Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

An assessment of recent multilevel inverter topologies with reduced power

electronics components for renewable applications
⁎
Jagabar Sathik Mohd.Ali , Vijayakumar Krishnaswamy
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur Campus, Kancheepuram 603203, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The combination of multilevel inverter with renewable energy source power generation is paid more attention
Multilevel inverter among the researchers, because multilevel inverters are widely accepted power converters in for high-power
Photovoltaic system applications. The conventional multilevel inverters are highly implemented in industries, and the success of this
Wind energy power conversion has motivated to create newer topologies with the reduced overall power electronics components. In this paper,
Reduced switches
recent multilevel inverter topologies with reduced number of switches are taken into account and to find a
Renewable energy applications
suitable topology for photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy applications. Finally, this paper gives a pathway for the
upcoming researchers to consider the design issues and challenges in the development of new multilevel inverter
topologies.

1. Introduction
The present fossil fuels power generation is not able to meet power
demand due to limitations of high fuel cost, environmental pollutions
(CO2 emission), lower generation efficiency, and unavailability of fuels.
In order to resolve these problems, renewable energy source-based
power generations are encouraged by developing and developed
countries. The photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy power conversion
systems are considered as alternative energy sources due to their nat-
ural ambiguity in climate variations [1–3]. The several power converter
topologies, control techniques, and maximum power tracking methods
are introduced to harvest the highly efficient power from renewable
energy sources [4,5]. The graphical representation of photovoltaic and
wind power conversion is shown in Fig. 1a and b, respectively.
The two-level inverters are mostly used in utility applications and
small-scale industries [6]. For high-power applications, two-level in-
verters are not suitable, and it produces high voltage stress, high tem-
perature, and low efficiency [7]. Multilevel inverters are the best choice
for high-power and large-scale grid-connected renewable energy
system, and it produces low total harmonics distortion and low main-
tenance [8]. From DC voltage source to various levels of inverter and
corresponding output voltage waveforms are shown in Fig. 2a–d. The
first multilevel inverter is a patent on 1974 by a baker (author of the
multilevel inverter), and the cascaded connection of H-bridge produce
synthesized staircase waveform as explained. The series connection of
isolated dc sources can be added together to generate stepped wave-
form that is detailed in [9], and the same author has introduced a new
configuration that uses a single dc source with splitting capacitors and
clamped diode to generate a stepped waveform which is presented in
the patent on 1981 [10] as shown in Fig. 3a-b. Followed by this, Nabae
has introduced a new multilevel inverter which replaced clamped diode
with clamped capacitor as depicted in Fig. 3c. Cascaded H-bridge,
neutral point clamp and flying capacitor topologies are called as con-
ventional multilevel inverter topologies, and advantages and dis-
advantages of these inverters are well studied in [11–13] and also few
of them are listed in Table 1:
These inverters are widely used in low-power to high-power appli-
cations, which include automotive application, traction application,
variable speed drive, renewable energy conversion, and utility inter-
facing which include HVDC, FACTS, active filter [14,15]. Multilevel
inverters are more suitable for large drive applications because it pro-
vides volt-ampere-rated and/or high-voltage motor drives with higher
efficiency because these devices can be switched at minimum fre-
quency, power factor is close to unity, NPC is used as a rectifier to
convert generated ac to dc, no EMI problem or common-mode voltage/
current problem exists, and no charge unbalance problem results when
the converters are in either charge mode (rectification) or drive mode
(inversion) [16]. Various renewable energy sources are available, but
most of the multilevel inverters are presented for PV and wind energy,
in this way this paper also focuses on PV and wind energy conversion
with multilevel inverter topologies and also on PV and wind energy
conversion systems. Wind energy power conversion using NPC topology
is more suitable for back-back operation. Various PV inverters are
available in industry [17,18], even though for large-scale power plants,

