Performance Comparison of 15-Level Multilevel Inverter Topologies

Abstract

Multilevel inverters (MLI) have gained a significant emphasis in the area of renewable energy applications in recent years. The popularity of MLIs is due to their ability to efficiently convert the sustainable sources of energy, such as wind and solar power, into usable electrical energy. One key advantage of using reduced multilevel inverter configurations is that it can help to reduce the system overall cost by decreasing number of components required. The reduction of components in the inverter circuit results in simplification of design and lower expenditure. This paper proposes a fifteen-level modified multilevel inverter with cascaded h-bridge with a minimized switch count. The simulation results of the proposed inverter demonstrate that it is able to effectively attenuate harmonics and with reduced number of components required while still providing good performance. The suggested inverter design is also evaluated on its harmonic reduction characteristics, providing a cleaner output waveform and less distortion.