A Flexible Rung Ladder Structured Multilevel Inverter

Abstract

The tenet of the multilevel inverter (MLI) is a peculiar kind in the voltage source inverter (VSI) family, which offers a prudent solution to prevailing issues of conventional two levels VSI, higher dv/dt and harmonic distortion, through a staircase/stepped output voltage from multiple separate dc sources (SDCs). The incessant research effort in the last four decades has bestowed a host of MLI topologies with different concepts, structures, component requirements and application appropriateness. The main issue with the MLI structures is the objectionable component count while upping the number of levels in the output staircase waveform. This paper suggests a new MLI structure, a flexible rung ladder structured multilevel inverter (FRLSMLI), with a savvy to operate both in symmetrical and asymmetrical modes involving only fewer component counts. The proposed FRLSMLI is basically a ladder structured bridge (H-bridge with additional rungs) and the rungs comprise either source inclusion-bypass cell (SIBC) or four level creator cell (FLCC). The FRLSMLI can synthesize fifteen levels with three SDCs. The simulation and experimental results are projected to validate the viability of proposed MLI in real time applications.