IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO.

5, OCTOBER 2006 1483

Modeling Strategy for Back-to-Back Three-Level

Converters Applied to High-Power Wind Turbines
Ramón C. Portillo, Student Member, IEEE, MaÁngeles Martín Prats, Member, IEEE,
José I. León, Student Member, IEEE, Juan Antonio Sánchez, Juan M. Carrasco, Member, IEEE,
Eduardo Galván, Member, IEEE, and Leopoldo Garcia Franquelo, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract—Three-level converters are becoming a realistic alter- (50/60 Hz) transformer. In addition, the cancellation of low
native to the conventional converters in high-power wind-energy frequency harmonics from the ac voltages at the different levels
applications. In this paper, a complete analytical strategy to model means that the size of the ac inductance can be reduced, a
a back-to-back three-level converter is described. This tool per-
mits us to adapt the control strategy to the specific application. consequent decrement of the expenses of the overall system
Moreover, the model of different loads can be incorporated to [2]–[5]. The presented advantages of multilevel converters
the overall model. Both control strategy and load models are make it interesting to use these kinds of power topologies as
included in the complete system model. The proposed model pays an alternative to conventional two-level converters in many
special attention to the unbalance in the capacitors’ voltage of renewable energy applications and industry. However, they
three-level converters, including the dynamics of the capacitors’
voltage. In order to validate the model and the control strategy are also limited by the following drawbacks: voltage un-
proposed in this paper, a 3-MW three-level back-to-back power balances [6], high component count, and typically complex
converter used as a power conditioning system of a variable speed control [7]–[19].
wind turbine has been simulated. Finally, the described strategy Currently, grid integration from renewable energy is an im-
has been implemented in a 50-kVA scalable prototype as well, portant point of interest of most researchers which work in
providing a satisfactory performance.
power electronics. Multilevel converters, especially three-level
Index Terms—Adaptive control, mathematical modeling, mul- converters, are a good alternative to the conventional convert-
tilevel converters, natural coordinates, three-dimensional space- ers in systems involving renewable energy as wind energy
vector modulation (3-D SVM), variable speed wind turbine,
voltage control, voltage dip, voltage source back-to-back converter, [20]–[26] and flexible ac transmission systems technology, due
wind energy, wind-energy conversion system. to the advantages they present.
High current and low voltage for generating high power
(megawatt) make it necessary to design efficient power con-
I. I NTRODUCTION
verters for the increasing energy demand. In addition, the

M ULTILEVEL converters are suited for medium- and

high-power applications due to their ability to meet the
increasing demand of power ratings and power quality associ-
use of multilevel converters permits the direct connection of
wind turbine to the medium electric grid voltage without using
expensive, bulky, and heavy 50/60-Hz transformers. Multilevel
ated with reduced harmonic distortion, lower electromagnetic converters control output frequency and voltage including the
interference, and higher efficiencies when compared with the phase angle providing a fast response and autonomous control.
conventional topologies. The advantages that multilevel con- The main objective of this paper is based on renewable en-
verters present are well known, since Nabae et al. [1] proposed ergy applications where back-to-back three-level converters are
the topology neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverter in 1981. involved. In these systems, the design of a complete analytical
Multilevel converters permit us to increase the output-voltage model of the converters is very useful to easily develop a control
magnitude, reducing the output voltage and current harmonic strategy corresponding to a specific application of the multilevel
content, the switching frequency, and the voltage supported by converter [27].
each power semiconductor. In that respect, they permit us to In general, the model of the back-to-back three-level con-
use the double voltage using the same type of switches. These verter presented in this paper can be applied to any load
power topologies synthesize voltage waveform with a number connected to the converter.
of semiconductor devices connected in a special arrangement, Since the unbalance in the capacitors’ voltage of three-level
rated at a fraction of the dc bus voltage. A multilevel con- converters must be considered, the model of the converters
verter enables the ac voltage to be increased without an output presented in this paper pays special attention to this problem,
including the dynamics of the capacitors’ voltage.
Manuscript received March 28, 2005; revised June 5, 2006. Abstract pub-
lished on the internet July 14, 2006. This work was supported by the Comisión II. M ODELING S TRATEGY OF B ACK - TO -B ACK
Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología of the Spanish Gouverment under T HREE -L EVEL NPC C ONVERTER
Project DPI 2001-3089.
The authors are with the Escuela Superior de Ingenieros de Sevilla Dipar- Fig. 1 illustrates the generic equivalent circuit model where
timento Ingeniería Electrónica, 41092 Seville, Spain (e-mail: ramonpg@gte.
esi.us.es). ideal switches are considered. This scheme has been used to
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2006.882025 design the proposed modeling strategy of the back-to-back