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jagabarsathik@gmail.com (J.S. Mohd.Ali), kvijay_srm@rediffmail.com (V. Krishnaswamy).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.10.052
Received 4 October 2016; Received in revised form 13 July 2017; Accepted 26 October 2017
1364-0321/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Mohd. Ali, J.S., Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.10.052
J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy
Fig. 2. (a) Input DC voltage, (b) Two-level inverter, (c) Three-level inverter and (d) m-
level inverter of single-phase leg with corresponding output voltage waveform.
the multilevel inverters provide high efficiency and low maintenance.
Hybrid renewable energy source for 5-level inverter topology is pro-
posed in [19], and this topology has numerous advantages like simple
structure, single input source, elimination of clamping diodes and ca-
pacitor banks. Independent dc link voltage control, maximum power
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Fig. 1. Graphical representation of various power
conversion stages for (a) photovoltaic system and (b)
wind energy.
point tracking with each panels in different conditions, and high-power
quality output voltage to the grid are proposed with quasi Z source-CHB
in [20,21] and a new modulation technique is proposed to mitigate the
voltage harmonics in CHB multilevel inverter. Feasible multistring to-
pology for PV system is proposed in [22]. CHB topology is widely used
in PV applications due to independent voltage control, MPPT tracking
in each string, increasing efficiency, increasing reliability, and reducing
leakage current [23]. Other than these, by adding magnetic coupling in
each h-bridge module to mitigate the input current harmonics including
interharmonics [24], PV-connected CHB topology is facing over-
modulation problem due to non-uniform variation of irradiations. In
order to eliminate this problem, a new decoupled active and reactive
power control strategy is implemented in [25] for large-scale PV sys-
tems. Simplified space vector modulation technique is used to improve
the voltage harmonic profile for grid-connected NPC multilevel inverter
[26]. In [27], a new control and modulation technique is introduced
and implemented in NPC to significantly improve the power quality,
independent voltage control of each panel, extracting maximum power
from PV, and also the partial shading and mismatch problems. Control
algorithm with new dc/dc converter topology is proposed to balance
the dc link voltage in NPC multilevel inverter, this increases the output
voltage and power quality of the load [27,28], new fundamental fre-
quency for small-scale standalone PV system is proposed, and the fun-
damental frequency method offers simple and high efficiency compared
to conventional methods and also there are some other literatures
available where the various aspects of multilevel inverters are pre-
sented in [29,30]. Multiwinding transformer is used in input side with
bridge rectifier to provide the dc voltage to CHB inverter and increase
the dc link capacitance and improve the harmonics, reduce the voltage
stress, and even distribution of power, but it requires high-cost capa-
citors [31]. In wind turbines, the CHB topology has a common draw-
back of larger weight and volume due to multiwinding transformer at
the input side [32,33]. Another approach has been made in [34–36];
galvanic isolated dc/dc converters are used with increased frequency of
transformer from several kHz, which minimizes the transformer size
and increases the output voltage quality without filter. Other than
these, several approaches are made to improve the wind energy power
conversion using CHB topology with or without input transformer
J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Fig. 3. Single-phase conventional multilevel inverters (a) Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB), (b) Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) and (c) Flying Capacitor (FC).

Table 1
Advantages of multilevel inverters.

S.No Description Remarks

1. dv/dt (voltage) stress Maximum blocking voltage across all the swicthes is Vdc which minimizes the dv/dt stress.
2. LC filters The number of levels increases, the output voltage becomes close to sinusoidal, and it reduces the THD
3. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) The each switch carries low power and reduces the EMI in power circuit.
4. Redundant states It offers different switching combinations for each output voltage levels
5. Output voltage levels Generate both odd and even levels
6. Symmetric and asymmetric configuration The symmetric configuration requires equal dc source magnitude, but in asymmetric configuration, unequal dc source
magnitude (CHB only topology has asymmetric configuration).
7. Power sharing among the switch Equal load power sharing among all the switches.

[37–39]. In wind power conversion, the CHB topology gains more at-
tention due to easy replacement of the faulty module or power cells,
modular structure, higher number of lower dc link voltage, reduced
THD, and no need of filters in the output side. Finally, the number of
level increases the required low-voltage device to attain the medium
voltage at the output. However, CHB topology requires multiple iso-
lated dc source, which is not fed straightforward in wind power gen-
eration, and it needs heavy and large transformer with multiwinding to
feed the voltage to dc link capacitor, and other than these, several
configurations of CHB-based wind power generation is discussed in
[40]. The number of auxiliary capacitors is high in FC multilevel in-
verter, which reduces the reliability and is not suitable to control the
real power. NPC multilevel inverter is more suitable for wind generator
because it offers back-to-back configuration, which reduces the re-
quirement of transformer, but it may need voltage balancing circuits for
dc link capacitors, and these renewable energy source–based power
conversion is detailed. Simulation study for malfunction of blade pitch
control for NPC back-to-back configuration is taken into account for
analyzing the stability condition and, the stored energy in capacitor is
continued till the power conversion is recovered to normal operation
[41,42]. However, the unique drawback of conventional topologies are
increasing switch count which may increase the number of driver cir-
cuits, layout size, cooling system, connecting wires, complexity in pulse
generation etc. These parameters are affecting the reliability of the
inverter and increasing the cost. In order to minimize the switch count
various novel topologies are proposed in the literatures. Various para-
meters considered to evaluate the performance of each topology are
discussed with pros and cons. In this paper, an attempt is made to
identify the suitability of those topologies for photovoltaic and wind
energy systems.
The paper is constructed as follows: In Section 2: The various con-
figuration of photovoltaic and wind energy system is discussed with
advantages and disadvantages. In Section 3, the classification of recent
multilevel inverter and various evaluation parameters are focused with
various losses presented in multilevel inverters. The various config-
uration of photovoltaic and wind energy system is evaluated for suit-
ability of each topology is presented in Section 4. The various com-
parison charts are provided and design issues and challenges of
multilevel inverter is presented in Section 5. Finally in Section 6, the
summary of the paper is discussed with suggestions for the upcoming
researcher to develop a novel multilevel inverter topologies to suit the
renewable power applications.
2. PV and wind power conversion method
In this section, details of different possibilities to provide an input to
the multilevel inverter are discussed.
2.1. Different configurations for photovoltaic power conversion
Various PV array connection configurations are proposed in [43]
such as simple series, series/parallel, total cross-tied, bridge-linked, and
honeycomb connection. Among these connections, most commonly
used method series and series/parallel connections are discussed. The

