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Introduction to Multilevel Inverters

A complete step by step tutorial on Introduction to
Multilevel Inverters
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December 22, 2014 1 Comment Electrical Projects

By Syed Zain Nasir

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LV&MV Drive
Expert
 Hello

friends, today’s tutorial is about multilevel inverters, which

is quite a wide field so I am not gonna discuss everything
here. I will post more about it in my coming tutorials. Today,
I am gonna through some light on multilevel inverter, i.e.
how they operates and will also discuss their types in
detail. So, let’s start it.

An inverter, also named as power inverter, is an electrical

power device which is used to convert direct current (DC)
into alternating current (AC). Using few control circuits and
switches, one can get AC at any required voltage and
frequency. Inverter plays exactly the opposite role of
Learn Fre
rectifiers as rectifiers are used for converting alternating
current (AC) into direct current (DC). There are different   RSS   G+
types of inverters available these days. Few most
commonly used inverter types are: Receive Quality Tuto
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Square wave inverters
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Modified sine wave inverters

Multilevel inverters

Pure sine wave inverters CATEGORIES

Resonant inverters
Arduino Projects
Grid tie inverters

Synchronous inverters PIC Microcontroller

Stand-alone inverters
Proteus Projects
Solar inverters

We have designed a 3 level Diode Clamped Multilevel Visual Studio 2010

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INTRODUCTION TO MULTILEVEL INVERTER

A multilevel inverter is a power electronic device which is

capable of providing desired alternating voltage level at the
output using multiple lower level DC voltages as an input. schleich.
Mostly a two-level inverter is used in order to generate the
AC voltage from DC voltage. Now the question arises
what’s the need of using multilevel inverter when we have
two-level inverter. In order to answer this question, first we
need to look at the concept of multilevel inverter. SUPPORT US !!!

CONCEPT OF MULTILEVEL INVERTER

First take the case of a two-level inverter. A two-level

Inverter creates two different voltages for the load i.e.
suppose we are providing Vdc as an input to a two level
inverter then it will provide + Vdc/2 and – Vdc/2 on output.
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In order to build an AC voltage, these two newly generated
voltages are usually switched. For switching mostly PWM
is used as shown in the Figure 2.1, reference wave is
shown in dashed blue line. Although this method of
creating AC is effective but it has few drawbacks as it
creates harmonic distortions in the output voltage and also
The Enginee
has a high dv/dt as compared to that of a multilevel 18,656 likes
inverter. Normally this method works but in few
applications it creates problems particularly those where
low distortion in the output voltage is required. Like Page

Be the first of your friends t

PWM voltage output of a two-level inverter

The concept of multilevel Inverter (MLI) is kind of

Syed Zain
modification of two-level inverter. In multilevel inverters we
google.com/+Sye
don’t deal with the two level voltage instead in order to
create a smoother stepped output waveform, more than
two voltage levels are combined together and the output 469 follow
waveform obtained in this case has lower dv/dt and also
lower harmonic distortions. Smoothness of the waveform The En
is proportional to the voltage levels, as we increase the
voltage level the waveform becomes smoother but the
complexity of controller circuit and components also + 231

increases along with the increased levels. The waveform

for the three, five and seven level inverters is shown in the
Figure 2.2 where we clearly see that as the levels are
increasing, waveform becoming smoother.

A three-level waveform, a _ve-level waveform and a seven-

level multilevel waveform, switched at fundamental
 frequency

MULTILEVEL INVERTER TOPOLOGIES

There are several topologies of multilevel inverters

available. The difference lies in the mechanism of
switching and the source of input voltage to the multilevel
inverters. Three most commonly used multilevel inverter
topologies are:

Cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters

Diode Clamped multilevel inverters

Flying Capacitor multilevel inverters

1. CASCADED H-BRIDGE MULTILEVEL
INVERTERS

This inverter uses several H-bridge inverters connected in

series to provide a sinusoidal output voltage. Each cell
contains one H-bridge and the output voltage generated by
this multilevel inverter is actually the sum of all the
voltages generated by each cell i.e. if there are k cells in a
H-bridge multilevel inverter then number of output voltage
levels will be 2k+1. This type of inverter has advantage over
the other two as it requires less number of components as
compared to the other two types of inverters and so its
overall weight and price is also less. Figure 2.3 shows a k
level cascaded H-bridge inverter.
 One phase of a cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter

In single phase inverter, each phase is connected to single

dc source. Each level generates three voltages which are
positive, negative and zero. This can be obtained by
connecting the AC source with the DC output and then
using different combinations of the four switches. The
inverter will remain ON when two switches with the
opposite positions will remain ON. It will turn OFF when all
the inverters switch ON or OFF. To minimize the total
harmonic distortion, switching angles are defined and
implemented. The calculations for the measurement of
switching angle will remain the same. This inventor can be
categorized further into the following types:

5 levels cascaded H Bridge Multilevel Inverter

9 levels cascaded H Bridge Multilevel Inverter

In 5 level cascaded H Bridge Multilevel Inverters, Two H

Bridge Inverters are cascaded. It has 5 levels of output and
uses 8 switching devices to control whereas in 9 level
cascaded H Bridge Multilevel Inverters, Four H Bridge
Invertors are cascaded. It has 9 output levels and use and
use 16 switching devices.

