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This paper analyzes the combination in a cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter (CHBI) based on transformers with the different turn ratios for increasing the voltage level and proposes the switching method for achieving the output voltage distribution among H-bridge cells (HBCs). The transformers used in this paper are connected to the output of the respective HBCs, and the secondary sides of all the transformers are connected in series for generating the final output voltage. Only one of the transformers, in particular, has a different turn ratio for increasing the output voltage level. In this paper, the possible turn ratio of the special transformer with a different turn ratio is discussed in detail, and a switching method based on the level-shifted switching method for the topology used in this paper is proposed. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a three-phase 21-level CHBI is experimentally tested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a new cascade switch-ladder multilevel inverter topology is presented which can generate a large number of output voltage levels. First, a fundamental switch-ladder multilevel inverter structure is described. Then, the structure of recommended cascade topology based on series connection of fundamental switch-ladder topologies is presented. To generate maximum number of levels with minimum number of switching elements, dc sources, and voltage on switches, the proposed cascade topology is optimized. Comparison results prove that the presented cascade topology requires fewer numbers of components. Also, the value of voltage rating on switches is less than other structures. Experimental results for two topologies are analyzed to verify the performance of the proposed topology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a new space-vector pulsewidth modulation (SV-PWM) strategy for a three-level neutral point clamped inverter. The presented SV-PWM strategy makes it possible to control the neutral point voltage by optimum choice of switch sequence for any position and length of output voltage vector. The proposed solution takes into consideration the unbalance of the dc-link voltages. It also analyzes the influence of vector sequences on the predicted unbalance of the dc-link voltage. The solution allows selecting optimum vectors and their on-time durations in order to reduce quickly the dc-link voltage unbalance. The calculation of the space vector area proposed in this paper takes into consideration voltage unbalance and its influence on the length and position of vectors. The proposed approach assures properly generating the voltage output vectors, even in the case of the existing large voltage unbalance in the dc-link. The results of the experimental investigation of the proposed modulation strategy are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With regard to a five-level inverter comprising flying-capacitor asymmetric H-bridge, the impact on the capacitor voltage under conventional modulation approach is analyzed. Since it is sensitive to the fundamental period and the load current, it may introduce undesired low-order harmonics into the output voltage and may even break down the power switches due to the considerable fluctuation of the flying-capacitor voltage. Thus, this paper proposes a novel pulsewidth-modulation scheme with the positive and negative cross carriers, which controls the flying-capacitor voltage by utilizing the redundant switching states of the output voltages. Three modes of precharging the flying capacitor without extra equipments are presented. Moreover, the capacitance of the flying capacitor and the switching frequency of the power switches can be chosen according to the allowable fluctuation of the flying-capacitor voltage and the load current. In order to remove the overlapping of the level layers, the optimization of the line-to-line voltage waveform is proposed to synthesize the reference vector with the “nearest three-vector” approach. The theory is supported by the experimental results from the prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]