A modular switched-capacitor multilevel inverter featuring voltage gain ability

This article presents a modular switched-capacitor multilevel inverter which uses two capacitors and a single dc source to obtain triple voltage gain. It is worth noting that the inherent inversion capacity removes the H-bridge, which can efficaciously diminish the voltage stress of switches, and the maximum voltage stress (MVS) on devices is kept within 2Vdc. Additionally, the proposed topology is able to integrate inductive load, and the capacitor voltage self-balancing can be achieved. Moreover, the modular structure also has an expandable topology which can generate more levels and raise the voltage gain by using multiple switched-capacitor units, meanwhile the voltage stress on power switches can be kept within 2Vdc. Furthermore, comprehensive analysis and comparison with other multilevel inverters have been implemented to certify the superiority of the proposed topology. Finally, the steady-state and dynamic performance of the proposed topology is examined through a seven-level inverter prototype, the validity and practicability of the topology are verified by simulations and experiments.