EFFECT OF VOLTAGE STRESS ON RELIABILITY OF

THE 3-LEVEL ANPC MULTILEVEL INVERTER FOR

WIND TURBINES
Farhana Fayaz* and Gobind Lal Pahuja
Received: July 19, 2021; Revised: July 26, 2022; Accepted: August 23, 2022

Abstract

Wind power with low or no greenhouse gas emissions has been highly prevalent over the last decade.
Modern renewable energy systems rely heavily on power electronic devices such as multilevel
converters (MLC) to integrate renewables into the grid or provide electricity to islanding loads.
These converters’ power electronic switches have a high failure rate (approximately 34 percent). As
a result, the reliability evaluation of these converters is vital. Most research has focused on developing
a fault-tolerant, efficient and cost-effective topology that reduces components. Still, the reliability of
these topologies has received relatively little attention. This paper studies the effect of voltage stress
on three-level Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC) multilevel inverter reliability. The series
redundancy is introduced in ANPC using redundant outer switches, making ANPC a fault-tolerant
topology. The reliability of this fault-tolerant topology is compared with the fault-intolerant ANPC.
The voltage stress factor is calculated for fault intolerant and proposed fault-tolerant ANPC
topologies. Because of the reduced stress on the switches and redundant configuration of the outer
switches, the proposed fault-tolerant ANPC is more reliable. The fault-tolerant topology proposed in
this paper has the lowest voltage stress factor, resulting in better reliability.

Keywords: Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC) multilevel inverter, Fault-tolerant topology,
Multilevel converters, Reliability evaluation

Introduction

Every year, the world’s demand for electrical energy speeds. High-power inverters consisting of power
rises, and large-scale projects in renewable energy electronics modules are used to achieve this. These
sources have been underway for years. The wind is inverters change a variable-frequency voltage into a
one of these sources. Wind turbines ranging in voltage with a fixed output frequency (Mads, 2008).
output capacity from a few kW to 5MW in today’s Due to the increase in the penetration of renewable
powerful turbines transform the wind’s kinetic like wind and solar, power electronic converters has
energy into electrical energy. And the goal is to drawn significant importance. In islanding mode,
increase output power even further in the future. converters must integrate these renewable into the
Present wind turbines are designed to work with utility grid or deliver electric power to AC loads
varying wind speeds and, as a result, variable rotor (Agelidis, 1998).

Electrical Engineering Department. National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra, Haryana, India, 136119,
E-mail: farhanafayaz23@gmail.com, farhana_6170072@nitkkr.ac.in, glpahuja@nitkkr.ac.in
* Corresponding Author
Suranaree J. Sci. Technol. 30(1):010196(1-9)
 010196-2 Effect of Voltage Stress on Multilevel inverter for Wind Turbines