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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy
series connection of PV panels is known as single string, and these
strings are connected in parallel to form an array. PV array directly
affects the structure and power converter topology, which includes dc/
dc converter and dc/ac inverter. The cost and efficiency of PV plant is a
combination of both type power converters and MPPT method [44]. In
power conversion system, the MPPT tracking is very important to
maintain the maximum power at the PV output, and various MPPT
tracking methods are presented in [45,46]. Basically, the photovoltaic
system configuration is classified into four types [47] and each type is
depicted in Fig. 4a–d.
(a) Central Inverter System
The centralized inverter is a single string which consists of several
series connection of photovoltaic panels together to avoid further
voltage amplification, and these series connections of PV panels are
called as string. To reach high power, each string is connected in
parallel with string diode. All the PV modules are connected is
series/parallel combination to avoid further amplification.
However, when the irradiance goes down, the output voltage of PV
module should be amplified by using DC/DC converter and fed to
the inverter. In this case, all the PV modules are connected to give a
single input to the inverter.
(b) String Inverter:
Each single string is connected with individual inverters and ad-
vantages are no need of string diode, each inverter ratings are low,
and flexible operation because each string is connected in-
dependently, easy to achieve the MPPT with partial shadowing
compensation techniques, and finally improves the efficiency.
(c) Multistring Inverter:
Several single strings are connected with individual dc /dc con-
verter for separate MPPT tracking, and all the dc/dc converter
output is connected to the single or centralized inverter and this
method is called multistring configuration. This method is a com-
bination of both central inverter and string inverter configurations.
(d) AC module or Integrated Module:
Simple and reliable configuration but high amplification is required
in this method. Each PV module is directly connected to the inverter
to produce the desired output at the load. MPPT method and partial
shadowing techniques are implemented for individual PV modules.
In Table 2, the advantages and disadvantages of each inverter type
are listed, the module-integrated inverter types produce maximum
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Fig. 4. (a) Centralized Inverter system (b)
Single-String (c) Multistring (d) AC
Modules.
efficiency compared to other techniques, but the initial cost is also
high with high maintenance [48].
Combinations of PV configurations and two-level inverters are ap-
plicable to medium-power applications. In order to produce high
power, two-level inverters are not suitable due to high stress across the
switches. In large-scale power plant, the multilevel inverters are the
alternate choice to produce high-efficiency power at the load and in-
stead of two-level inverter; the multilevel inverters are replaced in these
four PV configurations. PV configurations for multilevel inverters with
non-isolated and isolated dc sources are shown in Fig. 5.
2.1.1. Different configurations for wind energy conversion
The wind energy is the best alternate energy source to produce
power, the output voltage of wind energy is not constant, and this re-
quires different power converter topologies to main the constant output
voltage before feeding to the transformer. In order to main the constant
output voltage, AC/AC (matrix converter) and AC/DC/AC methods are
used. The AC/AC converter is more complex pulse generation, and it
needs high-end digital controller, whereas AC/DC/AC requires more
number of components and is highly reliable compared to AC/AC
topologies. In this paper, only AC/DC/AC-based topologies are con-
sidered. The uncontrolled rectifier is used to convert the AC/DC and
output the rectifier fed to the input of conventional boost converter to
increase the desired output voltage, and the boosted output voltage is
fed to the multilevel inverter to produce the stepped output voltage
waveform with reduced total harmonic distortion to meet grid re-
quirements. The two different configurations of multilevel inverter-
based AC/DC/AC converters are illustrated in Fig. 6.
In wind energy conversion system, different power converter topolo-
gies are used, especially in the AC/DC conversion, various rectifier
topologies are used based on the site requirements and wind speed. Three-
phase uncontrolled rectifier is cheaper, and no control circuits are re-
quired, and it is good for high wind speed. Simple and low-cost method is
achieved by using DC/DC converter after rectification which may meet the
grid voltage even at low wind speed but high current harmonics in the
generation side may increase the heat inside the generator and torque
oscillations and reduce the overall efficiency [96]. Other than these, sev-
eral approaches have been made for improving the efficiency of AC/DC
converter like three-output phase-shift transformer, 18-pulse rectifier, and
three reconfigurable boost converters [49].
J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Table 2
Various Characteristics of PV Inverters [49].

