RSO based selective harmonic elimination control for nine-level switched capacitor inverter

Abstract

Abstract Renewable energy utilization has gained much attention in the recent time owing to the sharp increase in the power demand. Out of different renewable sources, photovoltaic (PV) energy utilization in different forms is one of key focus. Power converter such as multilevel inverters (MLIs) are proven as key components for PV systems as well as for other applications such as motor drives, electric vehicles, and charging stations. With the advancement of the design of MLIs, the switched-capacitor (SC) based MLIs have been widely deployed for their boosting capability which is a major requirement for PV systems. In this paper, a reduced switch single input step-up 9-level SC MLI is first proposed. Followed by this, a new Rat Swarm Optimization (RSO) based Selective Harmonic Elimination (SHE) control method is incorporated for switching operation. RSO has the ability to provide the solution with higher competency within less time and a less computationally complex approach. The operation of proposed structure is analyzed and its advantages are justified by comparison with exiting topologies. The effectiveness of RSO based SHE scheme is also verified by comparing it with other nature-inspired algorithms. The effectiveness and workability of the proposed system are examined using simulation and experimental tests.