Multilevel inverters (MLIs) are being used in wide range of power electronic applications. These converters have attracted a lot of attention during recent years and exist in different topologies with similar basic concepts. This paper presents five main submodules (SMs) to be used as the basic structures of MLIs. The paper reviews the common MLI topologies from the structural point of view. The topologies are divided into the different SMs to show conventional MLI configurations and future topologies that can be created from the main SMs. A comparative study between different topologies is performed in detail. The MLIs are categorized and investigated with from different perspectives such as the number of components, the ability to create inherent negative voltage, working in regeneration mode and using single dc source.

A General Review of Multilevel Inverters Based on Main Submodules: Structural Point of View

This paper presents a new symmetrical single-phase nine-level dc–ac converter for the applications of distributed generation systems. The proposed multilevel inverter (MLI) utilizes four independent dc sources to generate the nine output voltage levels considering a reduced number of switching devices. The proposed inverter consists of main and auxiliary circuits. The main circuit is a single H-bridge circuit, which is responsible for output voltage polarity. The auxiliary circuit consists of a special combination of switching devices, which are used to synthesize the multilevel output voltage. The merits of the proposed MLI are: increased output voltage levels at reduced number of switching devices, low switching loss, low total harmonic distortion, low dv/dt stress on the switches, and hence, low ratings of the switching devices, and low cost. The effectiveness of the proposed MLI and its pulsewidth modulation switching pattern has been verified experimentally by using a laboratory prototype controlled by DSPACE-1103.

Advanced Single-Phase Nine-Level Converter for the Integration of Multiterminal DC Supplies

In recent years, multilevel inverters (MLIs) have emerged to be the most empowered power transformation technology for numerous operations such as renewable energy resources (RERs), flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS), electric motor drives, etc. MLI has gained popularity in medium- to high-power operations because of numerous merits such as minimum harmonic contents, less dissipation of power from power electronic switches, and less electromagnetic interference (EMI) at the receiving end. The MLI possesses many essential advantages in comparison to a conventional two-level inverter, such as voltage profile enhancement, increased efficiency of the overall system, the capability of high-quality output generation with the reduced switching frequency, decreased total harmonic distortions (THD) without reducing the power of the inverter and use of very low ratings of the device. Although classical MLIs find their use in various vital key areas, newer MLI configurations have an expanding concern to the limited count of power electronic devices, gate drivers, and isolated DC sources. In this review article, an attempt has been made to focus on various aspects of MLIs such as different configurations, modulation techniques, the concept of new reduced switch count MLI topologies, applications regarding interface with renewable energy, motor drives, and FACTS controller. Further, deep insights for future prospective towards hassle-free addition of MLI technology towards more enhanced application for various fields of the power system have also been discussed. This article is believed to be extremely helpful for academics, researchers, and industrialists working in the direction of MLI technology.

Multilevel Inverter: A Survey on Classical and Advanced Topologies, Control Schemes, Applications to Power System and Future Prospects

A single‐phase modular multilevel inverter based on controlled DC‐cells under two SPWM techniques for renewable energy applications

This paper proposes a simple single-phase new pulse-width modulated seven-level inverter architecture for photovoltaic (PV) systems supporting home-grid with electric vehicle (EV) charging port. The proposed inverter includes a reduced number of power components and passive elements size, while showing less output-voltage total harmonic distortion (THD), and unity power factor operation. In addition, the proposed inverter requires simple control and switching strategies compared to recently published topologies. A comparative study was performed to compare the proposed inverter structure with the recent inverter topologies based on the number of components in the inverter circuit, number of components per output-voltage level, average number of active switches, THD, and operating efficiency as effective parameters for inverter performance evaluation. For design and validation purposes, numerical and analytical models for a grid-tied solar PV system driven by the proposed seven-level inverter were developed in MATLAB/Simulink environment. The inverter performance was evaluated considering grid-integration and stand-alone home with level-2 AC EV charger (3–6 kW). Compared with recently published topologies, the proposed inverter utilizes a reduced number of power components (7 switches) for seven-level terminal voltage synthesis. An experimental prototype for proposed inverter with the associated controller was built and tested for a stand-alone and grid-integrated system. Due to the lower number of ON-switches, the inverter operating efficiency was enhanced to 92.86% with load current THD of 3.43% that follows the IEEE standards for DER applications.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/9/2718/pdf

Seven-Level Inverter with Reduced Switches for PV System Supporting Home-Grid and EV Charger

The performance of multilevel inverter is high compared to the classical two level inverters owing to their reduced total harmonic distortion, and lower electromagnetic interference. However the setbacks of multilevel inverter are increased number of power devices, complex PWM and gating circuitry. In this paper, a new multilevel inverter topology, capable of generating large number of levels with fewer number of power switches, gating circuits and power diodes is proposed. In contrast to classical multilevel topologies, the presented topology consequences in reduction of the number of power devices and conduction losses. The proposed topology is asymmetrical, employing isolated dc sources of voltage ratio 4∶2∶1 (Binary fashion). Staircase control PWM at fundamental frequency is employed for the gating of power switches makes it suitable in applications like flexible alternative current transmission systems (FACTS), renewable energy sources, drives control and vehicle propulsion system. The structure of the proposed inverter is modular and thus best suited for PV applications. Detailed simulation is carried out using MATLAB/SIMULINK platform and simulation results are presented.

G. Rama Rao

Papers

Novel asymmetrical multilevel inverter topology with reduced number of switches for photovoltaic applications