Reduced Switch Count Based Single Source 7L Boost Inverter Topology

Abstract

The new inverter topologies based on switched capacitor concept with voltage boosting ability are attractive for the low voltage applications. Such low voltage requirements allow a single-stage dc-ac power conversion, improving overall system performance, reliability and power density. This brief proposes a new multilevel inverter topology based on the switched-capacitor (SC) with a single source of dc voltage. The proposed topology is ideal for low voltage renewable energy applications. Seven-level (7L) output voltage is accomplished with triple voltage gain using two switched capacitors and 10 switches. Other major features of the proposed topology are self-voltage balancing of capacitor voltages, reduced number of switches with lower voltage stress and generation of negative voltage levels without using backend H-bridge. To show the advantages of the proposed topology, a detailed comparison with other similar topologies with seven-level single-source configuration has been accomplished in this brief. The proposed topology has been tested using the traditional level-shifted sinusoidal pulse width modulation (LS-PWM) technique. This brief includes various experimental results with different operating conditions to prove the performance of the proposed topology.