0278-0046/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE

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 1484 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO. 5, OCTOBER 2006

Fig. 1. Generic back-to-back equivalent circuit based on three-level converter using ideal switches.

three-level converter. In the figure, the chosen signal criterion the balance of capacitors’ voltages. The new two variables are
for voltages and currents is shown. defined as
The modeled power circuit is divided into two stages. In the νc1 + νc2 νc2 − νc1
first stage, the expressions for the inductor current dynamics are x1 = , x2 = .
2 2
obtained, then, the expressions to describe the dynamics of the
capacitors’ voltages are determined in the second stage. The Taking this into account, the voltages in the switches νrj or
expressions, which describe the capacitors’ voltages, contain νij (j ∈ {1, 2, 3}) referred to as “o” points are defined in terms
the state variables as linear combinations of their voltages, in of the duty cycles δrj or δij as
order to make those expressions more suitable in the controller 
design process. Finally, the transformation of the proposed νrj = x1 δrj + x2 δrj
2
= δrj (x1 +x2 δrj ) δrj or δij ∈{−1, 1}
model from abc coordinates to αβγ coordinates is presented. νij = x1 δij + x2 δij
2
= δij (x1 +x2 δij ) j ∈ {1, 2, 3}.
This transformation involves the third coordinate γ to consider (4)
the third freedom degree. As it will be seen in the model equa-
The capacitors’ voltage dynamics can be obtained using the
tions, the γ component is directly related with the capacitor-
Kirchhoff’s current law as follows:
voltage balance. This is an important aspect of our approach
since this variable used to be neglected in the literature. idcr3 = iC2 + idci3
The dynamics of the rectifier currents of the system are
obtained by using Kirchhoff’s voltage law as follows: idcr2 + iC2 = idci2 + iC1
dx1
C = iC1 + iC2
dir1 dt
νsr1 = Lr + νr1 + νon dx2
dt C = iC2 − iC1 (5)
dir2 dt
νsr2 = Lr + νr2 + νon
dt where C is the capacitance of each dc-link capacitor.
dir3 The idcrj and idcij currents can be expressed as functions of
νsr3 = Lr + νr3 + νon (1) the phase currents and duty cycles using quadratic approxima-
dt
tions like in [27]. For the rectifier, this method yields
where νsr1, νsr2, and νsr3 are the rectifier voltages, ir1, ir2,
and ir3 are the rectifier currents, νr1, νr2, and νr3 are the injected (δr1 − 1)δr1 (δr2 − 1)δr2 (δr3 − 1)δr3
idcr1 = ir1 + ir2 + ir3
voltages referred to as “o,” νon is the voltage at “o” referred to 2 2 2
   
