An Improved High Gain Single DC-Source MLI Circuit with Reduced Switch Count and Cost Factor

Abstract

An improved high gain switched capacitors-based multilevel inverter (MLI) topology is developed for medium voltage and high-power applications. It consists of 13 unidirectional switches, a single dc source, and three capacitors for producing the 13-level output along with a sextuple voltage boost. The capacitors are self-balanced; hence, the circuit complexity is reduced, so there is no need for any auxiliary circuit or sensors. A simple and fundamental control strategy based on nearest-level pulse width modulation is applied to assess the viability of the proposed topology. Comparative analysis with other similar topologies verifies that the proposed circuit outperformed other topologies in terms of device count, cost function, power quality, and total standing voltage. The proposed topology viability is assessed under both static and dynamic loads. The losses across the components are calculated using thermal analysis in the PLECS. Results show that the topology works appropriately under different loading conditions. High boosted output and lower component count makes the proposed circuit suited for low voltage sources applications such as solar PV applications.