Design and implementation of a single-phase five-level inverter using a DC Source with voltage balancer on capacitor

Abstract

<span lang="EN-US">The global use of renewable energy resources has led to the design and development of high performance, efficient, controllable, and cheap multilevel inverters, which act as a solution to the numerous power deficiencies. However, in terms of control, these multilevel inverters are often associated with DC sources and complexity. Therefore, this research designed a single-phase five-level inverter using a DC source, with a novel sinusoidal pulse-width-modulated (SPWM) control scheme. The system consists of a Flying Capacitor DC-DC Converter and H-Bridge Inverter (FCDCDC-HBI). A single absolute reference signal and the phase-shifted triangular carrier were used to generate SPWM to enhance the capacitor voltage balance. The designed inverter is capable of producing five levels of output voltage levels, namely Vi, Vi/2, 0, −Vi/2, and −Vi from a DC supply, thereby reducing the overall cost and complexity of the SPWM system. This research also produced a detailed operation principle of the proposed system, which was verified through simulation and implemented using a prototype. Finally, hardware implementation results are presented to check the performance of the inverter.</span>