as “n,” and Lr is rectifier inductance of input inductors. Taking idcr2 =(1 − δr1
2
)ir1 + 1 − δr22
ir2 + 1 − δr3
2
ir3
into account that the sum of the phase currents is supposed
to be zero, the equations corresponding to the rectifier are (δr1 + 1)δr1 (δr2 + 1)δr2 (δr3 + 1)δr3
idcr3 = ir1 + ir2 + ir3 .
reduced to 2 2 2
   dir1     (6)
νsr1 2 −1 −1 νr1
 νsr2  = Lr  dir2  + 1  −1 2 −1   νr2  . (2)
dt
For the inverter-side currents, similar expressions are obtained
dt 3
νsr3 dir3
dt
−1 −1 2 νr3 substituting subscripts “r” by “i”.
Direct substitution of these current equations on (5) yields
In a similar way, it is easy to probe that the equations for the following expressions for the capacitors’ voltages:
inverter are
dx1
   dir1     2C = (δr1 ir1 + δr2 ir2 + δr3 ir3 )−(δi1 ii1 + δi2 ii2 + δi3 ii3 )
νsi1 2 −1 −1 νi1 dt
dt 1
 νsi2  = −Li  dir2  +  −1 2 −1   νi2  . (3) dx2  2   2 
dt 3 2C = δr1 ir1 +δr2
2
ir2 +δr3
2
ir3 − δi1 ii1 +δi22
ii2 +δi3
2
ii3 .
νsi3 dir3
dt
−1 −1 2 νi3 dt
(7)
The sum and difference of capacitors’ voltages are used in
order to facilitate the controller design, since the control objec- As explained before, these two variables defined as linear
tives will be to control the total dc-link voltage and to ensure combinations of the capacitors’ voltages are more suitable for

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 PORTILLO et al.: MODELING STRATEGY FOR THREE-LEVEL CONVERTERS APPLIED TO WIND TURBINES 1485

the controller design; moreover, they permit us to study the

voltages unbalance in a straight way.
Finally, in the modeling strategy, an invariant power trans-
formation has been used. The voltages and currents, which are
vectors originally in abc coordinates, are transformed into αβγ
coordinates according to the following matrix transformation:
 
 1 − 21 − 12
2 √ √

T =  0 3
− 23 . (8)
3 1
2
√ √1 √1
2 2 2
Fig. 2. Photograph of 50-kVA three-level back-to-back converter prototype.
The transformed equations are
 2
δrα −δ 2
 the computational load corresponding to the modulation of
2δrα δrγ
dir,αβ √ rβ + √ multilevel converters.
Lr = νsr,αβ − x1 δr,αβ − x2  6 3  The experiments have been performed at a switching
dt − 3 δrα δrβ + √3 δrβ δrγ
2 2
frequency = 5 kHz, Lr = 3.5 mH, Li = 5 mH, C = 26.4 mF,
(9) and 380-V source voltage. In Fig. 2, the image of the laboratory
dii,αβ prototype used in the experiments is shown. Several experi-
Li = − νsi,αβ + x1 δi,αβ
dt   ments have been carried out to validate the proposed model.
2
δiα −δ 2 2δiα δiγ The first one consists of changing the active power reference for
√ iβ + √
+ x2   6 3 . (10) the rectifier side from 1 to 10 kW and vice versa. Fig. 3 shows
− 32 δiα δiβ + √23 δiβ δiγ the transient response of the dc-link voltage for the proposed
model and the switched one.
The capacitors’ voltage equations are reduced to In Fig. 4, the results obtained with the laboratory prototype
for the dc-link voltage are shown. Those results show the good
dx1 agreement between the three systems, the two modeled ones,
2C =δr,αβ
T
ir,αβ −δi,αβ
T
ii,αβ
dt   and the real prototype.
dx2 2δr,αβ
T
ir,αβ 2
δrα − δrβ
2
2 Fig. 5 shows the currents of the rectifier and inverter side
2C = √ δrγ + √ ,− δrα δrβ ir,αβ under 1- to 10-kW power step change, and in Fig. 6, the same
dt 3 6 3
  results obtained with the laboratory prototype are shown. Once
2δi,αβ
T
ii,αβ 2
δiα −δiβ
2
2 again, the similitude of both simulated results and measured
− √ δiγ − √ ,− δiα δiβ ii,αβ .
3 6 3 results proves that the proposed model faithfully describes
(11) the real system, so it can be presumed that the future results
obtained with this model will be very near to those obtained in
In these final equations, it is important to point out the relation the real system.
between the controlled γ component and the input and output
power of the system. III. P ROPOSED M ODELING S TRATEGY A PPLIED TO
H IGH -P OWER W IND T URBINE
A. Model Verification A. Wind Power Plant Applications
In order to verify the validity of the proposed continuous Recently, environmental concerns and overstressed electrical
model, it has been implemented using Matlab/Simulink. The re- grids have raised a demand for clean and alternative energy
sults obtained with this model are compared with those from the from renewable energy and distributed generation, which pro-
simulation of the same system modeled with EMTDC/PSCAD. vides high efficiency, increased production capacity, and decen-
Finally, these results are compared with the experimental ones tralized power production. Wind energy together with biomass
carried out with a 50-kVA laboratory prototype. The imple- forms the major renewable parts up to year 2030, including
mented model by using EMTDC/PSCAD includes the effects erection of offshore wind farms [28]. On the other hand, the
of the switching devices, since it has been implemented with rapid increase of wind power in many areas had led to tightened
the power-switch models provided by the software. The model requirements for the turbines in case of grid disturbances [23].
is controlled by a switching sequence where a modulation The most demanding requirements require wind turbines to ride
algorithm referred as three-dimensional space-vector modu- through dips down to even 15%–75% of the nominal value. The
lation (3-D SVM) is used [19], having as inputs the same technique presented in this paper permits us to design strategies
control signals δαβγ . This generalized method easily provides which allow us to solve the problem. Thus, the provided power
the nearest switching vectors sequence to the reference vector by this renewable energy makes it possible to avoid energy dips
and calculates the ON-state duration of the respective switching and sags, generating a constant energy level to be connected to
state vectors without involving trigonometric functions, lookup the load, which is the demanded electric power. This is possible,
tables, or coordinate-system transformations, which increase due to the power conditioning systems formed by high efficient

