A Novel Single Phase Multilevel Inverter Topology with Reduced Number of Switching Elements and Optimum THD Performance

In this paper, a novel single phase multilevel inverter with reduced number of switches is presented which is named as Half-height neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter. The proposed inverter consists of a single DC voltage source, a full bridge cell, switching devices, and power diodes which are half in number as compared to conventional topology. Unipolar modulation technique is used to generate switching signals for the proposed inverter, that provides optimum total harmonic distortion (THD) performance in both output voltage and current. The offered inverter topology is described with the help of a single-phase eleven-level inverter. The simulation of the topology is carried out through MATLAB/ Simulink. A comparison of the proposed topology with conventional one is also presented.