Performance Analysis of A Switched-Capacitor Based 13-Level Boost Cascaded Multilevel Inverter With Reduced Device Count

This paper introduces a cascaded 13-level multilevel inverter (MLI) based on switch capacitor (SC) technology, which inherently boosts voltage. The architecture is formed by connecting two 7-level SC-based boost MLI basic modules to create a 13-level SCMLI. Each of these 7-level modules is comprised of eight power switches, one floating capacitor, two dc- link capacitors, and a single dc source. The design of the 13-level MLI minimizes the requirement for power switches, gate drivers, floating capacitors, and dc sources. Switching pulses for this 13- level MLI are generated using the Nearest-level Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technique. Simulation of the inverter under varying modulation indices and dynamic load conditions reveals a total harmonic distortion (THD) of just 6.58% in the output voltage. This THD measurement covers a modulation index range from 0.1 to 1. Validation of the theoretical framework is carried out through MATLAB/Simulink simulations, and comparisons are drawn considering the count of power switches, capacitors, gate drivers, and dc sources.