Switching arrangement for inverter, and inverter

1. A switching arrangement for an inverter, the inverter including a positive direct current pole, a negative direct current pole, and a neutral direct current pole, the arrangement comprising:

at least one of:

a) a first controllable switch connected between the neutral direct current pole of the inverter and a virtual neutral point of an alternating current network supplied by the inverter, wherein the arrangement includes means for controlling the first controllable switch configured to control the first controllable switch according to one or more predetermined parameters including at least one of one or more voltage parameters, one or more impedance parameters, one or more current parameters, and one or more power parameters; and

b) a second controllable switch connected between the neutral direct current pole of the inverter and an earth potential of an alternating current network supplied by the inverter, wherein the arrangement includes means for controlling the second controllable switch configured to control the second controllable switch according to one or more predetermined parameters including at least one of one or more voltage parameters, one or more impedance parameters, one or more current parameters, and one or more power parameters,

wherein:

when the arrangement includes only the first controllable switch, the means for controlling the first controllable switch are configured to:

control the first controllable switch to be non-conductive when a voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is lower than a predetermined threshold; and

control the first controllable switch to be conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is higher than the predetermined threshold, or

when the arrangement includes only the second controllable switch, the means for controlling the second controllable switch are configured to:

control the second controllable switch to be non-conductive when a voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is lower than a predetermined threshold; and

control the second controllable switch to be conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is higher than the predetermined threshold, or

when the arrangement includes both the first controllable switch and the second controllable switch, the means for controlling the first controllable switch are configured to:

control the first controllable switch to be non-conductive when a voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is lower than a first predetermined threshold or higher than a second predetermined threshold; and

control the first controllable switch to be conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is higher than the first predetermined threshold and lower than the second predetermined threshold; and

the means for controlling the second controllable switch are configured to:

control the second controllable switch to be non-conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is lower than the second predetermined threshold; and

control the second controllable switch to be conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is higher than the second predetermined threshold, or

when the arrangement includes only the first controllable switch, the means for controlling the first controllable switch are configured to:

control the first controllable switch to be non-conductive when an impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is higher than a predetermined threshold; and

control the first controllable switch to be conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is lower than the predetermined threshold, or

when the arrangement includes only the second controllable switch, the means for controlling the second controllable switch are configured to:

control the second controllable switch to be non-conductive when an impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is higher than a predetermined threshold; and

control the second controllable switch to be conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is lower than the predetermined threshold or

when the arrangement includes both the first controllable switch and the second controllable switch,

the means for controlling the first controllable switch are configured to:

control the first controllable switch to be non-conductive when an impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is higher than a first predetermined threshold or lower than a second predetermined threshold; and

control the first controllable switch to be conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is lower than the first predetermined threshold and higher than the second predetermined threshold; and

the means for controlling the second controllable switch are configured to:

control the second controllable switch to be non-conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is higher than the second predetermined threshold; and

control the second controllable switch to be conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is lower than the second predetermined threshold.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein, for the first controllable switch, the virtual neutral point of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is a star point of three star-connected impedances in the alternating current network.

3. An inverter comprising:

a positive direct current pole, a negative direct current pole, a neutral direct current pole, and an arrangement according to claim 1 .

4. The inverter of claim 3 , wherein the inverter is a three-phase three-level inverter comprising three switching branches, wherein each switching branch includes four controllable semiconductor switches connected in series between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole.

5. The inverter of claim 4 , wherein the inverter is a neutral-point-clamped inverter or an active neutral-point-clamped inverter.

6. A method for controlling an inverter including a positive direct current pole, a negative direct current pole, and a neutral direct current pole, wherein the inverter comprises at least one of a) a first controllable switch connected between the neutral direct current pole of the inverter and a virtual neutral point of an alternating current network supplied by the inverter, and b) a second controllable switch connected between the neutral direct current pole of the inverter and an earth potential of an alternating current network supplied by the inverter, the method comprising:

at least one of:

controlling the first controllable switch according to one or more predetermined parameters including at least one of one or more voltage parameters, one or more impedance parameters, one or more current parameters, and one or more power parameters; and

controlling the second controllable switch according to one or more predetermined parameters including at least one of one or more voltage parameters, one or more impedance parameters, one or more current parameters, and one or more power parameters,

wherein:

when the arrangement includes only the first controllable switch, the method comprises:

controlling the first controllable switch to be non-conductive when a voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is lower than a predetermined threshold; and

controlling the first controllable switch to be conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is higher than the predetermined threshold; or

when the arrangement includes only the second controllable switch, the method comprises:

controlling the second controllable switch to be non-conductive when a voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is lower than a predetermined threshold; and

controlling the second controllable switch to be conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is higher than the predetermined threshold; or

when the arrangement includes both the first controllable switch and the second controllable switch, the method comprises:

controlling the first controllable switch to be non-conductive when a voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is lower than a first predetermined threshold or higher than a second predetermined threshold;

controlling the first controllable switch to be conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is higher than the first predetermined threshold and lower than the second predetermined threshold;

controlling the second controllable switch to be non-conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is lower than the second predetermined threshold; and

controlling the second controllable switch to be conductive when the voltage between the positive direct current pole and the negative direct current pole is higher than the second predetermined threshold; or

when the arrangement includes only the first controllable switch, the method comprises:

controlling the first controllable switch to be non-conductive when an impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is higher than a predetermined threshold; and

controlling the first controllable switch to be conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is lower than the predetermined threshold; or

when the arrangement includes only the second controllable switch, the method comprises:

controlling the second controllable switch to be non-conductive when an impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is higher than a predetermined threshold; and

controlling the second controllable switch to be conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is lower than the predetermined threshold; or

when the arrangement includes both the first controllable switch and the second controllable switch, the method comprises:

controlling the first controllable switch to be non-conductive when an impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is higher than a first predetermined threshold or lower than a second predetermined threshold;

controlling the first controllable switch to be conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is lower than the first predetermined threshold and higher than the second predetermined threshold;

controlling the second controllable switch to be non-conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is higher than the second predetermined threshold; and

controlling the second controllable switch to be conductive when the impedance between the positive or negative direct current pole and the earth potential of the alternating current network supplied by the inverter is lower than the second predetermined threshold.

7. A computer program product comprising:

computer program code embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein execution of the program code on a computer causes the computer to carry out the steps of the method according to claim 6 .