A Multi-Processor Control System Architecture for a Cascaded StatCom with Energy Storage

This paper presents a multi-processor control system for a general purpose five-level cascaded inverter for real time power system applications. Practical design considerations for the digital controller architecture as well as the power converter are discussed and a 3 kVA laboratory prototype is presented. As a case study, a StatCom with battery energy storage was implemented on this multi-processor controlled inverter system. To eliminate the troublesome PI parameter tuning and the limitation of small signal models, which exist in conventional control for StatComs, a new and simple control method based on large signal model was designed to realize four-quadrant power injections into a grid. Experimental results are provided to support the proposed concept