Abstract

This paper presents a control method to limit the common-mode (CM) circulating current between paralleled three-phase two-level voltage-source converters (VSCs) with discontinuous space-vector pulsewidth modulation (DPWM) and interleaved switching cycles. This CM circulating current can be separated into two separate components based on their frequency; the high-frequency component, close to the switching frequency, can be effectively limited by means of passive components; the low-frequency component, close to the fundamental frequency, embodies the jumping CM circulating current observed in parallel VSCs. This is the main reason why it is usually recommended not to implement discontinuous and interleaving PWM together. The origin of this low-frequency circulating current is analyzed in detail, and based on this, a method to eliminate its presence is proposed by impeding the simultaneous use of different zero vectors between the converters. This control method only requires six additional switching actions per line cycle, presenting a minimum impact on the converter thermal design. The analysis and the feasibility of the control method are verified by simulation and experimental results.