Abstract
Integration of multilevel inverters with renewable energy sources have been the subject of many research projects. Numerous topologies of multilevel inverters have been investigated for stand-alone and grid-connected PV systems. The high number of switching devices, complexity, large size, voltage imbalance, and high cost are main drawbacks of the conventional topologies. This paper presents a new three-phase, three-port, five-level inverter based on a switched-capacitor circuit for PV applications. Compared to the conventional topologies, the proposed inverter has voltage boosting capability and multilevel operation without using clamping diodes or flying capacitors, simplifying the control algorithms and improving the reliability, efficiency, and lifetime. The presented multilevel inverter offers 25% reduction in power devices counts and 50% reduction in flying capacitors. The proposed inverter solves the capacitor voltage balancing issue of the conventional topologies and achieves the lowest voltage stress, making it suitable for high voltage applications. Additionally, the new topology harnesses the superior features of silicon-carbide devices; hence, a fast-switching speed can be employed to reduce size of the storage elements and output filter requirements. Furthermore, the soft-switching operation is realized to regulate the charging current of the capacitor. The operating principle of the proposed topology is investigated, and its properties are compared to the traditional multilevel inverters. A laboratory prototype was built to validate the effectiveness of the proposed circuit, simulation and experimental results for the proposed inverter are provided.