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 1486 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO. 5, OCTOBER 2006

Fig. 3. (Left) dc-link voltage under 1- to 10-kW and (right) 10- to 1-kW power step change for (upper) switched model and (lower) continuous proposed model.

Fig. 4. (a) Measurement of dc-link voltage for laboratory prototype under 1- to 10-kW power step change and (b) 10- to 1-kW power step change.

Fig. 5. (Left) Inverter- and (right) rectifier-side currents under 1- to 10-kW power step change for (upper) switched model and (lower) proposed contin-
uous model.

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 PORTILLO et al.: MODELING STRATEGY FOR THREE-LEVEL CONVERTERS APPLIED TO WIND TURBINES 1487

Fig. 6. (a) Measurement of inverter- and (b) rectifier-side currents for laboratory prototype under 1- to 10-kW power step change.

Fig. 7. Back-to-back NPC three-level converter applied to wind power plant applications controlling by stator.

Fig. 8. Control diagram of rectifier.

converters that permit to connect the energy generator to the corresponding to the three-level converter. The inverter controls
load or to the grid. the voltage balance in the dc link, whereas the rectifier controls
In Fig. 7, the diagram of a conventional wind power plant active and reactive power.
controlled by the machine stator comprises a back-to-back NPC 1) Rectifier Control: In order to obtain the normalized volt-
r r
three-level converter, which permits us to condition power flux age references δabc , the measures of the phase voltages Vabc ,
r r
from the wind to the grid. For the simulations, a simplified line currents Iabc and the references of active power Pref and
model of a variable speed, variable pitch 3-MW wind turbine reactive power Qrref are required.
has been considered. In Fig. 8, the block diagram of the rectifier control is shown,
r
where the phase voltages Vabc are transformed to static coor-
dinates αβ (with power invariant transformation) in order to
B. Power-Conditioning-System Control Design be filtrated by means of resonant filter tuned at 50 Hz. This
resonant filter has the following expression:
As observed in (9) and (10), the rectifier and inverter currents
irαβ , iiαβ can be controlled separately due to the decoupling ω/Q · s
of these equations. Also, as shown in (11), the control of the
r
Vαβ,f = Vr (12)
s2 + ω/Q · s + ω 2 αβ
sum of the capacitor voltage divided by 2 x1 can be achieved
r i
using the normalized voltage references δαβ or δαβ , and the where ω is the tuned frequency of the resonant filter and Q is
difference of the capacitor voltage divided by 2x2 can be the filter quality factor.
controlled using δγr or δγi . The implemented control consists ba- r
The reference current Iαβ,ref can be separated in two terms.
r
sically of independently controlling the inverter and the rectifier The first term is proportional to the filtered voltage Vαβ,f for

