Reduced Switch Multilevel Inverter Topologies for Renewable Energy Sources

This article proposes two generalized multilevel inverter configurations that reduce the number of switching devices, isolated DC sources, and total standing voltage on power switches, making them suitable for renewable energy sources. The main topology is a multilevel inverter that handles two isolated DC sources by ten power switches to create twenty-five voltage levels. Based on the proposed main topology two generalized multilevel inverters are introduced to indicate flexibility in designing and also to minimize the number of elements. The optimal topologies for both extensive multilevel inverters are derived from different design objectives such as minimizing the number of elements (gate drivers, DC sources), achieving a large number of levels, and minimizing the total standing voltage. The main advantages of proposed topologies are a reduced number of elements than other multilevel inverters based on the comparison studies which is performed among the proposed topologies and other topologies. The power loss analysis and standalone PV application of the proposed topologies are discussed. The experimental results are presented for the proposed topology to demonstrate the correct operation of the proposal.