As the renewable energy sources are further IGBTs in series at a suitable switching
intermittent, the power electronics converter frequency minimizes power losses (G. Chen et al.,
controls the output as per the load or utility grid 2014).In (Shammas et al., 2006), the series and
condition and enables the maximization of power parallel connections of IGBTs are examined, as well
harnessing. As the power demand increases, the best as the strategies for resolving difficulties
way to transfer high power is to increase the voltage encountered in series and parallel connections are
level, which results in the reduction of current and explained. For IGBTs connected in series, many
power loss. The rating of power electronics devices voltage balancing strategies have been proposed
has been matured now. Conventional power (Fortes et al., 2019; Guerrero-Guerrero et al., 2019;
electronics converter (two-level) cannot handle high Nawaz and Khalil, 2020; Son et al., 2020).
power with its rated devices (Jahns et al., 2001). So Numerous are grounded on active voltage control,
the industry’s focus has been transferred from limiting the voltage through switching transition and
conventional converters to the multilevel converter. regulating the dynamic voltage distribution. Two
Compared to two-level-power electronic converters, ways to enhance voltage sharing among IGBT
MLC provides advantages such as small dv/dt stress connected in series are provided, studied, and
on the equipment’s, good output voltage quality and confirmed in this (Nguyen et al., 2010). Based on
low electromagnetic interference (EMI) (Rodríguez efficiency and reliability, an enhanced design (using
et al., 2008). However, as the voltage level rises, the series-connected IGBTs) for a multi-MW wind
count value of the switches (Diode, MOSFET, power converter is proposed in (G. Chen et al.,
IGBTs, soon) in the converter increases as well. 2014).
As per the industrial-based survey, A multilevel inverter topology with higher
electrolytic-capacitors and switching devices in reliability and lesser components is proposed in
power electronics converters are the utmost (Akbari et al., 2022).
susceptible. As a result, the converter becomes In (Fahad et al., 2021), the multilayer
the frailest element in the system, leaving inverter’s (MLIs) topology reliability evaluation is
the system’s reliability at risk (Zhang et al., 2014). carried out, which includes a comparison with
As various power devices are used in previous literature regarding component
multilevel inverters, any device failure will result in requirements and reliability. In (Saketi et al., 2020),
the loss of the drive system, forcing the inverter and a novel multilevel inverter with lesser devices is
the entire system to be shut down to prevent further proposed. This inverter can tolerate single switch
serious damage. On the other hand, the system’s and multi-switch faults while maintaining its rated
reliability and sustainability are important in various voltage and power.
serious industrial processes with high standstill The authors have focussed on the design of
costs and security concerns. Since most power fault-tolerant inverter topologies to improve
electronic converters lack redundancies, any reliability. The reliability of the MLIs is also a
problem in components or subsystems may lead to a function of voltage stress across the switches. The
shut down in the system. System failures in effect of this voltage stress on the reliability of the
precarious uses such as the military, economic fairs, multilevel inverter should also be emphasized.
and hospices could result in huge financial losses The static redundancy-based fault-tolerant
(Tao et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2013) multilevel converters presented so far, on the other
As a result, fault-tolerant multilevel inverters hand, did not take into account the voltage stress on
have attracted a lot of attention in present times, and the switches. Based on the literature survey,
various authors have reported work on fault-tolerant following are the objectives of the work reported.
issues for multi-level topologies (Richardeau et al.,
2002; Turpin et al., 2002; A. Chen et al., 2004; J. Objectives
Rodríguez et al., 2004; Kou et al., 2004; J.C. Lee et To study the effect of voltage stress on three-
al., 2006; Li and Xu, 2006; Ceballos et al., 2008; level Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC)
Maharjan et al., 2010; Song and Huang, 2010; multilevel inverter’s reliability.
Akmaliyah, 2013) The use of a redundancy design
to enhance the converter’s short-circuit failure for To introduce series redundancy in ANPC
bearanceis a good option (G. Chen et al., 2014). using redundant outer switches to make ANPC a
IGBTs with serial connections have a higher fault-tolerant topology.
switching frequency and can handle higher voltages.
In (Munk-Nielsen et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2013) To evaluate the reliability of the proposed
the variation in power loss among IGBTs is serial fault-tolerant topology and compare it with the fault
connection and a single high voltage IGBT is intolerant ANPC.
explored. In high-voltage applications, adding
 Suranaree J. Sci. Technol. Vol. 30 No. 1; January - Fabruary 2023 010196-3