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 1488 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO. 5, OCTOBER 2006

i for inverter.
Fig. 9. Normalized voltage references δαβ

r
controlling active power Pref to be obtained from the wind-
turbine generator, and the second term is also proportional  to

0 −1
the quadrature filtered voltage J · Vαβ,f r
, with J = ,
1 0
in order to control the reactive power.
r
Otherwise, the first term of the reference current Iαβ,ref
is equal to Pref /|Vαβ,f |, and its direction is the same as the
r r

unitary vector Vαβ,f r r

/|Vαβ,f |, while the second term is equal to Fig. 10. Proposed capacitors’ voltages balancing control diagram.
Qref /|Vαβ,f |, and its direction is the same as the unitary vector
r r i
grid voltages Vαβ,f providing the voltage reference to module.
J · Vαβ,f
r r
/|Vαβ,f |, that is in quadrature with the last vector. This voltage reference is normalized with the capacitor voltages
The current control is based on a proportional + integral (PI) x1 = (νc1 + νc2)/2 calculating, in this way, the normalized
controller which, from the current error Iαβ,ref r
− Iαβ
r
, obtains i
voltage references δαβ (Fig. 9).
a voltage increment that added to the filtered grid voltages 3) Difference of Capacitor-Voltage Control: From the equa-
r
Vαβ,f , provides the voltage reference to module. This volt- tion of the difference of the capacitor voltages, the following
age reference is normalized with the capacitor voltages x1 = expression is obtained (avoiding quadratic terms in δ):
(νc1 + νc2)/2 obtaining, in this way, the normalized reference
voltage δαβ r
. Finally, these normalized voltage references are dx2
= K · Pref
i
· δγi (13)
transformed to abc coordinates. It is necessary to note that the dt
inverter γ component of the normalized voltage is imposed to where K is a constant. Based on this equation, the control
be equal to zero δγr = 0 for not affecting on voltage balance, scheme of Fig. 10 is proposed.
because this balancing is implemented on the inverter control. The normalized voltage reference in γ direction is obtained
Inverter control is divided in two parts. The first part controls from the measures of the capacitor voltages νc1 and νc2 and
the sum of the capacitor voltages x1 = (νc1 + νc2)/2, while from the sign of the power reference Prefi
. In fact, the voltage
the second part makes the difference between the capacitor error x2 = (νc2 − νc1)/2 feeds the PI controller, and its out is
voltages x2 = (νc1 − νc2)/2 as small as possible. i
affected by the sign of the power reference Pref . Then the nor-
2) Sum of Capacitor-Voltage Control: This control has been i
malized voltage reference δαβγ is translated to abc coordinates.
described before in [29], and it is appropriate for this applica- Finally, the 3-D SVM algorithm [19] has been implemented for
tion due to similarities found in the equations. generating the duty cycles and the switching times of power
i
In order to obtain the normalized voltage references δαβ , semiconductors.
i i
the measures of the phase voltages Vabc , line currents Iabc , the
capacitor voltage x1 , and the capacitor voltage reference xref 1 C. Simulation Results
are required.
i The prototype has been used to validate the control strategy
Phase voltages Vabc are transformed to static coordinates αβ
(with the invariant power transformation), then they are filtered and the performance of the three-level back to back during the
by means of a resonant filter tuned at 50 Hz, the same as used steady-state operation and for changes in the active power refer-
in the rectifier. ence on the inverter side and the dc-link voltage reference. The
The control of the capacitor voltage is based on a PI con- good agreement between the results obtained with both scaled
troller, which filtered the proportional term by means of a laboratory prototype and the corresponding model permits us
first-order low-pass filter. This controller provides the active to study the achieved results with the model of a high-power
i converter of a real application.
power reference Pref that has to be injected to the grid in
order to maintain the voltage in the capacitors. With this power A back-to-back three-level converter, acting as a power
i conditioning system of a 3-MW variable speed wind turbine,
reference, the current reference Iαβ,ref is proportional to the
i has been simulated using the control strategy proposed in this
filtered voltage Vαβ,f . The control of the current is based on
a PI controller with an inductor estimation L̂ which, from the paper. The former includes the effects of the switching devices
current error Iαβ i
= Iαβi
− Iαβ,ref
i
, permits us to obtain a volt- and is controlled by a switching sequence. The pulses for the
age increment. This voltage increment is added to the filtered switching system are generated using a modulation algorithm

