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48 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 48-60, January 2014
http://dx.doi.org/10.6113/JPE.2014.14.1.48
ISSN(Print): 1598-2092 / ISSN(Online): 2093-4718
JPE 14-1-6
Performance Analysis of a Novel Reduced Switch
Cascaded Multilevel Inverter
R. Nagarajan† and M. Saravanan*
†Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Eng., Raja College of Engineering and Technology, Madurai, Tamilnadu, India
*Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Eng., Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamilnadu, India
Abstract
Multilevel inverters have been widely used for high-voltage and high-power applications. Their performance is greatly
superior to that of conventional two-level inverters due to their reduced total harmonic distortion (THD), lower switch ratings,
lower electromagnetic interference, and higher dc link voltages. However, they have some disadvantages such as an increased
number of components, a complex pulse width modulation control method, and a voltage-balancing problem. In this paper, a
novel nine-level reduced switch cascaded multilevel inverter based on a multilevel DC link (MLDCL) inverter topology with
reduced switching components is proposed to improve the multilevel inverter performance by compensating the above mentioned
disadvantages. This topology requires fewer components when compared to diode clamped, flying capacitor and cascaded
inverters and it requires fewer carrier signals and gate drives. Therefore, the overall cost and circuit complexity are greatly
reduced. This paper presents modulation methods by a novel reference and multicarrier based PWM schemes for reduced switch
cascaded multilevel inverters (RSCMLI). It also compares the performance of the proposed scheme with that of conventional
cascaded multilevel inverters (CCMLI). Simulation results from MATLAB/SIMULINK are presented to verify the performance
of the nine-level RSCMLI. Finally, a prototype of the nine-level RSCMLI topology is built and tested to show the performance
of the inverter through experimental results.
Key words: Modulation Index (MI), Unipolar Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (USPWM), Saw Tooth Multicarrier USPWM
(STMC USPWM), Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), Triangular Multicarrier USPWM (TMC USPWM), Unipolar Sine
Multicarrier USPWM (USMC USPWM)
I. INTRODUCTION
Multilevel power conversion was first introduced more
than two decades ago. The general concept involves utilizing
a higher number of active semiconductor switches to perform
power conversion in small voltage steps. There are several
advantages to this approach when compared with the
conventional power conversion approach. The smaller
voltage steps lead to the production of higher power quality
waveforms, and they reduce both the voltage (dv/dt) stress on
the load and the electromagnetic compatibility concerns [1].
Another important feature of multilevel inverters is that their
semiconductors are wired in a series-type connection, which
allows operation at higher voltages. However, this series
connection is typically made with clamping diodes, which
eliminates overvoltage concerns. Furthermore, since the
switches are not truly series connected, their switching can be
staggered. This reduces the switching frequency which
reduces the switching losses.
One clear disadvantage of multilevel power conversion is
the higher number of semiconductor switches required. It
should be pointed out that lower voltage rated switches can
be used in the multilevel inverter. Therefore, the active
semiconductor cost is not appreciably increased when
compared with two level cases. However, each active
semiconductor added requires associated gate drive circuits
and adds further complexity to the converter mechanical
layout. Another disadvantage of multilevel power converters
is the fact that the small voltage steps are typically produced
by isolated voltage sources or a bank of series capacitors.
Isolated voltage sources may not always be readily available,
and series capacitors require voltage balancing [2]. To some
extent, the voltage balancing can be addressed by using
redundant switching states, which exist due to the high
number of semiconductor devices. However, for a complete
Manuscript received Jun. 3, 2012; revised Sep. 11, 2013
Recommended for publication by Associate Editor Lixiang Wei.
†Corresponding Author: krnaga71@yahoo.com
Tel: +91-4522683545, Raja College of Engineering and Technology
*Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Eng., Thiagarajar College of
Engineering, Madurai, India
Performance Analysis of a Novel Reduced Switch Cascaded Multilevel Inverter 49
solution to the voltage-balancing problem, another multilevel
inverter may be required [3].
In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in
interest in multilevel power conversion. Recent research has
involved the introduction of novel inverter topologies and
unique modulation strategies. However, the most recently
used inverter topologies, which are mainly addressed as
applicable multilevel inverters, are the neutral-point clamped
(NPC) inverter, the flying capacitor inverter, and the cascade
inverter. Among these, the cascade inverter topology is the
most attractive, since it requires the least number of
components and increases the number of levels in the inverter
without requiring high ratings on individual devices while
increasing the power rating of the inverter [4].
Some applications for these new converters include
industrial drives [5], flexible ac transmission systems
(FACTS) [6]–[8], and vehicle propulsions [9], [10]. One area
where multilevel inverters are particularly suitable is that of
renewable photovoltaic energy where efficiency and power
quality are of great concern to researchers [11].
Some new approaches have been recently suggested such
as a topology utilizing low-switching-frequency high power
devices [12]. Although this topology has some modification
to reduce output voltage distortions, the general disadvantage
of this method is that it has significant low-order current
harmonics. It is also unable to exactly manipulate the
magnitude of the output voltage due to an adopted pulse
width modulation (PWM) method [13].
Another approach is selection based on a set target which
can be either the minimum switches used or the minimum dc
voltage used. It also requires different voltage source values
which are defined according to the target selection [14].
However, this approach requires basic units which are
connected in series, and the basic units require more switches
than the proposed topology. Another disadvantage of this
topology is that the power switches and diodes need to have a
different rating which is a major drawback of the topology.
