A single-source switched-capacitor based 13-level sextuple boost inverter with reduced component count and low THD

A switched-capacitor-based 13-level inverter with a lesser number of components is presented in this article. The 13-level single-phase AC output voltage is achieved with a voltage gain of 6 by including a single DC source, 11 switches, 4 capacitors, and 3 diodes in the proposed converter. The self-voltage balancing is achieved for various types of load without the need for complex control schemes and auxiliary circuits. The proposed topology does not require a back-end H-bridge to generate negative polarity. This leads to a reduction in voltage stresses across the switches. Thus, total standing voltage (TSV) and the overall cost of the proposed topology are reduced as compared to the state-of-the-art topologies reported in the literature. Furthermore, an Improved Nearest Level Modulation (INLM) scheme is used to improve the power quality of the output voltage. Using the proposed scheme, the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the output voltage is reduced to 5.08%. The power loss analysis for various elements of the proposed converter is also included. A comparison with recent topologies in reference to various performance parameters is carried out. In addition to the simulation study, a laboratory prototype is prepared to validate the efficacy of the proposed converter.