Model Predictive Control for Single-Phase Cascaded H-Bridge Five-Level Inverter

The model predictive control (MPC) for single-phase cascaded H-bridge (CHB) five-level inverter is presented. The discrete-time model of the CHB five-level inverter as well as the MPC algorithm proposed for this system are explained in detail. These are programmed and simulated digitally using the Matlab/Simulink software to observe the performance of the inverter in terms of the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the current and the tracking of its reference, especially when the current reference presents sudden changes. The developed MPC, which is discrete in nature, is compared to a level shifted pulse width modulation (PWM) control scheme, as it is one of the most widely used modulation strategies in this type of multilevel converters, to perform a comparative analysis. The simulation results show that the MPC algorithm presents an excellent performance, especially when sudden load changes occur and in the THD level that the current presents.