The Utilization of a Parallel Computing Algorithm for Accelerating Switching-Level Modeling of Power Electronics Simulations in a T-Type PV Inverter

High-fidelity, switching-level modeling of power electronics simulations can be computationally intensive and time-consuming. This computational burden has recently escalated further due to the increased number of converters implemented in a system, e.g., renewable energy systems. Unlike switching modeling, average modeling can alleviate the computational burden and adequately represent a converter’s behavior for controller design. However, average modeling does not encapsulate switching harmonics, which are crucial for power electronics design, operation, and reliability studies. This paper proposes a novel way to accelerate the switching-level modeling of simulations by leveraging parallel computing techniques and showcases this technique in a specific case study. This new technique is called the average-to-switching (A2S) model. First, the basic concept of the A2S model is outlined. Second, a case study is designed for a two-stage, T-type PV inverter. Third, electrical and thermal waveforms produced by the case study are given and discussed. The results of testing the A2S model showcase a speedup of greater than 22 times the simulation benchmark while maintaining an R<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> value of greater than 0.99.