An adaptive harmonic abatement in three-phase multilevel inverter topology with reduced switches using metaheuristic approaches for renewable energy applications

ABSTRACT

Renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and fuel cell are the medium sources of energy to produce high output power. The power electronics conversion in the renewable energy system is the significant drawback of poor-quality output due to its harmonic content and switching losses due to its increasing number of switching components. This article proposes a novel three-phase Multilevel Inverter (MLI) topology based on a series-parallel switched multilevel dc-link inverter configuration with a reduced number of switches that minimize the lower-order harmonics 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th using Selective Harmonic Elimination (SHE) based on the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The configuration also engages the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to provide optimum switching angles for varying input voltages over a period, as in the case of renewable energy applications. The output of the MLI and its harmonic profile are examined in the MATLAB/Simulink platform. The hardware results are proven with the Xilinx-based FPGA Nexys-4 board that generates discrete pulses to the switches.

KEYWORDS:

• Multilevel inverter
• harmonics
• selective harmonic elimination
• Particle Swarm Optimization
• artificial neural network

Nomenclature

Table

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anbarasan Palani

Anbarasan Palani working as an Assistant Professor in St.Joseph’s College of Engineering, OMR, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He completed his B.Tech at Pondicherry University, M.Tech at Pondicherry Engineering College and obtained his Ph.D in Electrical Engineering at Anna University, Chennai in 2019. He has 15 years of teaching and 6 years of research experience. His area of research includes DC-DC converters, Multilevel Inverter topology design and its application in RenewableEnergySources.He has published journals and conference in the areas of multilevel inverter and wind energy conversion system. He also published three Indian patents and granted one Australian innovation patent.

Krishnakumar Vengadakrishnan

Krishnakumar Vengadakrishnan received his B.E degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from IFET Engineering College, Villupuram, India, in 2007, M.Tech degree in Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry, India in 2010 and Ph.D in Anna University, Chennai, India in 2017.At present working as an Associate Professor in St. Joseph’s College of Engineering, OMR, chennai-600119. Previously worked as an Assistant Professor in Mailam Engineering College from 2010 to 2017. His current research interests are improved performance permanent magnet Brushless DC motor drive, performance enhancement of solid state converters through innovative pulse width modulation strategies.

Suresh Muthusamy

Suresh Muthusamy received the bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and the master’s degree in Power Electronics and Drives during the year 2009 and 2011 from Anna University, Chennai and Anna University, Coimbatore respectively. Currently, he is working towards the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at Anna University, Chennai in the area of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems. He worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Kongu Engineering College (Autonomous), Perundurai, Erode during the period June 2011 to January 2020. From January 2020 onwards, he has been working as Assistant Professor Senior Grade in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Kongu Engineering College (Autonomous), Perundurai, Erode. He published more than 85 research articles in well reputed and refereed international journals like Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, ASME, ASTM international, etc & indexed in SCI, SCIE, ESCI, Scopus and Web of Science with good impact factor. He presented several research articles in national and international conferences and also serving as the reviewer, editor for about 52 international journals including IET Renewable Power Generation, IET Journal of Engineering, etc. To his credit, he has filed and published 28 Indian patents in IPR website, governed by Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. His areas of interests include hybrid renewable energy systems, power electronic converters, hybrid electric vehicles and battery management systems.

Hitesh Panchal

Hitesh Panchal received the bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Government Engineering College, Modasa, Gujarat during the year 2004 and the master’s degree in Internal Combustion Engines and Automobile from L.D. College of Engineering, Ahmedabad, Gujarat during the year 2006. He then received the Ph.D degree in Mechanical Engineering in the area of Solar Thermal Engineering from K.S.V. University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat in 2015. Dr. Panchal has published more than 150 research articles in reputed National and International Journal publications like Taylor and Francis, Springer, Elsevier, ASME, SAGE, etc. and also received 5000+ Google Scholar citations with h-index of 47 and i-10 index of 113. Dr.Panchal received many prestigious awards like Best Ph.D Thesis Award, Bharat Excellence Award, Young Scientist Award, Bright Researchers Award and many more from various organizations. Dr.Panchal has completed 2 Research projects from GUJCOST, DST of 15 lakhs and currently working on one Research project from DTE. Dr.Panchal has filed 24 full patents & 10 Industrial designs and among them 2 patents & 7 industrial designs has been granted. Dr.Panchal has been selected in “Top 2% Indian Scientist under the energy category” published by Stanford University for the year 2020 and 2021.