The proposed topology is a symmetrical topology since all
the values of all the voltage sources are equal. However, there
are asymmetrical topologies [15] which require different
voltage sources. This criterion makes it necessary to arrange
the dc power supplies according to a specific relation
between the supplies. Differences in the ratings of the
switches in this topology are also a major drawback. This
problem also occurs in similar topologies [16]–[18]. Some of
the high frequency switches in this topology should
approximately withstand the maximum overall voltage which
makes its application limited to high-voltage products. In [19],
a new approach has been proposed that decreases the number
of required dc supplies by inserting a transformer instead.
The main disadvantage of this approach is the need to add so
many transformer windings which will increase the overall
volume and cost of the inverter.
This paper presents an overview of a new multilevel
inverter topology referred to as a RSCML inverter. It is based
on a multilevel DC link (MLDCL) topology. This topology
requires a smaller number of components when compared to
conventional topologies. It is also more efficient since the
inverter has a component which operates the switching power
devices at line frequency. Therefore, there is no need for all
the switches to work in high frequency which leads to simpler
and more reliable control of the inverter. Different
multicarrier PWM techniques which use triangular carrier
waveforms, saw tooth carrier waveforms and unipolar sine
carrier waveforms are simulated for a 1KW, 3φ, nine-level
RSCMLI using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The fundamental
output voltage and the percentage of THD are observed and
compared for different switching frequencies and modulation
indexes. These results are verified by building an
experimental prototype of a single phase nine level RSCML
inverter and implementing the different multicarrier PWM
techniques on it.
II. CONVENTIONAL CASCADED MULTILEVEL
INVERTER
The single-phase structure of a three-phase nine-level
conventional cascaded inverter is illustrated in Fig 1. Each
separate dc source is connected to a single-phase full-bridge
or H-bridge inverter. Each inverter level can generate three
different voltage outputs, +Vdc, 0 and –Vdc, by connecting the
dc source to the ac output with different switching
combinations of the four semiconductor switches T1,T2,T3
and T4. To obtain +Vdc, switches T1 and T2 are tuned on, while
–Vdc can be obtained by tuning on switches T3 and T4. By
turning on T1 and T3 or T2 and T4, the output voltage is 0. The
ac outputs of each of the full-bridge inverter levels are
connected in series such that the synthesized voltage
waveform is the sum of the inverter outputs [20], [21].
1n2m +=
(1)
( )
1m2N -=
(2)
Where m is the number of levels, n is the number of DC
sources, and N is the number of switching devices in each
phase. The most well known SPWM which can be applied to
a conventional cascaded multilevel inverter (CCMLI) is the
Phase-Shifted SPWM. This modulation technique is almost
the same as the conventional SPWM technique which is
applied to a conventional single phase full-bridge inverter.
The only difference between them is that the Phase-Shifted
SPWM utilizes more than one carrier. The number of carriers
used per phase is equal to twice the number of dc voltage
sources per phase (2n) [20].
50 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 14, No. 1, January 2014
Fig. 1. Single phase structure of the conventional cascaded
multilevel inverter.
III. PROPOSED REDUCED SWITCH CASCADED
MULTILEVEL INVERTER TOPOLOGY
In conventional multilevel inverters, the power
semiconductor switches are combined to produce a
high-frequency waveform in positive and negative polarities.
However, there is no need to utilize all of the switches for
generating bipolar levels. This idea has been put into practice
by the novel topology.
This topology is a hybrid multilevel inverter topology
which uses two parts to generate the output voltage. One part
is named the level generation part and it is responsible for the
generation of different voltage levels. This part requires
high-frequency switches to generate the required levels. The
switches in this part should have high-switching-frequency
capability. The other part is called the polarity generation part
and it is responsible for generating the polarity of the output
voltage. The polarity generation part operates at a
low-frequency (line frequency). The proposed topology
combines the two parts (high frequency and low frequency
parts) to generate the multilevel voltage output. In order to
generate a complete multilevel output, the positive levels are
generated by the high-frequency part (level generation). Then,
this part’s output voltage is fed to a full-bridge cascaded
inverter (polarity generation), which will generate the
required polarity for the output. This eliminates many of the
semiconductor switches which were responsible for
generating the output voltage levels in positive and negative
polarities in conventional cascaded multilevel inverters.
The proposed RSCMLI topology in the single phase
structure of nine-levels is shown in Fig. 2. As can be seen, it
requires eleven switches and four isolated sources. The
principal idea of this topology is that the left circuit in Fig. 2
generates the required output levels (without polarity) and the
right circuit cascaded inverter (full-bridge inverter)
determines the polarity of the output voltage. This part, which
Fig. 2. Single phase structure of the proposed multilevel inverter.
is named the polarity generation part, transfers the required
output level to the output with the same direction or the
opposite direction according to the required output polarity.
This topology easily extends to higher voltage levels by
including an additional end stage in the level generation part
in Fig. 2. Therefore, this topology is modular and can be
easily increased to higher voltage levels. This topology is also
suitable for applications where separate dc voltage sources
are available, such as photovoltaic (PV) generators, fuel cells
and batteries. The phase output voltage is generated by the
sum of the output voltages of each stage, which results in an
output phase voltage with nine-levels. In general, if m is the
number of levels and N is the number of switching devices in
each phase, then the following relation applies:
2mN +=
(3)
It can also be applied to three-phase applications with the
same principle. This topology uses isolated dc supplies.