Multilevel Converters

The conventional two-level converter cannot be

used to integrate medium or higher voltages with an
electric grid owing to limited reverse blocking
capability of semiconductor switches. So, the
multilevel converters (MLCs) are the only possible
solution to replace the conventional two-level
converter in medium and high voltage applications.
MLC decreases the voltage stress (dv/dt) on
switches by increasing the voltage levels in output
Figure 1. Classification of Basic MLC Topologies
waveform. The rise in the voltage level makes
output waveform near to or purely sinusoidal and
helps suppress the harmonic content of the output,
i.e., THD is reduced, and quality is increased.
Moreover, MLCs have low power loss across the
semiconductor switches due to the low
electromagnetic interference (EMI) (Franquelo
et al., 2008). The basic MLCs topologies include
Diode Clamped (DC) MLC, Flying-Capacitor (FC)
MLC, and Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) MLC.
However, with the increase in the voltage level, the
number of semiconductor switches also increases in
the MLC, which increases cost and control
complexity. Also, the non-fault tolerant capability
of the converters results in a reduction in reliability.
So, the development of MLC topologies with fault- Figure 2. Three-Level ANPC Topology
tolerant capability and reduced stress on the
semiconductor switches is the critical area of provided via neutral clamping. Even though the total
research. Several MLC topologies have been number of IGBTs in 3L-NPC is larger than in two-
proposed so far, and further research on this is still level converters with the same dc-link voltage, their
going on. MLC was introduced with a three-level voltage rating is half that of two-level converters.
Cascaded H Bridge (CHB) converter in 1975 by This topology, however, has the disadvantage of
R.H. Baker and L.H. Bannister by using two series- having an unequal loss distribution among its power
connected DC sources. Then with some components. To reduce the losses and have a
modifications, Diode Clamped MLC was derived in uniform loss distribution among the components,
which diode was used to clamp the neutral point. the 3L-NPC is modified into a 3L-ANPC topology.
The first Diode Clamped converter was invented in The main difference between them is that in 3L-
1979 by A. Nabae, I. Takahashi, and H. Akagi ANPC topology, the natural point is clamped using
(Akagi, 2017). In the early 1980s, FC-MLC two additional IGBTs instead of diodes, as shown in
topology was derived by replacing the clamping Figure 2. Due to the use of IGBTs instead of diodes,
diode with capacitors. FC-MLC is also called as the topology can clamp the neutral point in more
Capacitor-Clamped MLC. In Neutral Point than one way. The switching losses can thus be
Clamped MLC, the loss distribution in the switching controlled by employing the proper switching
devices is non-uniform. The active switches are strategies.
connected in both NPC branches to improve this
unequal loss distribution, and the designed circuit is Three-level ANPC inverter
called Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC) MLC. The three-level ANPC (Floricau et al., 2009)
This topology was first invented in the year 2001. is imitative of the three-level-NPC topology. The
Figure 1 represents the classification of basic clamp diodes are connected in antiparallel by two
MLC topologies active switches. Six bi-directional switches
The topology that has been analysed in this proficient of handling a voltage of +Vdc represent
paper is Three-level ANPC (3L-ANPC) the three ANPC structure. Every switch (S) is built
The number of IGBTs in a 3L-NPC is twice up of transistor (T) and an antiparallel diode (D).
that of a two-level converter. The neutral point is Switching states of ANPC topology are listed in
clamped by the two extra diodes. The zero state is Table 1, which shows that the number of states of
 010196-4 Effect of Voltage Stress on Multilevel inverter for Wind Turbines

From a redundancy perspective, the series

Table 1. Switching States of three-level ANPC
Topology
connection of IGBTs in a multilevel inverter has
some benefits. If one device in a series group fails
Output Switch States and short circuits, the remaining devices will sustain
Voltage S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 the inverter working as long as the individual
+Vdc ON OFF ON OFF ON OFF devices’ voltage ratings are not exceeded. If a
0 OFF ON OFF ON ON OFF
0 OFF ON OFF ON ON OFF
parallel device is short-circuited, the short-circuited
0 ON OFF ON OFF OFF ON device can clamp all paralleled devices, leaving the
0 ON OFF ON OFF OFF ON remaining paralleled IGBTs useless.
-Vdc OFF ON OFF ON OFF ON Adding series components in multilevel
inverter leg improves the reliability. Consequently,
zero voltages states in ANPC is increased compared if one component fails, it will not lead to the loss of
to the number of zero voltage states in NPC other components and, ultimately, the whole
topology. Different zero states can be employed to system. The only factor that limits the number of
spread losses more equally across the series components is cost. The reliability function
semiconductors. The objective is not only to reduce for a device having series redundancy with n
overall converter losses but to evenly dispense them. components is given in (1)
Distribution of switching losses is determined by
commutations from and to zero states. 𝑅(𝑡) = 1 − (1 − 𝑒 −𝜆𝑡 )𝑛 (1)

Reliability of Multilevel converters A more significant number of series

Multi-level inverters have recently engrossed components, according to Equation (1), results in
considerable attention in areas of high-power reliability values that are nearer to 1.
applications. To improve the overall power When the frequency exceeds a few hundred
efficiency, multilevel inverters perform power Hz, two lower-rated IGBTs in series have lower
conversion in multilevel voltage steps. Multilevel losses than one double rating device (Mads, 2008).
inverters have become incredibly popular in present This is because the IGBT’s internal capacitance
as a result of benefits. does not follow the voltage rating of the device
The quantitative study focuses on the failure linearly. This result means that two IGBTs in series
rate model for main elements in power electronics will work at a higher switching frequency than one
circuits like semiconductor devices, capacitors, etc. IGBT with a higher voltage rating for a given loss.
IGBT, MOSFET, and diode are the most widely Since the average on-state voltage drop for the
used semiconductor devices. In order to determine series string is more significant than for a single
if a design meets certain criteria, a quantifiable device, the conduction losses increase. However, as
valuation of dependability for power electronic lower-rated IGBTs have lower junction
converters is required. It may also be used to capacitances, switching losses are reduced
compare various topologies, control methods, and significantly, and overall losses are reduced as
equipment’s. Furthermore, precise reliability compared to using less high-rated IGBTs in series.
prediction provides significant direction to system The features of equipment’s of the same type,
operation and maintenance management. Models on the other hand, are not similar. Voltage sharing
are used in all types of reliability analysis, whether can be done in a variety of ways. The passive RC
at the equipment or system level. A system-level- snubber is the first approach, which works by
reliability model depicts efficient inter- increasing the slope of Vce and thereby balancing the
dependencies clearly and offers an outline for voltages. The active gate control and the Zener
calculating quantifiable system reliability clamped snubber are the other approaches, and they
evaluations to aid in the strategy trade-off method. operate by clamping any overvoltage seen in Vce. In
There have been various techniques proposed to the serial operation of power units, the passive
measure the reliability metrics of power electronic snubber circuit (Withanage and Shammas, 2012) is
converters. commonly used.

