Active and reactive power control of grid‐connected single‐phase asymmetrical eleven‐level inverter

Abstract

Abstract In recent times, multilevel inverters (MLIs) have become very popular for commercial and industrial applications. Here, an eleven‐level inverter and its power flow control are presented. The presented topology has a lesser component count than other existing topologies, thus reducing the devices and overall cost of the inverter. This inverter comprises six bidirectional switches, two DC sources, one four‐quadrant switch, and two capacitors for the voltage divider circuit. The conduction modes and corresponding switching states of the presented eleven‐level inverter are shown in detail. Further, the apparent power control of the presented inverter under grid‐connected operation is discussed, which provides simultaneous active and reactive power control over the power injected into the grid. Switching and conduction losses are calculated for 3 and 6 kVA grid injected power at 0.8 power factor lagging. The obtained results show that the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the inverter output voltage and grid current is 12.10% and 0.23%, respectively, under 6 kVA power transfer conditions. The real‐time analysis is also carried out for 3 and 6 kVA power transfer conditions for the presented eleven‐level inverter to validate the active and reactive power flow control.