• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1316-1323
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• 2016

Multilevel inverters (MLIs) have been preferred over conventional two-level inverters due to their inherent properties such as reduced harmonic distortion, lower electromagnetic interference, minimal common mode voltage, ability to synthesize medium/high voltage from low voltage sources, etc. On the other hand, they suffer from an increased number of switching devices, complex gate pulse generation, etc. This paper develops an ingenious symmetrical MLI topology, which consumes lesser component count. The proposed level dependent sources concoction multilevel inverter (LDSCMLI) is basically a multilevel dc link MLI (MLDCMLI), which first synthesizes a stepped dc link voltage using a sources concoction module and then realizes the ac waveform through a conventional H-bridge. Seven level and eleven level versions of the proposed topology are simulated in MATLAB r2010b and prototypes are constructed to validate the performance. The proposed topology requires lesser components compared to recent component reduced MLI topologies and the classical topologies. In addition, it requires fewer carrier signals and gate driver circuits.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.1519-1528
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• 2017

The paper proposes a well structured, component count waned single phase multilevel inverter (MLI) topology, which drives three different modules viz. Stipulation Based Sources Insertion (SBSI) module, Level Count Increasing (LCI) module and Inter-Linking H-Bridge (ILHB) module. The SBSI module confronts the number of basic sources needed in series/parallel to achieve required magnitude for any particular level. The LCI possesses an offsetting dc source and opuses to increase the number of levels and the ILHB module links the SBSI and LCI modules. A developed Hybrid Pulse Width Modulation (HPWM) strategy has PWM pulses for the switches of LCI module while the switches of the remaining two modules function at fundamental switching frequency. A fifteen level version of the proposed stipulation based sources insertion MLI (SBSIMLI) topology is simulated in MATLAB R2010a and a prototype of the similar specifications is constructed to validate the performance by experimental results. The comparison between the developed SBSIMLI topology and the competent topologies shows many interesting facts.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.222-231
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• 2017

In this paper, a new architecture for a cost-effective power conditioning systems (PCS) using a single-sourced asymmetric cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter (MLI) for photovoltaic (PV) applications is proposed. The asymmetric MLI topology has a reduced number of parts compared to the symmetrical type for the same number of voltage level. However, the modulation index threshold related to the drop in the number of levels of the inverter output is higher than that of the symmetrical MLI. This problem results in a modulation index limitation which is relatively higher than that of the symmetrical MLI. Hence, an extra voltage pre-regulator becomes a necessary component in the PCS under a wide operating bias variation. In addition to pre-stage voltage regulation for the constant MLI dc-links, another auxiliary pre-regulator should provide isolation and voltage balance among the multiple H-bridge cells in the asymmetrical MLI as well as the symmetrical ones. The proposed PCS uses a single-ended DC-DC converter topology with a coupled inductor and charge-pump circuit to satisfy all of the aforementioned requirements. Since the proposed integrated-type voltage pre-regulator circuit uses only a single MOSFET switch and a single magnetic component, the size and cost of the PCS is an optimal trade-off. In addition, the voltage balance between the separate H-bridge cells is automatically maintained by the number of turns in the coupled inductor transformer regardless of the duty cycle, which eliminates the need for an extra voltage regulator for the auxiliary H-bridge in MLIs. The voltage balance is also maintained under the discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). Thus, the PCS is also operational during light load conditions. The proposed architecture can apply the module-integrated converter (MIC) concept to perform distributed MPPT. The proposed architecture is analyzed and verified for a 7-level asymmetric MLI, using simulation results and a hardware implementation.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.95-96
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• 2015

In this paper, a single-sourced PV PCS using the trinary asymmetric MLI with a single-ended pre-regulator is proposed. Trinary based asymmetric CHB inverters provide higher output levels for the same number of cells compared to other CHB inverters. However, there is an issue of regeneration with trinary asymmetric inverters and this complicates the system with requirement of bi-directional converters at the input. Modified commutation strategies have been used to remove the regeneration issue with compromise in THD. The single-ended pre-regulator provides the isolated dc-link voltage for the individual H-bridge cells with the advantage of having a single switch and magnetic component. This implementation increases the magnetic utilization of the inductor core and reduces the switching loss in the pre-regulator and also the reduced parts count contributes to the cost competiveness of the proposed PCS. The proposed PV PCS has been verified using simulation results in this paper.