Series Redundancy
Traditional two-level inverters have certain Failure Rate of components
disadvantages in running at high frequency in high-
power applications, owing to switching losses and Several reliability models are available as literature
power device rating limitations. A series and for the failure rate models of the power electronics
parallel combination of power switches is an option components. The most widely accepted model to
to attain the power handling voltages and currents. predict the reliability of the power electronic
 Suranaree J. Sci. Technol. Vol. 30 No. 1; January - Fabruary 2023 010196-5

components is Military-Handbook-217F low cost. In this paper, for illustrative purposes, a

(Equipment, 1991). MILHDBK-217F is a database dry electrolytic capacitor is considered.
that covers a wide range of component types. Its aim The failure rate parameters assumed for
is to provide a standardized database for predicting capacitor are given below
component reliability in the absence of extensive λ0= basic failure rate = 0.00012
component reliability experience. Temperature rating = 120°C
The handbook includes a wide range of
different components and is generally accepted. So, 1 1
πT= exp (−4062( − ))
for failure rate calculations in this paper, MIL- 𝑇𝑎 +273 298
0.23
HDBK-217F is used. Since this research aims to ℿC=𝐶 = 7.09
find out the effect of stress on reliability, any trusted 𝑆 5
ℿV=( ) + 1 = 1.4 at S=80%
and available data source can be used. It has been 0.6

confirmed from the field experience that the πSR= 1

capacitor and power electronic switches are the πE = 1 for GB
most failure-prone components. Hence, in this πQ= 10
paper, only the capacitor and power electronic
switches are considered, and other systems such as Failure Rate of diodes
control, gate drivers, etc., are not considered. The failure rate of diodes is expressed in (4)
Furthermore, the power electronic switches
that have been used are insulated-gate bipolar 𝜆𝑑 = 𝜆0 𝜋 𝑇 𝜋𝐶𝐶𝐹 𝜋𝑆 𝜋𝑄 𝜋𝐸 Failures/106 hours (4)
transistors (IGBT’s). Other types of switches can be
considered in the same way. The failure rate 𝜋𝐶𝐶𝐹 = Contact construction factor
parameters of IGBT are taken from (Handbook and Fast recovery power rectifier is considered
Fiabilite, 2000).The power electronic devices 𝜆0 = 0.025
failure rate is affected by a variety of factors, 1 1
ℿ 𝑇 = exp (−3091( − ))
including operational voltage, current, technical 𝑇𝑗 +273 298

characteristics of the devices, atmospheric 𝑇𝐽 = 𝑇𝐶 + 𝜃𝐽𝐶 × 𝑃𝐷

conditions, and thermal stress. The constraints are 𝑇𝐶 = 𝑇𝐴 + 𝜃𝐶𝐴 × 𝑃𝐷
expressed in form of various acceleration factors for 𝜋𝑆 = 0.054
the calculation of failure rates. The consideration of 𝜋𝑆 = VS2.43
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑
these acceleration factors makes the failure rate VS = Voltage stress ratio =
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
calculation more accurate. The failure rate of micro-
Voltage is diode reverse voltage
electronic part is expressed in (2)
𝜋𝐶 = 1 for metallurgically bonded
𝜋𝑄 = 8 (plastic)
𝜆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 = 𝜆𝑏 ∏𝑘𝑖=1 𝜋𝑘 (2)
𝜋𝐸 = 1 for GB
Where k is the number of acceleration factors that
Failure Rate of IGBT
upset the failure rate
The MILHDBK-217F does not cover the
𝜆𝑏 = Basic failure rate
failure rate model of IGBT. The failure rate
parameters are given in the public database
Failure Rate of capacitor
in(Equipment, 1991). In this paper, the parameters
The failure rate of capacitor part is expressed
for failure rate calculation of IGBT will be used
in (3)
from(Handbook and Fiabilite, 2000). The failure
rate of IGBT is expressed in (5)
λ_Cap=λ0πTπCπVπSRπQπE Failures/106hours (3)
𝜆𝐼𝐺𝐵𝑇 = 𝜆0 𝜋 𝑇 𝜋𝑆 𝜋𝑄 𝜋𝐸 Failures/109 hours (5)
λCap= failure rate of capacitor
λ0= basic failure rate Where 𝜆0 = failure rate reference, at Tj= 100°C
ℿT= temperature factor ℿ 𝑇 = exp (−4640(
1
−
1
))
πC = Capacitance factor 373 𝑇𝑗 +273

