Reduced Switch Count Multilevel Inverter with Fault Diagnosis Operation

Abstract

This paper proposes a reduced switch count multilevel inverter with fault diagnosis operation to overcome the problem of a higher number of switches in a multilevel inverter and fault detection in a multilevel inverter. A multilevel inverter is a power electronic device with low switching losses and low total harmonic distortion that is used in high voltage and high power applications (THD). In a standard inverter, it’s often used to minimise the size and number of passive filters. The H-bridge topology is needed for the proposed model of reduced switch count multilevel inverter (RSC – MLI). It is used to achieve higher power ratings as well as to promote the use of renewable energy sources. It reduces switching errors and the number of power electronic switches, cost and lower order harmonics. As the number of levels and steps in the waveform increase, the harmonics in the output voltage waveform decrease, resulting in an ideal waveform that looks like a sinusoidal waveform, which reduces the harmonics at the output. Switching losses and power losses can be minimised by using a limited number of switches.