1-φ Seven-Level Switched-Capacitor Boost Multilevel Inverter Topology With Optimized Number of Components

Abstract

Increasing the voltage of energy sources, such as photovoltaic (PV), fuel cells, and battery storage units, requires a voltage-boosting technique. This paper introduces an efficient switched-capacitor multilevel inverter (SC-MLI) capable of generating a boosted seven-level output voltage. The key advantages of this topology include the inherent self-balancing of capacitor voltages without the need for auxiliary balancing technique. Additionally, the proposed SC-MLI offers numerous features such as lower voltage stress, improved efficiency, and reduced overall cost. The proposed topology has been evaluated based on parameters such as component count, THD, cost, and efficiency. Experimental validation was conducted on a 1.0 kW prototype setup under varying modulation index and sudden load changes. Finally, a thorough comparison with state-of-the-art seven-level multilevel inverters highlighted the features of the proposed topology.