Cascaded multilevel inverter control considering low harmonic content based on comparison study between firefly and Newton Raphson Algorithm

This paper deals with the control design of an asymmetrical cascaded multilevel inverter. This structure therefore provides the capability to produce higher voltages at higher speeds with low switching frequency which has inherent low switching losses and high converter efficiency. Selective harmonic elimination(SHE) for asymmetrical multilevel CHB inverter control is proposed. The technique utilized in the estimation of switching angles involves Firefly Algorithm (FFA). Compared to Newton Raphson algorithm (NR), FFA is more robust and entails less computation time. Simulation results prove the effectiveness of FFA technique compared to NR algorithm. The proposed method does effectively eliminate a number of specific low order harmonics, and the output voltage is resulted in low total harmonic distortion. FFA and NR algorithm for asymmetrical cascaded H-bridge nine level inverter control are experimentally tested on a prototype using FPGA.