A new seven level boost-type ANPC inverter topology for photovoltaic applications

Sci Rep. 2021 Nov 18;11(1):22487. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-01669-6.

Abstract

Developing of new photovoltaic inverter topologies is received more attention in the last few years. In particular, designing an active neutral-point-clamping inverter type structure is quite popular for PV applications. The output voltage is always half of the input voltage (vin), which further increases the voltage rating of dc-link capacitors in the conventional three-level ANPC. To rectify the above problem and increase the output voltage by reducing dc-link capacitors voltage rating, a new boost type seven-level ANPC inverter topology is proposed. The proposed topology consists of seven switches and one floating capacitor. The floating capacitor voltage is self-balanced, and the output voltage is 1.5 times higher than the input voltage. A detailed comparison for some power components, power loss and cost with other existing topologies are presented. Further, the proposed topology is validated in a prototype hardware setup for different load values.