Distributed Control and Redundant Technique to Achieve Superior Reliability for Fully Modular Input-Series-Output-Parallel Inverter System

Input-series-output-parallel (ISOP) inverter system is very suitable for high input voltage and large output current power conversion applications. One of many merits of this assembly system lies in that its characteristic of multimodule series-parallel combination can significantly improve the reliability of the operation. To address this point, redundancy should be realized for the whole system. However, the existing methods for the ISOP inverter system all belong to centralized control, which restricts the modularity of the system. From the above perspective, this paper proposes a new scheme to achieve both power balance and distributed configuration according to the conception of compound control. Also, the relationship of control loops is analyzed and the design procedure of them is given. Based on the fully modular system actualized by the distributed control, the hot-swap technique is then raised to get a redundant system with superior reliability. Here, the way of bypassing other than cutting off is adopted to fulfill withdrawal of the faulty module from the system due to series connection at the input terminal. In addition, the detailed timing sequence of system operation is provided to ensure the smooth transition during the hot-plugging transient. Finally, a three-module prototype is built and the experimental results validate the effectiveness of the presented strategy.