A New DC-AC Multilevel Converter with Reduced Device Count

In the present paper, a novel single phase multilevel inverter using switched capacitor units is proposed. Switched capacitor unit (SCU) is used in the suggested multilevel inverter will boost the dc supply voltage at the input without using transformer by switching the capacitors in parallel and series. The proposed topology generates more number of voltage levels with less number of switches, isolated dc sources, and diodes in comparison with existing topologies. The recommended structure generates the output voltage waveform of 17-levels (8 positive, 8 negative and one zero level) with 2 capacitors, 2 diodes, 2 dc sources and 10 switches. This 17-level multilevel inverter generates the maximum output voltage and current about 80 V and 950 mA respectively, with 10 V and 30 V dc sources. Further, this topology can be extended to 49-level by including just four power switches and one more switched capacitor unit to the basic structure of proposed multilevel inverter. The feasibility and performance of the suggested multilevel converter have been assessed with simulation and experimental tests of 17-level multilevel inverter.

[1]  Ichirou Oota,et al.  Development of Switched-Capacitor bi-directional DC-AC converter for inductive and capacitive loads , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics.

[2]  Ebrahim Babaei,et al.  Series-parallel switched-capacitor based multilevel inverter , 2011, 2011 International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems.

[3]  Yuen-Haw Chang.  Modelling and analysis of multistage switched-capacitor-voltage-multiplier boost DC-AC inverter , 2011, 2011 IEEE Ninth International Conference on Power Electronics and Drive Systems.

[4]  Ronald K. Marusarz,et al.  A switched capacitor, inductorless DC to AC voltage step-up power converter , 1989, 20th Annual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference.

[5]  S. Bernet,et al.  Design and comparison of 4.16 kV neutral point clamped, flying capacitor and series connected H-bridge multi-level converters , 2005, Fourtieth IAS Annual Meeting. Conference Record of the 2005 Industry Applications Conference, 2005..

[6]  K. Gopakumar,et al.  Seventeen-Level Inverter Formed by Cascading Flying Capacitor and Floating Capacitor H-Bridges , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[7]  Mehdi Ferdowsi,et al.  Active Capacitor Voltage Balancing in Single-Phase Flying-Capacitor Multilevel Power Converters , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[8]  Ataollah Mokhberdoran,et al.  Selective harmonic elimination method for wide range of modulation indexes in multilevel inverters using ICA , 2014 .

[9]  Robert Stala.  A Natural DC-Link Voltage Balancing of Diode-Clamped Inverters in Parallel Systems , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[10]  Marcelo Lobo Heldwein,et al.  Three-Phase Hybrid Multilevel Inverter Based on Half-Bridge Modules , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[11]  Ebrahim Babaei,et al.  A New General Topology for Cascaded Multilevel Inverters With Reduced Number of Components Based on Developed H-Bridge , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[12]  Ka Wai Eric Cheng,et al.  A Step-Up Switched-Capacitor Multilevel Inverter With Self-Voltage Balancing , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[13]  Hirotaka Koizumi,et al.  A Switched-Capacitor Inverter Using Series/Parallel Conversion With Inductive Load , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[14]  Ichirou Oota,et al.  A DC-AC converter using a voltage equational type switched-capacitor transformer , 1998, APEC '98 Thirteenth Annual Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition.

[15]  P.W. Wheeler,et al.  Comparison of losses in multilevel converters for aerospace applications , 2008, 2008 IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference.

[16]  Vahid Dargahi,et al.  A New Family of Modular Multilevel Converter Based on Modified Flying-Capacitor Multicell Converters , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[17]  Ebrahim Babaei,et al.  Hybrid Multilevel Inverter Using Switched Capacitor Units , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[18]  F. Ueno,et al.  A ring type switched-capacitor (SC) programmable converter with DC or AC input/DC or AC output , 2004, The 2004 47th Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, 2004. MWSCAS '04..

[19]  Krishna Kumar Gupta,et al.  Multilevel Inverter Topologies With Reduced Device Count: A Review , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[20]  Bin Wu,et al.  Recent Advances and Industrial Applications of Multilevel Converters , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[21]  Francesc Guinjoan,et al.  Energy-Balance Control of PV Cascaded Multilevel Grid-Connected Inverters Under Level-Shifted and Phase-Shifted PWMs , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[22]  Adrian Ioinovici,et al.  A cascade boost-switched-capacitor-converter - two level inverter with an optimized multilevel output waveform , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[23]  Mohamad Reza Banaei,et al.  New multilevel inverter with reduction of switches and gate driver , 2011 .

[24]  K. T. Chau,et al.  A New Switched-Capacitor Boost-Multilevel Inverter Using Partial Charging , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs.

[25]  D.G. Holmes,et al.  Analytical Modelling of Voltage Balance Dynamics for a Flying Capacitor Multilevel Converter , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[26]  Junfeng Liu,et al.  A Cascaded Multilevel Inverter Based on Switched-Capacitor for High-Frequency AC Power Distribution System , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[27]  A. Shoulaie,et al.  Flying Capacitors Reduction in an Improved Double Flying Capacitor Multicell Converter Controlled by a Modified Modulation Method , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.