Traditional grid-connected inverters (TGCI) could suffer from small-signal instability owing to the dynamic interactions among inverters and a weak grid. In this letter, the small-signal sequence impedance model of the virtual synchronous generator (VSG) is built, and the sequence impedance characteristics of the VSG and the TGCI are compared and analyzed. The sequence impedance of the TGCI is mainly capacitive in the middle-frequency area, and the impedance amplitude is quite high. By contrast, the sequence impedance of the VSG, being consistent with the grid impedance characteristics, is generally inductive, and the impedance amplitude is quite low. Based on the sequence impedance model and the Nyquist stability criterion, the influence of the grid stiffness, the number of paralleled inverters, and the phase-locked loop (PLL) bandwidth on the stability of the VSG and the TGCI systems is analyzed. The stability analysis results show that the TGCI loses stability easily, whereas the VSG still works well without PLL restrictions under an ultraweak grid or with a large number of inverters connected to the grid. Therefore, the VSG is more suitable than the TGCI for achieving high penetration of renewable energy generation in an ultraweak grid from a system stability viewpoint. Finally, the experimental results validate the sequence impedance model and the stability analysis.

With the development of high-speed and high-power electrified railway, power quality of traction power grid becomes more serious. In order to achieve three-phase balance of traction power grid, a modular multilevel converter (MMC)-based railway traction power conditioner (RTPC) is studied, which is characterized by modular multilevel cascaded structure. The RTPC consists of four H-Bridge links and output filter inductors, which can be connected to 27.5-kV traction feeders in co-phase supply system directly. This conditioner can be used for different kinds of traction system, especially suited to Scott traction system. According to the analysis of equivalent electrical model and power balance of RTPC, a hierarchical control strategy is put forward aiming to balance the submodule capacitor voltages, which ensures the safety and stability of system. Finally, the structure and its control strategy are verified by the simulation and experiment effectively.

With the wide application of non-linear loads and the large-scale access of distributed energy generations based on power electronics equipments, power quality problems in the distribution network are increasingly serious with new characteristics. Further in-depth research is of great significance in theory and practice. This paper provides an overview of power quality analysis, compensators, and control technologies under the new situation of smart grid. It focuses on the topologies and control methods for power quality conditioners, especially new characteristics of power quality and applicable control technologies in microgrids and distributed power plants. Finally, trends and prospects of power quality control technology are introduced, which is important to achieve security and efficient operation of the smart grid.

With the rapid development of modern electrified railway, negative-sequence current minimization is one of the most important considerations in the high-speed railway traction system. In the past, many multiple or multilevel topologies with high compensation capacity have been introduced for railway power conditioner (RPC). This paper presents a simplified quantitative comparison of five previous modular RPC topologies for negative sequence compensation in V/V and SCOTT traction systems, aiming for an optimal selection of the compensators. Performance criteria such as transformer requirement, voltage stress and current stress of a power switch, numbers of the power switches and capacitor are derived by analytical methods. Moreover, the numerical comparison of operating controllers is completed for modular RPCs. In addition, power losses of five modular RPCs are obtained by theoretical analysis, IPOSIM calculation as well as PSIM simulation. These calculations are validated via simulations results in PSIM. The main conclusion is that presented modular RPCs can be divided into general purpose RPC and special purpose RPC in terms of the behavior and efficiency. It is helpful to choose the appropriate topology for specific applications.

To enhance the power quality in the medium/high-voltage distribution power systems, a single-phase unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) based on the modular multilevel matrix converter (M3C) is presented in this paper. The M3C-UPQC is comprised of four identical multilevel converter arms and associated filtering inductors. According to the established equivalent circuit of M3C-UPQC, its operation principle and power balance of each arm are analyzed theoretically, and the parameters' design for the arm inductance as well as submodule capacitance is studied. Then, an integrated control method for M3C-UPQC in which the dc circulating current is used to balance the instantaneous active power of each arm is proposed to prevent the capacitor voltages from divergence inter- and intra-arms, so as to achieve voltages balance of M3C-UPQC. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control method is verified by a prototype rated at 8 kVA.