The thesis introduces two completely new and innovative multilevel topologies named cross connected intermediate level and the common cross connected stage voltage source inverters.
The motivation for this work stems out from the need to generate multiple output levels while keeping the reliability of the system as high as possible. Formally, this leads to explore a till then open area in the required properties of the multilevel converters: high resolution and low component count.
A comprehensive analysis of the electrical characteristics, modeling with the help of original graphical representations and adapted control strategies are proposed for those topologies. The study not only shows how the proposed circuits help to address the problematic, is also highlights where the trade-offs stand.
As a result of this work, the circuit designers have at disposal a set of multilevel topologies, traditional ones or the cross connected ones, having each their own advantages and disadvantages. Depending on the needs and requirements of the application, the most suitable topology can then be chosen knowing exactly why and how it fulfils those needs.

Final Report