An extendable voltage boosting gain unit with a self‐balanced switched‐capacitors multilevel inverter using a single DC source

Abstract

SummaryThis paper suggests an extendable voltage boosting gain unit (EVBGU) using switched‐capacitors SC with a single DC source. The proposed unit can be extended by a modular pattern to increase the output voltage levels and voltage‐boosting gain of the inverter. The main feature of this work is presenting a unit topology that utilizes multiple and modular subcells to achieve (double, quadruple, hexapole, octapule, etc.) voltage gain at the output by increasing the number of the subcells. All the subcells are connected only with one DC source. A positive feedback technique has been used to charge the capacitors of the unit using the accumulative charging voltage (ACV) method. Furthermore, all the capacitors are self‐balanced, so there is no need for any additional and complex control circuit. Moreover, to decrease the cost factor of the inverter, a low IGBT switch count is taken into consideration and no passive elements such as diodes are used in the proposed structure. The H‐bridge is connected to the unit to achieve bipolar voltage at the output. The operational analysis of the inverter is delineated in detail. A comparative study, with state‐of‐the‐art MLIs in different terms such as the number of components, the total standing voltage, and the gain, shows the particularity of the proposed EVBGU. The simulation of the proposed MLI is performed using PSCAD‐EMTDC software. The simulation results are validated experimentally.