Therefore, it does not face voltage-balancing problems due to
fixed dc voltage values. When compared with a conventional
cascaded inverter topology, it requires fewer switching
components. Another advantage of the proposed topology is
that it requires half the carriers when compared to a
conventional SPWM controller. The SPWM for a nine-level
CCML inverter consists of eight carriers. However, in this
topology, four carri ers are sufficient. This is because,
according to Fig. 2, the level generation part generates only
pos itive p ol arity voltage levels and does not generate
negative vol tage levels. T herefore, i t imp lements the
multilevel inverter with a reduced number of carriers, which
is a great achievement for inverter control. In the CCMLI
topology all of the switches should be selected from fast
Performance Analysis of a Novel Reduced Switch Cascaded Multilevel Inverter 51
Fig. 3. Three-phase power circuit of the nine-level RSCMLI.
Fig. 4. Comparison of RSCML inverter and CCML inverter.
switches. However, the proposed topology does not require
fast switches for the polarity generation part. Fig.3 presents
the three-phase power circuit of the nine-level RSCML
inverter. MATLAB/SIMULINK simulation results are
obtained for the output phase and line voltages of the three
phase nine level RSCMLI with 1KW, 3φ, resistive loads for
the various PWM techniques.
The Fig. 4 shows a comparison of the proposed RSCML
inverter and a CCML inverter based on the required number
of switches and the number of levels. From this comparison,
it is clear that as the number of voltage levels, m, grows, the
number of active switches increases according to m+2 for the
RSCML inverter and 2(m-1) for the CCML inverter. The
switching sequence in the nine-level RSCMLI is given in
Table I to produce the output voltage of the different levels.
In general, n-number of isolated dc supply sources are
required to produce m-output voltage levels with the
cascaded inverter. Based on the various switching sequences
given in Table I, switching signals are generated for the
switches in the RSCML inverter.
IV. MODULATION TECHNIQUES
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control strategy
development tries to reduce the total harmonic distortion
(THD) of the output voltage. Increasing the switching
frequency of the PWM pattern reduces the lower frequency
harmonics by moving the switching frequency carrier
harmonic and the associated sideband harmonics away from
the fundamental frequency component [21]. This increased
switching frequency reduces harmonics. This results in a
lower THD with high quality output voltage waveforms of
the desired fundamental RMS value and frequency, which are
as close as possible to the sinusoidal wave shape.
Any deviation from the sinusoidal wave shape will result
in harmonic currents in the load and this harmonic current
produces electromagnetic interference (EMI), harmonic
losses and torque pulsation in the case of motor drives. A
higher switching frequency can be employed for low and
medium power inverters. Meanwhile, for high power and
medium voltage applications the switching frequency should
be low. Harmonic reduction can then be strictly related to the
performance of an inverter with any switching strategy.
Three phase multilevel inverters require three modulating
signals or reference signals which are three-unipolar sine
waves with a 120 degree phase shift. In this paper, three new
carrier based PWM techniques are developed as follows:
1. Triangular Multicarrier Unipolar Sine PWM (TMC
USPWM)
2. Saw Tooth Multicarrier Unipolar Sine PWM
(STMC USPWM)
3. Unipolar Sine Multicarrier Unipolar Sine PWM
(USMC USPWM)
Each carrier is compared with a corresponding
modulating unipolar sine wave. The reference or modulation
waveform has peak amplitude Am and a frequency fm, and it
is centered in the middle of the carrier set. The general
principle of the carrier based PWM technique is a comparison
of a reference waveform with a carrier waveform, this
typically being a triangular carrier waveform. The reference
is continuously compared with the carrier signal. If the
reference is greater than the carrier signal, then the active
device corresponding to that carrier is switched on, and if the
reference is less than the carrier signal, then the active device
corresponding to that carrier is switched off. The carrier
frequency defines the switching frequency of the converter
and the high order harmonic components of the output
voltage spectrum. and the sidebands occur around the carrier
frequency and its multiples. In multilevel inverters, the
amplitude modulation index, Ma, and the frequency ratio, Mf,
are defined as:
( )
c
A2/)1m(
A
a
Mr
-
=
(4)
r
f
c
f
f
M=
(5)
52 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 14, No. 1, January 2014
TABLE I
SWITCHING SEQUENCES FOR SINGLE PHASE NINE-LEVEL RSCM L INVERTER
Where Ar and Ac are the amplitude of the reference and
the carrier signal, respectively. fr and fc are the frequency of
the reference and the carrier signal respectively[22].
In this paper, the modulation indexes used are 0.8, 0.9 and
1 for a nine-level RSCML inverter. For multilevel
applications, carrier based PWM techniques with multiple
carriers are used. Multicarrier Modulation (MCM) techniques,
can be divided in to the following categories [23]:
1. Phase Disposition (PD) where all of the carriers are in
phase.
2. Inverted Phase Disposition (IPD) where all of the
carriers are in phase and inverted.
3. Phase Opposition Disposition (POD) where the
carriers above half of the reference are in phase but
shifted by 180 degrees from those carriers below half
of the reference.
4 Alternative Phase Opposition Disposition (APOD)
where each carrier band is shifted by 180 degrees from
the adjacent carrier band [24].
