A Highly Efficient Cross-Connected H-Bridge-Style Multilevel Inverter with Lower Power Components

Abstract

Compared to the classical inverters, the multilevel inverter finds remarkable advantages that can be suitably implemented in green energy power generation. Here, an asymmetric multilevel inverter with fewer components is proposed for renewable energy applications. The proposed inverter is a cross between two H-bridge-style devices. To maximize the output voltage, three different algorithms to fix the amplitude of the DC sources are proposed, and the best among them is chosen for implementation. The recommended inverter can generate 19 levels of output voltage using three DC sources with reduced power components. The nearest-level modulation is used as the control course for the inverter. Here, MATLAB software is used to simulate the proposed inverter, and the performance of the inverter is observed. The proposed inverter is constructed in real time, and the performance of the inverter is studied by testing with fixed and variable reactive loads. A comparative study is made between the simulation model and real-time work results interms of efficiency and harmonics in the load waveforms.

Keywords

• asymmetrical sources
• cascaded H-bridge
• multilevel inverter
• pulse width modulation
• total harmonic distortion