High-voltage isolated multioutput power supply for multilevel converters

Multilevel converters are one of the major choices for realizing high electric power conversion. The major feature of multilevel converter topologies is the need for a large number of switches, each of which requires a gate driver circuit and an isolated DC power supply. In this paper, a pragmatic concept of design and implementation of an isolated DC-to-DC converter for a high-voltage isolated application is introduced. More specifically, a multiple isolated output power supply based on the benefits of resonant converters is designed to prepare 36 double DC voltages for driving power semiconductor devices in a three-phase, seven-level cascaded H-bridge that acts as a static synchronous series compensator (SSSC). The power supply contains several high-frequency transformers in series, carrying a high-frequency single turn current as their primary winding excitations, and they are improved by a resonant tank circuit to reduce switching and core losses. The proposed design has a high voltage insulation level, low cost, small size, adequate hold-up time, and an easily upwards extending structure. The feasibility of the design is clarified by simulation results and implementation in a high-power D-SSSC converter.