A Single-Phase Compact Size Asymmetrical Inverter Topology for Renewable Energy Application

Abstract

This paper presents an improved structure of an asymmetrical single-phase multilevel inverter topology with reduced device count. The proposed topology achieves 19 voltage levels at the output using only 12 power switches and 3 DC sources. The topology can be easily extended, resulting in a modular topology with more voltage levels at higher voltages. Moreover, the reliability analysis of the proposed converter results in a higher mean time to fault. The simulation is performed in MATLAB/Simulink, and a hardware prototype is developed to validate the circuit’s performance. A low-frequency Nearest Level Control PWM technique is implemented to generate switching signals and achieves 4.30% THD in output voltage. The PLECS software is used for power loss and efficiency analysis, resulting in a maximum efficiency of 99.08%. The proposed converter has been compared with other MLI topologies to demonstrate its superiority. The results indicate that the proposed topology has proven superior and outperformed other topologies in various parameters, making it suitable for renewable energy applications.