ABSTRACT
In this paper, a higher level symmetrical and asymmetrical multilevel inverter (MLI) with reduced device count is proposed for renewable energy systems. Multilevel inverters are recently gaining importance in renewable energy systems and other DC to AC conversion applications due to reducing voltage stress, low total harmonic distortion (THD) and high-quality output as compared to classical inverters. This paper present a basic cell unit of reduced device count (RDC) MLI with six switching devices is proposed. The topology has advantages of reduced device count over existing topologies for the same number of output levels, thus improving operating efficiency and reliability. Upon cascading two such basic cells with 12 devices synthesizes a 49 level output with an estimated THD of 1.63%. The other advantages accrued due to reduced device count are a reduction in switch driver circuits, less number of required dc voltage sources, less installation space and reduction in cost. The major benefit of the proposed topology is that it can deliver power from an asymmetrical source to load even under sudden variation in environmental conditions. The proposed MLI topology is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink environment and a laboratory prototype is developed and tested in the lab. The control paradigm is developed as the Simulink model, which is interfaced with dSPACE DS-1104 for generating control pulses to drive switches of proposed MLI topology. The experimental results validate the concept and paradigm of the proposed MLI topology.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Dhananjay Kumar
Dhananjay Kumar received his BE degree from Lakshmi Narain College of Technology, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India in 2014. In year 2017, he received MTech (electrical drives) from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal, India. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD at MANIT Bhopal, India. His fields of interest are multilevel inverters, power electronics for renewable energy, and real time controllers for power electronics systems and modulation strategies for power converters.
R. Akhil Raj
R Akhil Raj received the BTech degree in electrical engineering from College of Engineering Trivandrum and the MTech degree in electrical drives from the MANIT Bhopal, India, in 2010 and 2015, respectively. His research interests include power electronics for renewable energy power system applications, real time controllers for power electronic systems, and modulation strategies for power converters. Email: [email protected]
Rajesh Kumar Nema
Rajesh Kumar Nema received his BTech and MTech degrees in electrical engineering from Bhopal University in 1986 and 1992, respectively. He obtained PhD degree in electrical engineering from Barkatullah University, Bhopal, in 2004. From 2010, he is working as professor in Department of Electrical Engineering, MANIT Bhopal. He is author of more than 150 articles. His current research interests include multilevel inverter, solar PV controller and power electronics converter for renewable energy applications. Email: [email protected]
Savita Nema
Savita Nema, received her BTech and MTech degrees in electrical engineering from RDVV Jabalpur in 1990 and 1993, and PhD degree in electrical engineering from RGTU Bhopal, in 2011. She is working as professor in Department of Electrical Engineering, MANIT Bhopal. She is Ex-HOD Electrical and Ex chairperson Energy Centre MANIT. She is the author of more than 100 articles and 2 books. Her research interests include renewable energy, electric vehicles, solar PV controller and control engineering. Email: [email protected]