πV= voltage stress factor 𝜆0 depends on the device package and its technological
πSR=Series resistance factor class
Tj = Junction temperature (in °C)
πQ= quality factor 𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑜𝑓𝑓−𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒

πE= environmental factor 𝜋𝑆 = 0.22 𝑒1.7 𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑

An aluminium electrolyte capacitor is most 𝜋𝐸 = Environmental factor = 1
commonly used in DC-link applications due to its 𝜋𝑄 = Quality factor = 8
 010196-6 Effect of Voltage Stress on Multilevel inverter for Wind Turbines

Table 2. Assumed values for various failure rate parameters for different components.
Component Failure rate Factors
⅄𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟕𝟓
1 1
ℿ𝑇 = exp (−3480( − ))
373 𝑇𝑗 + 273
𝝀𝑰𝑮𝑩𝑻 = 𝝀𝟎 𝝅𝑻 𝝅𝑺 𝝅𝑸 𝝅𝑬 = 0.1672 (Tj= 40°C)
IGBT
Failures/109 hour 𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑜𝑓𝑓−𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒
𝜋𝑆 = 0.22 𝑒1.7 𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
ℿ𝑬 = 𝟏
ℿ𝑸 = 𝟖
⅄𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐𝟓
𝜋𝑆 = 0.56
𝜋𝑆 = VS2.43
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑
VS = Voltage stress ratio =
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
1 1
𝜆𝑑 = 𝜆0 𝜋𝑇 𝜋𝐶𝐶𝐹 𝜋𝑆 𝜋𝑄 𝜋𝐸 ℿ𝑇 = exp (−3091( − )) = 2.2
Diode 𝑇𝑗 +273 298
Failures/106 hours
(50°C)
𝑇𝐽 = 𝑇𝐶 + 𝜃𝐽𝐶 × 𝑃𝐷
𝑻𝑪 = 𝑻𝑨 + 𝜽𝑪𝑨 × 𝑷𝑫
ℿ𝑪𝑪𝑭 = 𝟏
ℿ𝑬 = 𝟏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 ℿ𝑸 = 𝟖
⅄𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟐
1 1
𝜋 𝑇 = exp (−4062( − ))
𝑇𝑎 +273 298
𝜆𝐶𝑎𝑝 = 𝜆0 𝜋𝑇 𝜋𝐶𝐹 𝜋𝑉 𝜋𝑆𝑅 𝜋𝑄 𝜋𝐸 ℿ𝑻 = 𝟐. 𝟗
Capacitor
Failures/106 hours ℿ𝑪 = 𝑪𝟎.𝟐𝟑 = 𝟕. 𝟎𝟗
(Aluminum
Temperature rating = 1200C 𝑺 𝟓
Electrolytic) ℿ𝑽 = ( ) + 𝟏 = 𝟖. 𝟔
Capacitance = 5000µF 𝟎. 𝟔
S = 80% ℿ𝑺𝑹 = 𝟏, ℿ𝑬 = 𝟏
ℿ𝑸 = 𝟏𝟎

