A New Switched Capacitor Based Multi-Level Inverter with Fewer Capacitors

This article introduces a new multilevel that is 17-level inverter. This circuit contains 14 switches, 2 diodes, 3 capacitors and a DC source. Each cycle contains 18 steps, including two steps at the zero crossing. Due to the self-polarity nature of the proposed topology, no H-bridge is necessary. The pulse width modulation approach is used to generate gate pulses from logic gates while also balancing the power across the capacitors. A prototype is constructed to experimentally verify the result. The superiority of this topology is demonstrated by comparison with other similar-level topologies. In addition, a diode and an inductor are connected in a way that reduces the short-circuit capacitance current.