Novel Level-Shifted PWM Technique for Equal Power Sharing among Quasi-Z-Source Modules in Cascaded Multilevel Inverter

Abstract

Phase-shifted pulsewidth modulation (PS-PWM) is a well-known switching technique for quasi-Z-source (qZS)-based cascaded multilevel inverters (qZS-CMI). PS-PWM ensures equal power distribution (among operating modules) and equal switchings in all the semiconductors of the every given module; however, this technique suffers from higher number of switchings. On the other hand, level-shifted pulsewidth modulation (LS-PWM) ensures optimal switching but suffers from uneven distribution of power among the all the operating modules and also all the semiconductors of the same module of qZSI. This article proposes a novel switching technique which combines the advantages of both PS-PWM and LS-PWM, such as equal power distribution (among operating modules) and optimal switching sequence along with equal switch utilization. The proposed method is phase opposed disposed PS-PWM. This article details the switching technique along with switching loss analysis and compares it with the PS-PWM technique to show its superiority. Simulation results are carried out to study the cascaded multilevel inverter (CMLI) performance. Experimental prototype is developed to validate the performance of the proposed modulation.