Abstract

In power electronics equipment, digital control is essential to obtaining a proper operation of the devices. Typical implementations of this control use microprocessors, digital signal processors and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). In this paper, the hardware resources of an FPGA are configured in order to implement the discrete synchronism, abc/dq frame transformations, modulation, and control of a Distribution STATic COMpensator (DSTATCOM) aimed to compensate reactive current. All these tasks are implemented as independent modules to give the system the capability to reconfigure the hardware for any other application with similar requirements. Results show that FPGAs are a suitable platform to implement a power converter digital controller. Also, non-fundamental capabilities can be added to improve the controller performance, such as over-sampling, anti-windup circuits, and time multiplexing. We verify the correctness of the digital controller implemented on the FPGA device using dynamic tests on a laboratory experimental DSTATCOM low-power prototype.