A new symmetric multilevel converter topology with reduced voltage on switches and DC source

Abstract

In this paper, a new symmetric basic unit for nine-level converter is proposed and the extended version of basic unit is recommended for higher number of voltage levels. In order to show the advantages of proposed multilevel converter, the comparison results with other multilevel converters are provided. The comparisons show that the number of switches, blocked voltage on switches and the number of dc sources are reduced. To validate the performance of proposed converter, a typical 13-level converter is simulated using MATLAB/Simulink software and is tested in laboratory based prototype model.