A step-up multilevel inverter with reduced devices and input current ripple.

This article presents a step-up multilevel inverter with a reduced number of devices. The inverter can realise nine output voltage levels with 4 times higher input source voltage at the output with 11 switching devices. The inverter uses switched capacitor (SC) technique to step up the output voltage. One of the important drawbacks of the recently proposed SC-based MLI is the higher input current ripples or spikes due to the capacitor charging states. These high ripples hamper the life of the source such as photovoltaic (PV) array or fuel cells. The proposed inverter can lower the input current ripples than others as well as can provide the maximum boosting at the output voltage. A detailed discussion on the operating principle, selection procedure of components, and power losses analysis of the proposed inverter has been presented. Furthermore, a comparative evaluation shows a significant reduction of input current spikes and component count of the proposed inverter than others. Moreover, the proposed inverter provides a lower cost function per boosting factor per level as compared to others. The performances of the inverter are verified by an extensive simulation and experimental study. The inverter works well with desired performances under different load conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]