A New Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation Technique for Single-Phase Seven-Level Inverter with Reduced Number of Switches

Abstract

Space vector pulse width modulation is an advanced modulation algorithm which offers many advantages over the sinusoidal pulse width modulation technique. Space vector pulse width modulation is a well-researched topic for three-phase inverters, but only a very few works have been reported in the literature on the application of the space vector pulse width modulation technique for single-phase inverters. Conventional space vector pulse width modulation algorithms for single-phase inverters have concentrated mainly on two-level inverters where the reference vector falls only in two sectors. But for single-phase multilevel inverters, the switching patterns in different sectors are to be properly controlled for generating the desired number of levels. This paper proposes a new space vector pulse width modulation algorithm for single-phase multilevel inverter which incorporates an efficient algorithm for the proper selection of switches in different sectors to get the desired number of levels in the output voltage. The proposed algorithm is implemented on a simplified seven-level inverter which uses fewer numbers of switches in comparison with the conventional cascaded multilevel converter. The validity of the suggested space vector pulse width modulation technique is verified through simulations and experiments.

KEYWORDS:

• Harmonics
• Multilevel inverters
• Power quality
• Pulse width modulation
• Space vector modulation
• Total harmonic distortion

Acknowledgment

The research work is done using the facilities of the Power electronics laboratory of College of Engineering Munnar.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

K. Biju

Biju K obtained his BTech degree in electrical & electronics engineering from M G University in 1999, MTech degree from NIT Calicut in power electronics in 2009 and currently pursuing PhD from NIT Calicut, India. He has published a number of papers in national and international conferences and journals. His research interests include power electronics, multilevel converters, renewable energy etc. Biju K is a senior member of IEEE. Email: [email protected]

Rijil Ramchand

Rijil Ramchand obtained his BTech degree in electrical & electronics engineering from the Calicut University in 1996, MTech degree from IISc Banglore in power electronics in 2002 and PhD from IISc Banglore in 2010. He is currently an associate professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, India. His research interests include power electronics, multilevel converters, power electronic drives, renewable energy, etc. Rijil Ramchand is a senior member of IEEE. Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]