Analysis and Comparison of Multi-level Inverters Based on Two-Level Space Vector PWM

Abstract

Multilevel inverters are increasingly being used in high-power medium voltage applications due to their superior performance compared to two-level inverters. Among various modulation techniques for a multi-level inverter, the space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) is widely used. The complexity is due to the difficulty in determining the location of the reference vector, the calculation of on times, and the determination and selection of switching states.This paper proposes a general SVPWM algorithm for Multi-level inverters based on standard two-level SVPWM . To control multilevel converters, the pulse width modulation (PWM) strategies are the most effective, especially the space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) one, which has equally divided zero voltage vectors describing a lower total harmonic distortion (THD). In this work, a three and four-level inverter using space vector modulation strategy has been modeled and simulated with a passive R-L load. Simulation results are presented for various operation conditions to verify the system model.