The above modulation strategies are implemented for
different carriers such as the triangular multicarrier wave,
saw tooth multicarrier wave and unipolar sine multicarrier
wave. The phase voltage waveform, line voltage waveform
and harmonic spectrum of the phase and line voltages are
shown for different modulation techniques by doing
simulations using MATLAB-SIMULINK for a nine-level
RSCMLI and CCMLI. A comparison is done on the obtained
results.
A. Triangular Multicarrier Unipolar Sinusoidal PWM
(TMC USPWM)
The performance of a multilevel inverter is based on the
multi carrier modulation technique used. Two-level to
multilevel inverters are made using several triangular carrier
signals and one reference signal per phase. Carrara [25]
developed multilevel sub harmonic PWM (SH-PWM), which
is as follows:
For m-level inverters, (m-1)/2 carriers with the same
frequency fc and the same amplitude Ac are disposed such
that the bands they occupy are contiguous. They are defined
as:
(a)
(b)
Fig. 5. (a) PD TMC USPWM with
1
a
M=
for nine-level
RSCMLI. (b) POD TMC USPWM with
8.0
a
M=
for nine-level RSCMLI.
( )
( )
( )
( )
1m,........1i
,
2
m
t,
cc
y
if
1
c
A
i
C
-=
-+jw-= ÷
÷
ø
ö
ç
ç
è
æ
(6)
Where yc is a normalized symmetrical triangular carrier
defined as:
( )
( )
[ ]
( )( )
2
1
12mod1,
cc
y+-a
a
-=jw
(7)
c
f2
c
,
t
cp=w
pj+w
=a
(8)
where φ represents the phase angle of yc. yc is a periodic
function with the period
c
c2
Tw
p
=
. It is shown that using a
symmetrical triangular carrier generates less harmonic
distortion at the inverter’s output [26], [27].
The multicarrier modulation techniques (PD, IPD, POD,
and APOD) are implemented using triangular multicarrier
signals for a nine-level RSCMLI with different modulation
Output
voltage
level
Switching Sequence
Polarity Generation Switches
Level Generation Switches
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S10
S11
4Vdc
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
3Vdc
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
2Vdc
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
Vdc
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
-Vdc
0
0
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
-2Vdc
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
-3Vdc
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
-4Vdc
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
Performance Analysis of a Novel Reduced Switch Cascaded Multilevel Inverter 53
(a)
(b)
Fig. 6. (a) IPD STMC USPWM with
1
a
M=
for nine-level
RSCMLI. (b) APOD STMC USPWM with
9.0
a
M=
for
nine-level RSCMLI.
indexes. They are shown in Fig. 5(a) and 5(b), respectively.
B. Saw Tooth Multicarrier Unipolar Sinusoidal PWM
(STMC USPWM)
The saw tooth wave is a periodic signal which is generated
arbitrarily and can be obtained from the repeated sequence
carrier wave by limiting its magnitude to Ac. The simulink
block sets the input period as the difference between the first
and last value of the time values parameter. The output at any
time t is the output at time:
periodntt ´-=
(9)
Where n is an integer. The sequence repeats at:
periodnt ´=
(10)
The simulink block uses linear interpolation to compute the
value of the waveform between the specified output times. In
this technique, the gate signals are generated by comparing
the saw tooth multicarrier wave with a unipolar sinusoidal
modulating signal.
The multicarrier modulation techniques (PD, IPD, POD, and
APOD) are implemented using saw tooth multicarrier signals
for a nine level RSCMLI with different modulation indexes.
They are shown in Fig. 6(a) and 6(b), respectively.
C. Unipolar Sine Multicarrier Unipolar Sinusoidal PWM
(USMC USPWM)
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7. (a) PD USMC USPWM with
1
a
M=
for nine-level
RSCMLI. (b) POD USMC USPWM with
8.0
a
M=
for
nine-level RSCMLI.
In this PWM technique, the sinusoidal signal is converted
into a unipolar sinusoidal signal. The entire negative half
cycles in the waveform are converted into positive half cycles
with the same amplitude and frequency. This signal is the
same as that of the full wave rectifier output. That is the
signal has only continuous positive half cycles. This is called
the unipolar sine wave.
The control strategy uses the same signal for the reference
(synchronized unipolar sinusoidal signal) and carrier signals.
The control scheme uses a high frequency unipolar sine
carrier that helps maximize the output voltage for a given
modulation index.
The multicarrier modulation techniques (PD, IPD, POD,
and APOD) are implemented using unipolar sine multicarrier
signals for a nine level RSCMLI with different modulation
indexes. They are shown in Fig 7(a) and 7(b), respectively.
