Low-Cost Single-Source 17 Level Multilevel Inverter With Reduced Switch Count

Abstract

This paper introduces an innovative multi-level inverter (MLI) topology operating with a single DC source. The proposed structure consists of a DC-DC rectifier (HFL), a switched capacitor (SC) unit and a Packaged U-Cell (PUC) module. The topology synthesizes 17 voltage levels at the output with only 10 power switches, offering low control complexity and high power efficiency. The high number of levels at the output voltage provides a high quality output voltage wave. A soft charging cell (SCC) is used to suppress impulsive charging currents in the switched capacitors. Experimental results show that SCC effectively suppresses impulsive currents in switched capacitors. The high frequency link (HFL) used to provide high voltage gain improves the cost efficiency of the system by reducing transformer sizes and costs. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed topology achieves 96.92% efficiency, near sinusoidal current output and total harmonic distortion (THD) values between 4.99% and 1.23%. Moreover, with a low cost function (CF) value of 1.60, it is proven to offer a viable alternative for applications such as Renewable Energy Systems (RES) and Electric Vehicles (EVs). These findings demonstrate the applicability of the proposed MLI topology in these areas with low cost, high efficiency and quality power output.