Hardware-in-the-Loop Setup for a Modular Multilevel Converter with Integrated Batteries

A hardware-in-the-loop setup to emulate a modular multilevel converter (MMC) with batteries integrated in its submodules is presented. It allows the testing of control methods without a real converter. A state-space MMC model is introduced, extended by RC battery models and implemented on an FPGA. The scalability of battery models for converters with large numbers of submodules is shown. The emulation closes the loop for a combined MMC-controller and battery management algorithm under test, running on an ARM processor. Given the modular approach, the level of detail for power electronics, batteries and control schemes can be adapted independently.