V. SIMULATION RESULTS
The nine level RSCML inverter model with different
54 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 14, No. 1, January 2014
(a)
(b)
Fig. 8. (a) Phase Voltage for nine-level APOD USPWM with
1
a
M=
. (b) Percentage phase Voltage THD for nine-level
APOD USPWM with
1
a
M=
.
modulation indexes was implemented in
MATLAB/SIMULINK software to demonstrate the
feasibility of the PWM techniques. The phase disposition,
inverted phase disposition, phase opposition disposition and
alternative phase opposition disposition techniques are used
for the various multicarrier USPWM techniques such as:
1. Triangular Multicarrier Unipolar Sine PWM (TMC
USPWM)
2. Saw Tooth Multicarrier Unipolar Sine PWM
(STMC USPWM)
3. Unipolar Sine Multicarrier Unipolar Sine PWM
(USMC USPWM)
The phase and line voltage waveform with its harmonic
spectrum at a fundamental frequency of 50Hz and switching
frequencies (SF) of 2 KHz and 10 KHz are obtained for the
proposed RSCML inverter. For comparison, the total
harmonic distortion (THD) was evaluated for all of the
modulation techniques. In order to get the THD level of the
waveform, a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) was applied to
obtain the spectrum of the output voltage [28]. The THD was
calculated using the following equation:
1
80
2n
2
n
v
v
THD
å
=
=
(11)
Where n is the harmonic order, vn is the RMS value of the
nth harmonic component and v1 is the RMS value of the
fundamental component. Here, the %THD is calculated up to
a harmonic order which is twice the switching frequency. For
a 2 KHz switching frequency, up to the 80th order harmonics
are taken in to account for calculating the THD. For a 10
KHz switching frequency, up to the 400th order harmonics are
taken in to account for calculating the THD.
A. Triangular Multicarrier USPWM (TMC USPWM)
Fig 8(a) and 8(b) show the phase voltage waveforms and
the percentage THD of the phase voltage for the nine-level
APOD USPWM using the alternative phase opposition
disposition technique for triangular multicarrier unipolar
sinusoidal PWM with
1
a
M=
.
Table II shows the percentage phase voltage THD for a
nine-level RSCMLI and CCMLI with triangular multicarrier
signals with different multicarrier PWM techniques with
switching frequencies of 2 KHz and 10 KHz for different
modulation indexes.
From Table II, it can be observed that when the switching
frequency of the RSCMLI is increased, the percentage phase
voltage THD increases for the PD scheme with all of the
modulation indexes. In the IPD scheme, if the switching
frequency is increased, the percentage phase voltage THD
decreases with modulation indexes of 1 and 0.8. In the POD
scheme, when the switching frequency is increased, the
percentage phase voltage THD increases with a modulation
index of 1. In the APOD scheme, if the switching frequency
is increased, the percentage phase voltage THD decreases
with a modulation index of 0.8.
The results obtained from the nine-level RSCMLI are also
compared with those of the CCMLI when the switching
frequencies are 2 KHz and 10 KHz (To limit the number of
pages, the comparison is done for only for the switching
frequency). It is found that in some of the modulation
techniques the percentage phase voltage THD slightly
increases in the CCMLI. However, the proposed RSCMLI
has a reduced number of switches and increases in the
fundamental phase and line voltages.
From the simulation results of the triangular multicarrier
USPWM technique with the PD and IPD PWM schemes,
from the 3rd order harmonics to the 21st order harmonics are
less than 1% and all of the even order harmonics are zero. A
few of the odd order harmonics from the 23rd harmonics to
the 79th harmonics are 1% to 2%. The dominant 39th and 41st
harmonic factors are about 5% for the PD and IPD schemes.
In the POD scheme, from the 3rd order harmonics to the
21st order harmonics are less than 1% and all of the even
order harmonics are zero. A few of the odd order harmonics
from the 23rd harmonics to the 55t h harmonics are 1% to 3%.
The dominant 35th and 45th harmonic factors are 4.77% and
Performance Analysis of a Novel Reduced Switch Cascaded Multilevel Inverter 55
TABLE II
PHASE VOLTAGE % THD FOR NINE-LEVEL RSCMLI AND CCMLI WITH TRIANGULAR MULTI CARRIER USPWM
Modula-
tion
Technique
Phase voltage % THD
Reduced Switch Cascaded Multilevel Inverter
Conventional Cascaded Multilevel Inverter
SF = 2KHz
SF = 10KHz
SF= 2KHz
SF = 10KHz
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
PD
13.43
16.74
16.95
14.40
17.08
17.11
13.75
16.60
17.25
14.32
17.02
17.39
IPD
14.07
16.80
17.43
14.05
16.87
17.31
13.80
16.67
17.28
14.32
17.02
17.39
POD
13.83
16.83
17.49
14.30
16.79
17.31
13.92
16.65
17.37
14.28
17.01
17.35
APOD
13.37
16.74
17.26
14.19
16.86
17.24
14.04
16.67
17.21
14.39
17.14
17.39
(a)
(b)
Fig. 9. (a) Phase Voltage for nine-level PD USPWM with
1
a
M=
. (b) Percentage Phase Voltage THD for nine-level PD
USPWM with
1
a
M=
.
4.88%, respectively, for the POD scheme.
In the APOD scheme, from the 3rd order harmonics to the
25th order harmonics are less than 1% and all of the even
order harmonics are zero. A few of the odd order harmonics
from the 27th harmonics to the 69th harmonics are 1% to 3%.
The dominant 29th and 51st harmonic factors are 4.67% and
4.61%, respectively, for the APOD scheme.
It is observed that when the switching frequency of the
RSCMLI is increased, the percentage line voltage THD
increases very slightly and the fundamental phase and line
voltage decrease for the all of the PWM schemes.
B. Saw Tooth Multicarrier USPWM (STMC USPWM)
Fig 9(a) and 9(b) show the phase voltage waveforms and
the percentage THD of the phase voltage for the nine level
PD USPWM using the phase disposition technique for the
saw tooth multicarrier unipolar sinusoidal PWM with
1
a
M=
.