Applications of Cascaded H-bridge Multilevel

Inverters

Cascaded H Bridge Multilevel Inverters are mostly used for

static var applications i.e., in renewable resources’ of
energy and battery based applications. Cascaded H Bridge
Multilevel Inverters can be applied as a delta or wye form.
This can be understood by looking at the work done by
Peng where he used an electrical system parallel with a
Cascade H Bridge. Here inverter is being controlled by
regulating the power factor. Best application is when we
used as photovoltaic cell or fuel cell. This is the example of
Parallel connectivity of the H Bridge Multilevel Inverter.

Example of 3 phase Wye Connection

  H Bridge can also be used in car batteries to run the

electrical components of the car. Also this can be used in
electrical braking system of the vehicles.

Scientist and engineers have also proposed the

multiplicative factor on Cascade H Bridge Multilevel. It
means that rather than using a dc voltage with difference in
levels, it uses a multiplying factor between different levels
of the multilevel i.e., every level is a multiplying factor of the
previous one.

Advantages of Cascade H Bridge Multilevel Inverters

1. Output voltages levels are doubled the number of
sources
2. Manufacturing can be done easily and quickly
3. Packaging and Layout is modularized.
4. Easily controllable with a transformer as shown in the
Fig 2.5
5. Cheap

Cascaded Inverter with transformer

Disadvantages of Cascade H Bridge Multilevel

Inverters

Every H Bridge needs a separate dc source

Limited applications due to large number of sources

2. DIODE CLAMPED MULTILEVEL INVERTERS

Diode clamped multilevel inverters use clamping diodes in

order to limit the voltage stress of power devices. It was
first proposed in 1981 by Nabae, Takashi and Akagi and it
is also known as neutral point converter. A k level diode
clamped inverter needs (2k – 2) switching devices, (k – 1)
input voltage source and (k – 1) (k – 2) diodes in order to
operate. Vdc is the voltage present across each diode and
the switch. Single phase diode clamped multilevel inverter
is shown in the figure below:
 One phase of a diode clamped inverter

The concept of diode clamped inverter can better be

understood by looking into three phase six level diode
clamped inerter. Here the common dc bus is shared by all
the phases, use five capacitors and six levels. Each
capacitor has a voltage of Vdc and same is the voltage limit
of switching devices. One important fact should be noted
while considering the diode clamped inverter is that five
switches will remain ON at any time. Six level, three phase
dc clamped multilevel inverter is shown in the figure below.
 Six level three phase inverter

Outputs of each phase can be understood by the following

table. Here reference voltage is the negative Vo. Condition
0 means switch is OFF and vice versa. Output waveforms
of six level dc clamped inverter is shown below:

Waveform of Six Level Inverter

 Vab is the voltage due to the phase lag b and a voltage.

Applications of Diode Clamped Multilevel Inverters

The most common application of diode clamped multilevel

inverter is when a high voltage Dc and Ac transmission
lines are interfaced. This can also be used in variable speed
control of high power drives. Static variable compensation
is also an application of diode clamped multilevel inverters.

Advantages of Diode Clamped Multilevel Inverters

Capacitance of the capacitors used is low.

Back to back inverters can be used.

Capacitors are pre charged.

At fundamental frequency, efficiency is high.

Disadvantages of Diode Clamped Multilevel Inverters

Clamping diodes are increased with the increase of

each level.

Dc level will discharge when control and monitoring

are not precise.

3. FLYING CAPACITOR MULTILEVEL INVERTERS

The configuration of this inverter topology is quite similar

to previous one except the difference that here flying
capacitors is used in order to limit the voltage instead of
diodes. The input DC voltages are divided by the capacitors
here. The voltage over each capacitor and each switch is
Vdc. A k level flying capacitor inverter with (2k – 2)
switches will use (k – 1) number of capacitors in order to
operate. Figure below shows a five level flying capacitor
multilevel inverter.
 Leave a message

A Flying Capacitor Multilevel Inverter with five voltage

levels

If we compare above figures, it shows that the number of

switches, main diodes and DC-bus capacitors are same in
both the cases. The only difference between the two
topologies is that the previous one uses clamping diodes in
order to limit the voltage while this topology uses flying
capacitors for this purpose, and as capacitors are
incapable of blocking the reverse voltage, which diodes do,
the number of switches also increases. Voltage on each
capacitor is differing from the next as it has a ladder
structure. Voltage difference between two back to back
capacitors determines the voltage in the output frame.

Advantages of Flying Capacitor Multilevel Inverters

Static var generation is the best application of Capacitor

Clamped Multilevel Inverters.

For balancing capacitors’ voltage levels, phase

redundancies are available.

We can control reactive and real power flow.

Disadvantages of Flying Capacitor Multilevel

Inverters

Voltage control is difficult for all the capacitors

Complex startup

Switching efficiency is poor

 Capacitors are expansive than diodes

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About the author

Syed Zain Nasir

I am Syed Zain Nasir, the founder of The
Engineering Projects (TEP). I am a
programmer since 2009 before that I just
search things, make small projects and
now I am sharing my knowledge through
 this platform.I also work as a freelancer
and did many projects related to
programming and electrical circuitry. My
Google Profile+

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1 Comment

January 18, 2015 at 8:18 am Reply

Gayathri

“Introduction to Multilevel
Inverters”,was a really useful article.
Was searching for these concepts
for long. Great Job!
 I am currently working on these kind
of inverter topologies as a part of my
course at a private institution, but
often get stuck in designing the
pulse buttons for these inverters as I
am not aware of the way the
switches function in each topology.
It would be great if you could help
me in designing the pulse buttons
using MATLAB and SIMULINK for all
the topologies mentioned in this
article .

Thanks,
Gayathri

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