High voltage high power multi-level drive structure

1. A high voltage, high power (HVHP) multi-level drive with plurality of input and output phases comprising:

a plurality of neutral-point-piloted (NPP) converter cells stacked together, wherein the plurality of NPP converter cells comprises a first NPP converter cell connected directly to a second NPP converter cell at an output node common to the first and second NPP converter cells, and further wherein the first NPP converter cell comprises a first switching transistor having a first transistor output connected directly to the output node and having a first transistor input connected directly to a first plurality of switching transistors, and further wherein the second NPP converter cell comprises a second switching transistor having a second transistor output connected directly to the output node and having a second transistor input connected directly to a second plurality of switching transistors; and

a plurality of clamping diodes arranged in series such that a first end of the plurality of clamping diodes is directly connected to the first transistor input and a second end of the plurality of diodes opposite the first end of the plurality of diodes is directly connected to the second transistor input, wherein each of the first and the second transistor inputs are electrically coupled to a common neutral point by at least one corresponding clamping diode selected from the plurality of clamping diodes to provide a multi-level neutral-point-pilot-clamped (NPPC) converter.

2. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of NPP converter cells comprise medium voltage multi-level NPP converter cells.

3. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 1 , wherein each NPP converter cell comprises a three-level NPP converter cell.

4. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 3 , wherein the HVHP multi-level drive comprises a five-level NPPC converter.

5. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 4 , wherein the five-level NPPC converter comprises per-unit output voltage levels consisting of −2V, −IV, OV, +1V and +2V.

6. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 1 , wherein the multi-level NPPC converter comprises per-unit output voltage levels consisting of −2V, −IV, OV, +1V and +2V.

7. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of flying capacitors, wherein the multi-level NPPC converter comprises at least one flying capacitor selected from the plurality of flying capacitors, and further wherein the plurality of flying capacitors, the multi-level NPPC converters and the plurality of clamping diodes together provide a neutral-point-clamped-flying-capacitor (NPCFC) converter cell structure.

8. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 7 , wherein the NPCFC converter cell comprises a seven-level output cell.

9. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 7 , wherein the NPCFC converter cell comprises an N-level output cell, wherein N is the number of output voltage levels.

10. A high voltage, high power (HVHP) multi-level drive comprising:

a plurality of neutral-point-piloted (NPP) converter cells stacked together, wherein the plurality of NPP converter cells comprises a first NPP converter cell connected directly to a second NPP converter cell at an output node common to the first and second NPP converter cells, and further wherein the first NPP converter cell comprises a first switching transistor having a first transistor output connected directly to the output node and having a first transistor input connected directly to a first plurality of switching transistors, and further wherein the second NPP converter cell comprises a second switching transistor having a second transistor output connected directly to the output node and having a second transistor input connected directly to a second plurality of switching transistors; and

a plurality of clamping diodes arranged in series such that a first end of the plurality of clamping diodes is directly connected to the first transistor input and a second end of the plurality of diodes opposite the first end of the plurality of diodes is directly connected to the second transistor input, wherein each of the first and the second transistor inputs are electrically coupled to a common neutral point by at least one corresponding clamping diode selected from the plurality of clamping diodes to provide a multi-level neutral-point-pilot-clamped (NPPC) converter comprising a zero output voltage level node for the HVHP multi-level drive.

11. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 10 , wherein the plurality of NPP converter cells comprise medium voltage NPP converter cells.

12. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 10 , wherein each NPP converter cell comprises a three-level NPP converter cell.

13. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 12 , wherein the HVHP multi-level drive comprises a five-level NPPC converter.

14. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 13 , wherein the five-level NPPC converter comprises per-unit output voltage levels consisting of −2V, −IV, OV, +1V and +2V.

15. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 10 , wherein the multi-level NPPC converter comprises per-unit output voltage levels consisting of −2V, −IV, OV, +1V and +2V.

16. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 10 , further comprising a plurality of flying capacitors, wherein the multi-level NPPC converter comprises at least one flying capacitor selected from the plurality of flying capacitors, and further wherein the plurality of flying capacitors, the plurality of multi-level NPPC converters and the plurality of clamping diodes together provide a neutral-point-clamped-flying-capacitor (NPCFC) converter cell structure.

17. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 16 , wherein the NPCFC converter cell comprises a seven-level output cell.

18. The HVHP multi-level drive according to claim 16 , wherein the NPCFC converter cell comprises an N-level output cell, wherein N is the number of output voltage levels in one output phase.