Table III shows the percentage of phase voltage THD for
the nine-level RSCML inverter and the CCML inverter with
the saw tooth multicarrier signal with different multicarrier
PWM techniques with a switching frequency of 2 KHz and
10 KHz, respectively, for different modulation indexes.
From Table III, it is observed that when the switching
frequency of the RSCMLI is increased, the percentage phase
voltage THD decreases for the PD and POD schemes with a
modulation index of 1. In the IPD and APOD schemes, if the
switching frequency is increased, the percentage phase
voltage THD increases for all of the modulation indexes.
From the simulation result in the saw tooth multicarrier
USPWM technique with the PD and IPD PWM schemes,
from the 3rd order harmonics to the 13th order harmonics are
less than 1% and all of the even order harmonics are zero. A
few of the odd order harmonics from the 15th harmonics to the
79th harmonics are 1% to 2%. The dominant 39th and 41st
harmonic factors are about 4% for the PD and IPD schemes.
In the POD scheme, from the 3rd order harmonics to the
13th order harmonics are less than 1% and all of the even
order harmonics are zero. A few of the odd order harmonics
from the 15th harmonics to the 79th harmonics are 1% to 3%.
The dominant 35th and 45th harmonic factors are 4.10% and
4.75%, respectively, for the POD scheme.
In the APOD scheme, from the 3rd order harmonics to the
13th order harmonics are less than 1% and all of the even
order harmonics are zero. A few of the odd order harmonics
from the 15th harmonics to the 79th harmonics are 1% to 3%.
The dominant 29th and 51st harmonic factors are 4.26% and
4.55%, respectively, for the APOD scheme.
It is observed that when the switching frequency of the
RSCML inverter is increased, the percentage line voltage
THD decreases and the fundamental phase and line voltage
increase for the PD scheme. In the IPD and APOD schemes,
if the switching frequency is increased, the percentage line
voltage THD increases and the fundamental phase and line
voltage decrease. In the POD scheme, when the switching
frequency is increased, the percentage line voltage THD and
the f undamental phase an d line voltage in crease. The
56 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 14, No. 1, January 2014
TABLE III
PHASE VOLTAGE % THD FOR NINE-LEVEL RSCMLI AND CCMLI WITH SAW TOOT H MULTI CARRIER USPWM
Modula-
tion
Technique
Phase voltage % THD
Reduced Switch Cascaded Multilevel Inverter
Conventional Cascaded Multilevel Inverter
SF = 2KHz
SF = 10KHz
SF= 2KHz
SF = 10KHz
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
PD
13.87
16.48
16.45
13.26
16.57
17.15
13.45
16.80
17.46
13.84
16.77
17.11
IPD
14.16
16.52
16.59
14.43
16.85
17.20
13.45
16.80
17.46
13.79
16.70
17.08
POD
13.91
16.46
16.67
13.48
16.68
17.54
13.37
16.48
17.46
13.18
16.46
17.12
APOD
14.09
16.46
16.38
14.32
16.66
16.69
13.22
16.79
17.36
14.31
16.79
16.60
(a)
(b)
Fig. 10. (a) Line Voltage for nine-level IPD USPWM with
1
a
M=
. (b). Percentage Line Voltage THD for nine-level IPD
USPWM with
1
a
M=
.
fundamental line voltage is maximum for the PD and POD
schemes and minimum for the IPD and APOD schemes.
C. Unipolar Sine Multicarrier USPWM (USMC USPWM)
Fig 10(a) and 10(b) show the line voltage waveforms and the
percentage THD of the line voltage for the nine level IPD
USPWM using the inverted phase disposition technique for
the unipolar sine multicarrier unipolar sinusoidal PWM
with
1
a
M=
.
Table IV shows the percentage phase voltage THD for the
nine-level RSCML inverter and the CCML inverter with a
unipolar sine multicarrier signal with different multicarrier
PWM techniques with switching frequencies of 2 KHz and
10 KHz, respectively, for different modulation indexes.
From Table IV, it is observed that when the switching
frequency of the RSCMLI is increased, the percentage line
voltage THD increases for the PD, IPD, POD and APOD
schemes with all of the modulation indexes.
From the simulation results of the unipolar sine
multicarrier USPWM technique PD PWM scheme, from the
3rd order harmonics to the 17th order harmonics are less than
1% and all of the even order harmonics are zero. A few of the
odd order harmonics from the 19th harmonics to the 77th
harmonics are 1% to 2%. The dominant 79th harmonic factor
is 7.03% for the PD scheme.
In the IPD scheme, from the 3rd order harmonics to the 21st
order harmonics and from the 25th order harmonics to the 55th
order harmonics are less than 1% and all of the even order
harmonics are zero. A few of the odd order harmonics from
the 57th harmonics to the 77th harmonics are 1% to 2%. The
dominant 79th harmonic factor is 5.13% for the IPD scheme.
In the POD scheme, from the 3rd order harmonics to the
15th order harmonics and from the 21st order harmonics to the
55th order harmonics are less than 1% and all of the even
order harmonics are zero. A few of the odd order harmonics
from the 57th harmonics to the 77th harmonics are 1% to 2%.
The dominant 75th and 79th harmonic factors are 5.17% and
3.49%, respectively, for the POD scheme.
