Harmonic Elimination in Multilevel Inverter Using TLBO Algorithm for Marine Propulsion System

Abstract

Abstract Stringent environmental regulations and increasing oil prices showcase the need for renewable energy sources like solar in marine transportation. The application of solar energy in electric propulsion systems is growing tremendously. Power electronics-based inverters help in harvesting direct current (DC) power into alternating current (AC) power. A multilevel inverter (MLI) is a popular power electronic converter producing the desired output voltage from several DC input voltage sources like batteries, supercapacitors, and solar panels. An MLI consists of several switches whose action results in severe harmonic issues. Specific harmonic elimination in MLI is a challenging job and is resolved conventionally by the Newton-Raphson method. However, nowadays, soft computing techniques are used to solve nonlinear equations optimally. In this manuscript, minimization of total harmonic distortion in MLI has been taken as an optimization problem and is solved using teaching-learning‐based optimization (TLBO). The TLBO algorithm is applied to compute the optimum switching angles for MLI to produce the required fundamental output voltage with less harmonic distortion. As it does not require any algorithm-specific parameters, TLBO is an effective method to obtain optimum MLI solutions. A 21-level symmetric MLI is simulated and is used to evaluate the performance of the TLBO algorithm. The simulation results are validated using an experimental model of proposed MLI with a Xilinx Spartan-SA field programmable gate array‐based controller. This research outcome bears testimony to TLBO optimization's efficiency in improving the quality of the power generated in ships using renewable sources.