Abstract
The Multilevel inverters (MLIs) are a new breed of power electronics converters. They are primarily used for the conversion of dc power to ac power. The two-level inverters are conventionally used to obtain ac power, but it requires operating the switches under very high switching frequency. Besides, the two-level inverter necessitates the use of LC filters with the switches operating under high dv/dt stress. The MLIs offer the advantage of utilizing several dc voltage sources to generate a stepped ac waveform with the proper arrangement of switches. Investigation of a Transistor Clamped T Type H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter (TC-TT-HB-MLI) with Inverted Double Reference Single Carrier PWM Technique (IDRSCPWM) for Renewable Energy Applications are discussed in this paper. A PV source is taken as an input to the TC-TT-HB-MLI. For different modulation indices like 0.85, 1 and 1.25, the FFT analysis is performed and presented, which corresponds to the variations in the irradiations from solar energy. A single unit of the TC-TT-HB-MLI is extended to a generalized MLI structure named Generalized Transistor Clamped T-Type H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter (GTC-TT-HB-MLI). The significant benefits of GTC-TT-HB-MLI are the multiple numbers of reductions in the switch count, and driver circuit counts for a higher number of MLI levels. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis is carried out on the MLI output to calculate the total harmonics distortion (THD). The experimental verification is performed using SPARTAN 3E-XCS250E; the gate signals are generated and provided to the switches.