In the APOD scheme, from the 3rd order harmonics to
the 7th order harmonics and from the 25th order harmonics to
the 55th order harmonics are less than 1% and all of the even
order harmonics are zero. A few of the odd order harmonics
from the 57th harmonics to the 77th harmonics are 1% to 2%.
The dominant 69th and 73r d harmonic factors are 5.15% and
3.23%, respectively, for the APOD scheme.
It is observed that, when the switching frequency of the
RSCML inverter is increased, the percentage line voltage
THD increases and the fundamental phase and line voltage
increase for the PD scheme. In the IPD scheme, if the
switching frequency is increased, the percentage line voltage
THD increases and the fundamental phase and line voltage
decreas e. In the P OD and APOD schemes, when the
switching frequency is increased, the percentage line voltage
THD increases and the fundamental phase and line voltage
Performance Analysis of a Novel Reduced Switch Cascaded Multilevel Inverter 57
TABLE IV
PHASE VOLTAGE % THD FOR NINE-LEVEL RSCMLI AND CCMLI WITH UNIPOLAR SINE MULTI CARRIER USPWM
Modula-
tion
Technique
Phase voltage % THD
Reduced Switch Cascaded Multilevel Inverter
Conventional Cascaded Multilevel Inverter
SF = 2KHz
SF = 10KHz
SF= 2KHz
SF = 10KHz
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
PD
15.79
17.46
18.51
16.11
18.53
20.43
14.56
16.99
18.22
15.92
17.66
19.75
IPD
13.88
16.34
18.12
15.83
16.69
19.36
14.56
16.99
18.22
10.57
10.22
13.24
POD
14.14
16.92
18.99
15.95
17.36
20.09
15.59
17.79
18.95
16.24
18.59
20.51
APOD
14.55
17.52
19.95
16.13
17.75
20.87
14.55
17.83
20.19
16.27
17.87
20.88
TABLE V
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF NINE-LEVEL RSCMLI WITH Ma=1
Modulation
Technique
Switching Frequency = 2KHz
Line
voltage
% THD
Voltage
per
phase
(volts)
Line
voltage
(volts)
Dominant
harmonic
factor (%)
Triangula
r Multi
carrier
PD
11.36
228.2
393.5
H39=5.32
H41=5.57
IPD
11.92
227.1
393.8
H39=5.55
H41=5.66
POD
12.28
228.0
393.7
H35=4.77
H45=4.88
APOD
12.20
227.2
393.1
H29=4.67
H51=4.61
Saw
Tooth
Multi
carrier
PD
11.66
228.4
395.1
H39=3.89
H41=4.38
IPD
11.89
227.1
392.7
H39=4.90
H41=4.50
POD
12.39
228.2
395.4
H35=4.10
H45=4.75
APOD
12.16
227.4
393.5
H29=4.26
H51=4.55
Unipolar
Sine Multi
carrier
PD
13.89
217.9
376.2
H79=7.03
IPD
11.40
235.0
405.4
H79=5.13
POD
13.37
232.4
402.1
H75=5.17
H79=3.49
APOD
13.17
230.7
398.3
H69=5.15
H73=3.23
Switching Frequency = 10KHz
Triangula
r Multi
carrier
PD
12.44
226.9
392.4
H199=6.03
H201=6.02
IPD
12.32
227.3
392.2
H199=5.80
H201=5.93
POD
12.95
227.0
392.5
H195=4.58
H205=4.58
APOD
12.60
227.1
392.5
H189=4.80
H211=4.80
Saw
Tooth
Multi
carrier
PD
11.03
231.2
399.2
H199=4.03
H201=4.05
IPD
12.60
224.3
387.4
H199=4.61
H201=4.75
POD
12.44
230.3
397.9
H195=4.20
H205=4.07
APOD
12.61
226.0
390.2
H189=4.08
H211=4.14
Unipolar
Sine Multi
carrier
PD
14.08
219.3
378.7
H19=2.40
IPD
13.92
232.0
400.6
H399=6.54
POD
14.61
229.8
397.1
H395=4.13
H399=4.74
APOD
14.31
228.2
393.9
H389=4.79
H399=3.37
decrease. In addition, the fundamental line voltage is
maximum for the IPD and POD schemes and is minimum for
the PD and APOD schemes. Ma=1
Table V shows the percentage line voltage THD,
fundamental phase and line voltage and dominant harmonic
factors obtained for the nine-level RSCMLI with different
multicarrier PWM techniques with switching frequencies of 2
KHz and 10 KHz with modulation index of unity.
From Table V, it is observed that when the switching
frequency is 2 KHz, the unipolar sine (IPD) scheme gives
maximum phase and line voltage and the triangular (PD)
scheme gives minimum % THD for the line voltage. If the
switching frequency is 10 KHz, the unipolar sine (IPD)
scheme gives maximum phase and line voltage and the saw
tooth (PD) scheme gives minimum % THD for the line
voltage.
VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In ord er to exp eriment al ly valid ate the p ropos ed
multicarrier PWM techniques, a prototype 100W, 96V, single
phase nine-level RSCMLI was constructed using MOSFETs
as the switching devices. The MOSFETs, ramp generator,
comparator and diodes used are IRF840, UA741, LM324 and
IN5408, respectively. The source voltage is 24V for each of
the DCMLIs. In total 96V DC is applied across the input side
of the nine-level RSCMLI. The RSCMLI output provides
power to a 100W resistive load. A picture of the laboratory
experimental prototype, built to verify the operation and to
obtain the phase voltage of the different multicarrier phase
disposition USPWM techniques is shown in Fig.11. The
prot otype inc lud es a n ine -leve l R SCM LI circu it and
measurement equipment. Fig. 12(a) and 12(b) show the phase
voltage waveform and the harmonics spectrum of the phase
voltage for a nine-level RSCMLI using the phase disposition
technique for the triangular multi carrier unipolar sinusoidal
58 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 14, No. 1, January 2014
Fig. 11.Nine-level RSCMLI Experimental setup.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 12. (a) Phase Voltage for nine-level TMC PD USPWM
with
1
a
M=
. (b) Harmonics spectrum for nine-level TMC PD
USPWM with
1
a
M=
.
Fig. 13 shows the phase voltage waveform for a nine-level
RSCMLI using the phase disposition technique for the saw
tooth multi carrier unipolar sinusoidal PWM with
9.0
a
M=
.
Fig. 14 shows the phase voltage waveform for a nine-level
RSCMLI using the phase disposition technique for the
un ip olar sin e mul ti carri er unipo lar sinusoid al PWM
with
8.0
a
M=
. Due to the switching and ohmic losses of the
converter switches, the peak value of the ac output voltage is
found to be 96V. By varying the amplitude of the modulating
signal, the RMS output phase voltage can be varied from 0V
Fig. 13. Phase Voltage for nine-level STMC PD USPWM
with
9.0
a
M=
.
Fig. 14. Phase Voltage for nine-level USMC PD USPWM
with
8.0
a
M=
.
TABLE VI
EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF NINE-LEVEL RSCMLI
Modulation
Technique
Phase voltage (volts)
Ma=1
Ma=0.9
Ma=0.8
Triangular
Multi carrier
72.4
68.6
62.6
Saw Tooth
Multi carrier
75.3
68.8
62.7
Unipolar Sine
Multi carrier
72.6
69.2
65.1
Phase voltage % THD
Triangular
Multi carrier
5.8
6.0
6.4
Saw Tooth
Multi carrier
6.0
6.3
6.7
Unipolar Sine
Multi carrier
8.4
9.5
10.2
to 76V.
Table VI shows the fundamental phase voltage and
percentage THD of the phase voltage obtained
experimentally for a nine-level RSCMLI with the different
multicarrier PWM techniques with a switching frequency of 2
Performance Analysis of a Novel Reduced Switch Cascaded Multilevel Inverter 59
KHz with different modulation indexes. From the above table,
it is observed that in all of the multicarrier PWM schemes, if
the modulation index is decreased, the phase voltage
decreases and the percentage phase voltage THD increases.
From the experimental results the saw tooth multicarrier
scheme gives the maximum output phase voltage and the
triangular multicarrier gives minimum % THD for the phase
voltage.
VII. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a novel reduced switch cascaded multilevel
inverter (RSCMLI) topology has been proposed which has
superior features when compared with the conventional
cascaded multilevel inverter (CCMLI) topology in terms of
the minimum number of required power switches, control
requirements, cost, and reliability. This topology can be a
good candidate for the inverters used in power applications
such as FACTS, HVDC, PV systems, UPS, etc. In the
proposed topology, the switching operation is separated into
high-frequency and low-frequency parts. This increases the
efficiency of the inverter and reduces the size and cost of the
final prototype.
In this paper, the performance of different multicarrier
PWM techniques which use the triangular multicarrier
waveform, saw tooth multicarrier waveform and unipolar sine
multicarrier waveform are determined. In all of the above
PWM techniques, different modulation strategies such as the
phase disposition (PD), inverted phase disposition (IPD),
phase opposition disposition (POD) and alternative phase
opposition disposition (APOD) are implemented. The results
are verified through simulations for a 1KW, 3φ nine-level
RSCMLI in MATLAB/SIMULINK. The output quantities
such as the fundamental phase and line voltage, percentage
THD of the phase voltage, line voltage and percentage
dominant harmonic factor are measured in the all of the
above PWM schemes and the results are compared.
Experimental results of the developed prototype for a single
phase nine-level RSCMLI of the proposed topology are
obtained for the different multicarrier PWM techniques. The
USPWM control method is used to drive the inverter. The
PWM for this topology has fewer complexities since it
generates only the positive carriers for PWM control. The
results clearly show that the proposed topology can
effectively work as a multilevel inverter with a reduced
number of switches and carriers for PWM.
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R. Nagarajan received his B.E. in Electrical
and Electronics Engineering from Madurai
Kamarajar University, Madurai, India, in
1997. He received his M.E. in Power
Electronics and Drives from Anna University,
Chennai, India, in 2008. He is currently
working toward his Ph.D. in Power
Electronics at Anna University, Tamilnadu,
India. He has worked in the industry as an Electrical Engineer.
He is currently working as an Associate Professor at the Raja
College of Engineering and Technology, Madurai, Tamilnadu,
India. His current research interest include multilevel inverters.
M. Saravanan received his B.E from
Madurai Kamarajar University, Madurai,
India, in 1991. He received his M.E. from the
Coimbatore Institute of Technology,
Coimbatore, India, in 1992. He received his
Ph.D. From Madurai Kamarajar University,
in 2007. He is currently working as a
Professor of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering at the Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai,
Tamilnadu, India. His current research interests include power
electronics and renewable energy sources.
