A Novel Multilevel Inverter with Self-balancing Capability of Capacitors Voltage; Structure, Modulation and Operation

This article presents a 17-level asymmetrical multilevel inverter (MLI) with a reduced number of components. This structure can also be used symmetrically to increase redundancy. It can be extended in a modular fashion to increase the number of output voltage levels. Moreover, the capacitor voltages are self-balanced and do not require a sensor to stabilize the voltage. Due to the application of a level-shifted modulation (LSM), most power switches are turned on and off at low and fundamental frequencies, which will significantly reduce losses. Other benefits of this topology are the inherent production of negative levels without H-bridge, reduced total standing voltage (TSV), and low total harmonic distortion (THD). Power loss analysis is also presented as well as calculation of capacitances. MATLAB simulation results and laboratory implementation are carried out to evaluate circuit performance in different operational conditions.