Five-level F-type inverter with buck-boost converter-based equalization channels

Multilevel inverters have been widely used in various applications, as they provide output voltage with better quality, lower dv/dt, and lower Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). Multilevel inverter such as Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter uses a large number of semiconductor devices (IGBTs and diodes) which negatively affects the inverter cost and efficiency. Recently, a three-level (3L) F-type inverter has been proposed with lower switch voltage stresses, cost, and losses compared to 3L T-type and NPC inverters. This paper proposes a five-level (5L) F-type inverter as an extension for the 3L F-type inverter. Like a 5L NPC inverter, the voltages of the involved dc-link capacitors should be kept at a certain voltage level. To achieve that, buck-boost converter-based Equalization Channels (ECs) are employed. To show the pros and cons of the 5L F-type inverter, a comparison between the proposed inverter and other existing multilevel inverters has been held. The numerical assessment also shows that the proposed architecture has a lower kVA rating and losses than the conventional 5L NPC inverter. Finally, different Simulation and experimental results of the proposed 5L F-type inverter are presented. The presented results show the viability of the proposed converter.