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 PORTILLO et al.: MODELING STRATEGY FOR THREE-LEVEL CONVERTERS APPLIED TO WIND TURBINES 1489

Fig. 11. Dip down to 15% of voltage nominal value.

Fig. 13. Effects of voltage dip down to 15% of voltage nominal value on
rectifier-side currents.

Fig. 12. Effects of voltage dip down to 15% of voltage nominal value on
inverter-side currents.

Fig. 14. Effect of voltage dip down to 15% of voltage nominal value on
cited previously. This experimental test bench is being adapted (a) dc-link voltage and (b) generated active power.
in order to carry out grid-disturbance tests, as dip downs of the
ac voltages in the near future. The simulation results presented
in this paper are focused in the response of the power converter, and how they increase their peak values up to 1000 A during 2 s;
which rides through a dip down to 15% of the voltage nominal and after that time, they recover nominal values. This behavior
value. These results have been obtained using electrical circuit is related with the control strategy providing the maximum
software simulation package (EMTDC/PSCAD). Fig. 11 shows power compatible with the absolute maximum current limits
the grid disturbance analyzed in these simulations (dip down to on the inverter semiconductors. The evolution for the rectifier-
15% of the nominal value). side currents is quite different. The control strategy proposed
The following conditions have been considered in the for that side acts decreasing the rectifier current reference to
simulations: nominal power—3 MW, switching frequency— keep the power injected to the dc link at a value that the inverter
2.5 kHz, reference voltage of the dc link—5 kV, and grid line can flow out to the grid (Fig. 13).
voltage—2.6 kV. Fig. 14 shows the transient response of the dc-link voltage
The results have been carried out to analyze the performance for the dip down considered in that analysis. It can be observed
of the three-level back-to-back converter, which rides through that there is an overshoot of that dc voltage up to 5.3 kV;
the dip down shown in Fig. 7 and the control strategy proposed after that, it recovers the nominal value with a settling time of
to maintain the system connected to the grid. approximately 1.5 s. In the same figure, it can also be observed
In Fig. 12, the effects of the voltage dip down to 15% of the the evolution of the generated power by the wind turbine during
voltage nominal value on the inverter-side currents are shown. the dip down. Instantaneously, the generated active power value
We can observe the transient response of the inverter currents decreases, but it recovers its nominal value since the control

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 1490 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 53, NO. 5, OCTOBER 2006