Figure 3. RBD of single leg of ANPC

Reliability Evaluation and Comparison In case IV (voltage-dependent), when both

components are operating, they have the same
Three-level ANPC topology (shown in Figure 2) has failure rate, which is symbolized by λ1. If one of the
four switches only in a single leg. To get the desired two components fails, the other will continue to
performance of the converter, all these components function with λ2. The value of λ2 will be greater than
are necessary. Hence, the RBD is a series the value of λ1 due to the increase in stress when one
connection of all these components for this component fails.
topology, reported in Figure 3.
The reliability of the three-level ANPC is Case I
evaluated using the failure rates in section 3. Four The reliability of the three-level ANPC is
cases are taken to examine the impact of voltage evaluated using Reliability Block Diagram shown in
stress on reliability of ANPC. The first step involved Figure 3. The failure rates are calculated using the
in the reliability evaluation is the RBD Military-Handbook-217F (Equipment, 1991) and
representation of these topologies. In case I, the are given in Table 2.
reliability and stress factor (πs) of ANPC are One leg of ANPC topology consists of six
calculated. In case II, a pair of low-rated IGBTs in IGBTs and two capacitors. The converter will fail if
series are used instead of single high-rated outer any one of the switches fails.
switches S1 and S4. A pair of high-rated switches
connected in series replaces the single high-rated Case II
outer switches S1 and S4 in case III to introduce The outer high rated switches S1 and S4
series redundancy and develop a fault-tolerant (3300V) are replaced by a pair of low rated switches
topology. The failure rates of both the redundant (1700V) to analyse the impact of voltage stress on
components are assumed to be the same (λ), i.e., overall reliability, and shown in Figure 4. However,
voltage-independent. the failure (short circuit) of any pair of switches will
 Suranaree J. Sci. Technol. Vol. 30 No. 1; January - Fabruary 2023 010196-7

cause the system to fail, making it a fault intolerant Case III

topology. This arrangement will decrease the losses, In this case, the outer high-rated switches
also this article emphasis on the effect of voltage S1and S4 are replaced by a pair of switches of
stress on the devices. The stress factor will increase, the same rating, as shown in Figure 6. This
which will reduce the overall reliability and is arrangement makes this topology fault-tolerant by
quantified under the results section. The reliability making the pair of high-rated switches redundant.
block diagram for this case is shown in Figure 5. A disadvantage of this topology is the increase in
power loss and cost. However, with introduction of
redundant switches and the reduction in the stress of
the redundant switches increases the reliability of
this topology. This arrangement is ideal for mission-
critical a system where cost is not a constraint.
The failure rate of both the redundant switches is
presumed to be same, i.e., the arrangement is
voltage-independent. The reliability block diagram
of this topology is shown in Figure 7.
Case IV
This case is similar to case III, but the failure
rates of redundant switches are voltage-dependent.
When both components are Operating, they have the
same failure rate, which is denoted by λ1. If one of
the two components fails, the other will continue to
function with λ2. The value of λ2 will be greater than
the value of λ1 due to the increase in stress when one
Figure 4. Topology for case II of the switches fails.

Results

From the failure rates and the reliability block

Figure 5. RBD for case II diagram, the reliability of all four cases is evaluated.
It is plotted against time to study the effect of
voltage stress on the reliability of the active neutral
point converter. Figure 8 and Figure 9 shows
the reliability of all four cases in the single and
three-phase modes. It is clear from the graphs that
the reliability of case III is the highest, followed by
case IV. CaseI has the lowest reliability. Case III
possesses the highest reliability among all four cases
due to redundancy and reduction in the voltage
stress on the redundant switches. Figure 10 shows
the reliability of case 3 in single-phase and
three-phase modes. It is clear from the graph that
the reliability of ANPC in three-phase mode is
greater than the reliability of ANPC in single-phase
mode due to the 2 out of 3 redundancies in
three-phase mode.
The value of stress factor (π_S) of outer IGBTs
Figure 6. Topology for case III
(S1 and S4) is evaluated using equation (11) for ‘all
the four cases and is given in Table 3. Case I has
a stress factor of 0.8841, which is reduced to 0.8486
in case 2 due to low-rated series IGBT switches.
The stress factor is reduced to 0.4410 in case III and
case IV due to high-rated switches, which reduce
the stress on the switches.
Figure 7. RBD for case III
 010196-8 Effect of Voltage Stress on Multilevel inverter for Wind Turbines

the decreased stress on the switches and

the redundant configuration of the outer switches,
the proposed fault-tolerant ANPC is more reliable.
The voltage stress factor is calculated for both
the fault intolerant and proposed fault-tolerant
ANPC topology. The fault-tolerant topology
presented in this paper has the lowest voltage stress
Figure 8. Reliability comparison of four cases in
factor, resulting in increased reliability.
single-phase mode

Acknowledgment

The corresponding author wishes to thank

the Department of Science and Technology of
the Government of India for the INSPIRE
fellowship (DST/Inspire Fellowship/ IF170538).

Figure 9. Reliability comparison of four cases in

a three-phase mode
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