Abstract
Due to the impediments of voltage source inverter and current source inverter, Z-Source Inverter (ZSI) has become notorious for better power quality in low and medium power applications. Several modifications are proposed for impedance source in the form of Quasi Z-Source Inverter (QZSI) and Neutral Point Clamped Z-Source Inverter (NPCZSI). However, due to the discontinuity of the source current, NPCZSI is not suitable for some applications, i.e., fuel cell, UPS, and hybrid electric vehicles. Although in later advancements, source current becomes continuous in multilevel QZSI, low voltage gain, higher shoot-through duty ratio, lesser availability of modulation index, and higher voltage stress across switches are still an obstacle in NPCZSI. In this research work, a three-level high voltage gain Neutral Point Clamped Inverter (NPCI) that gives three-level AC output in a single stage, is proposed to boost up the DC voltage at the desired level. At the same time, it detains all the merits of previous topologies of three-level NPCZSI/QZSI. Simulations have been done in the MATLAB/Simulink environment to show the effectiveness of the proposed inverter topology.
Highlights
Z-source inverter (ZSI) has the capability for buck/boost operation; this unique feature is not available in a traditional Current Source Inverter (CSI) and Voltage Source Inverter (VSI)
For solid validation of proposed topology, the inverter is simulated with a detailed switching model in discrete time simulations by using the SimPowerSystems toolbox in MATLAB/Simulink, where the conducting and switching losses are considered for the components used in the impedance network and the main inverter circuit
The results validated that the proposed topology ensures the remarkable boosting ability by utilizing the smaller duration of ST state and higher range of modulation index, which enables it to keep the lower stresses across the devices even at higher values of voltage gain; that is the most desirable feature for low voltage applications
Summary
Z-source inverter (ZSI) has the capability for buck/boost operation; this unique feature is not available in a traditional Current Source Inverter (CSI) and Voltage Source Inverter (VSI). Regardless of this unique feature, Z-source inverter has some curtailments such as lower voltage gain, discontinuous current, and high voltage stresses across the switches [1,2,3]. Several topologies in the form of Quasi Z-Source Inverter (QZSI), Neutral Point Clamped Z-Source Inverter (NPCZSI), and Neutral Point Clamped Quasi Z-Source (NPCQZSI) Inverter were presented to overcome these limitations. The topology ensures the continuity in the input current, it offers a limited boosting ability.
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