Performance Assessment of Eight-Switch 11-Level Packed U Cell Converter Under Dynamic Solar Photovoltaic Environment

This article presents a new 11-level packed U cell (PUC) converter with less active switches for solar photovoltaic (PV) applications. This PUC converter comprises eight active switches with two capacitors and a PV array. Compared to the existing topology, the proposed topology has the ability to attain 11 levels in converter output voltage, with fewer active switches. The operating modes of the 11-level PUC converter are discussed. A single-phase active and reactive power (PQ) control with the capacitor voltage balancing is incorporated for grid-tied configuration. The maximum power point tracking (MPPT) using perturb and observe is used from the PV array. The balancing of floating capacitors is achieved by proportional–integral (PI) controllers. This helps in achieving desired converter voltage levels. Conduction and switching losses are calculated for the efficiency of the system. Eleven-level PUC converter performance is analyzed in steady-state and dynamic conditions using the OPAL-RT test bench.