Design of 15-level inverter topology with reduced number of semiconductor switches for stand-alone power systems (SAPS)

Abstract

Stand-Alone Power Systems (SAPS) help us to supply energy to remote or regional places where electrical infrastructure is not available. SAPS usually has a power generation sources like photovoltaic panels, micro-wind turbines, battery bank, inverter, battery charger and often a diesel generator for power back. Solar or wind has erratic outputs, so frequent changes in power cannot be tolerated by sensitive loads. Hence, Battery banks play a significant role by storing charges directly from renewable energy sources through charge controllers and then delivers inverter for residential uses. SAPS are deliberated to be expensive because of the cost associated with battery banks and renewable energy sources; concurrently reducing the cost and increasing the power quality of inverter is approachable. This paper proposes the importance of multilevel inverter (MLI) by reducing the number of semiconductor switches which inevitably decreases the cost of MLI circuitry and diminishes the harmonics by increasing the level of output. The new topology of MLI inverter is designed and simulated using PSIM (9.0) tool.