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level inverter,” Proc. Inst. Electr. Eng.—Elect. Power Appl., vol. 142, Ramón C. Portillo (S’05) was born in Seville,
no. 6, pp. 390–396, Nov. 1995. Spain, in 1974. He received the Ingeniero Industrial
[10] N. Celanovic and D. Boroyevich, “A fast space-vector modulation al- degree from the University of Seville, Seville, in
gorithm for multilevel three-phase converters,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., 2002, where he is currently working toward the Ph.D.
vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 637–641, Mar. 2001. degree in electrical engineering.
[11] M. M. Prats, J. M. Carrasco, and L. G. Franquelo, “Effective algorithm for In 2001, he joined the Power Electronics Group,
multilevel converter with very low computational cost,” Electron. Lett., University of Seville, working in I+D projects. Since
vol. 38, no. 22, pp. 1398–1400, Oct. 2002. 2002, he has been an Associate Professor with
[12] M. P. Kazmierkowski and L. Malesani, “Current control techniques for the Department of Electronic Engineering, Seville
three-phase voltage source PWM converters: A survey,” IEEE Trans. Ind. University. His research interests include electronic
Electron., vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 691–703, Oct. 1998. power systems applied to energy conditioning and
[13] R. Zhang, V. H. Prasad, D. Boroyevich, and F. C. Lee, “Three-dimensional generation, the power quality in renewable generation plants, applications of
space vector modulation for four-leg voltage-source converters,” IEEE fuzzy systems in industry and wind farms, and modeling and control of power
Trans. Power Electron., vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 314–326, May 2002. electronic converters and industrial drives.

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 PORTILLO et al.: MODELING STRATEGY FOR THREE-LEVEL CONVERTERS APPLIED TO WIND TURBINES 1491

MaÁngeles Martín Prats (M’04) was born in Juan M. Carrasco (M’97) was born in San Roque,
Seville, Spain, in 1971. She received the Licenciado Spain. He received the M.Eng. and Dr.Eng. degrees
and Doctor degrees from the University of Seville, in industrial engineering from Seville University,
Seville, in 1996 and 2003, respectively, both in Seville, Spain, in 1989 and 1992, respectively.
physics. From 1990 to 1995, he was an Assistant Professor,
In 1996, she joined the spanish Aerospatial Tech- and, currently, he is an Associate Professor with
nical National Institute (INTA), where she was work- the Department of Electronic Engineering, Seville
ing in the Renewable Energy Department. In 1998, University. He has been working for several years
she joined the Department of Electrical Engineer- in the power electronic field where he was involved
ing, University of Huelva, Spain. Since 2000, she in industrial application for the design and devel-
has been an Assistant Professor with the Electronic opment of power converters applied to renewable
Engineering Department, University of Seville. Her research interests include energy technologies. His current research interests include distributed power
multilevel converters and fuel-cell power conditioner systems. She is involved generation and the integration of renewable energy sources.
in industrial application for the design and development of power converters
applied to renewable energy technologies.

Eduardo Galván (M’99) was born in Aracena,

José I. León (S’04) was born in Cádiz, Spain, in Huelva, Spain, in 1964. He received the M.Sc. degree
1976. He received the Telecommunications Engineer in electrical engineering and the Ph.D. degree in
degree from the University of Seville, Seville, Spain, industrial engineering from University of Seville,
in 2001, where he is currently working toward the Seville, Spain, in 1991 and 1994, respectively.
Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering. He is an Associate Professor of electronic en-
In 2002, he joined the Power Electronics Group, gineering with the Escuela Superior de Ingenieros,
University of Seville, working in I+D projects. Since Seville. He has been working for several years in the
2002, he has been an Associate Professor with power electronic field where he was involved in the
the Department of Electronic Engineering, Seville industrial application for the design and development
University. His research interests include electronic of power converters applied to renewable energy
power systems, modeling and control of power elec- technologies. His research interests include control of power converters (wind
tronic converters and industrial drives and power quality in renewable genera- turbine applications, active filters, and electric machines).
tion plants.

Juan Antonio Sánchez received the degree from the Leopoldo Garcia Franquelo (M’85–SM’96–F’05)
School of Engineering, University of Seville, Seville, received the Ing. and Dr.Ing. Industrial degrees from
Spain, in 2001. Seville University, Seville, Spain, in 1977 and 1980,
He is currently an Assistant Professor with the respectively.
University of Seville, where he is working on his He is currently a Professor with the Department of
doctoral thesis on grid power quality. His research Electronics Engineering, Seville University. His cur-
interests include power active filters, power control, rent research interests include industrial applications
and wind turbines. He is currently involved in related of electronics power converters.
industrial projects, such as power conditioners for
fuel cells and photovoltaic plants.

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