Fig. 5. Photovoltaic Panel Configuration for Multilevel Inverter

with (a) Non-isolated dc source and (b) Isolated dc sources.

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Fig. 6. (a) Single DC Source (b) Multi DC source with multiwinding transformer.

3. Multilevel inverter topologies with reduced switch count
Few multilevel inverter topologies are with reduced number of
switches are already implemented in the industrial application [50],
and most of the topologies are not suitable for industrial applications.
However, the process of new multilevel inverter will continue up to
reaching an optimal structure. Classification of reduced switch count in
multilevel inverter topologies is shown in Fig. 7, and these topologies
differ from their structure, components used, and dc sources. Lot of
literature is found on reduced switch count multilevel inverters based
on H-bridge, packed H-bridge, packed U-Cell, and transformer type.
The generalized structure of each recent multilevel inverter topologies
based on their classification is shown in Fig. 8. In multilevel inverter,
different connections of switches are used [51,52], and most common
type is single switch with antiparallel diode as shown in Fig. 9a and
mostly seen all the topologies. Fig. 9b–d shows bidirectional switches
that conduct in both the directions. Single switch is enclosed with four
diodes as depicted in Fig. 9b, and this type of switch is simple to

Fig. 7. Classification of new multilevel inverter topologies based on their structure.

Fig. 8. a–d Different type of switch configurations

are used in multilevel inverters.

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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Fig. 9. (a) Generalized H-Bridge-based multilevel inverter, (b) Generalized Packed H-Bridge-based multilevel inverters, (c) Generalized Packed U-Cell-type-based multilevel inverters, (d)
Generalized Transformer-type-based multilevel inverters and other topologies (e) “E”-Type multilevel inverter and (f) “T”-Type multilevel inverter.

control, low switching losses, and good reverse blocking capability, but • Number of On state Switches
conduction loss is high. In Fig. 9c and d, the series connection of two • Redundant State
single switches is shown with common collector and common emitter (B) Based on the Blocking Voltage
configuration, respectively. Common collector configuration has high • Blocking Voltage of Individual Switches
switching losses, and it needs two separate gate driver circuits to turn • Maximum Blocking Voltage
the switches, but in case of common emitter type, it requires single gate • Number of Maximum Blocking Voltage Switches
driver circuit to turn on. The researchers are changing the position of • Total Blocking Voltage
switches without disturbing the quality of the output voltage. (C) Based on isolated and Non-isolated sources
• Number of DC sources/Capacitors
3.1. General evaluation parameters for multilevel inverter • Number of Variety of DC sources
(D) Based on The configuration
However, the main aim of this study is to identify the recent mul- • Symmetric Configuration
tilevel inverter topology suitable for PV and wind energy conversion • Asymmetric Configuration
system. The conventional multilevel inverters require large numbers of (E) Other components
power switches which may further increase the layout of circuits and • Number of Diodes
cost of the inverter, but these topologies are considered as a benchmark • Number of Gate Driver Circuits
of dc/ac power converter in power electronics societies. In order to • Voltage Balancing Circuits
reduce the power switches, various power engineering researchers are • Multiwinding Transformer in Output side
developing new multilevel inverter topologies to meet the advantages
of multilevel inverter, but most of the recent multilevel inverter (A) Based on The Number of Switch Count
topologies are not satisfied. To identify the maximum advantages of the In the recent few decades, the researchers are focusing toward the
various topologies in terms of their need and cost are considered in this multilevel inverter with reduced power switches. This results in the
section. To validate this, various parameters are considered in this development of a more novel structure in multilevel inverter with
section. The evaluations of multilevel inverter are mainly focused based various approaches to reduce the power switches. Day by day, the
on the requirements of the components (such as number of switch, dc topologies are getting improved and finally moving toward the optimal
sources, diode, gate driver circuits, and transformers), configuration, topology to satisfy the multilevel inverter requirements or to meet the
and blocking voltage of switches. These parameters are identified as industrial requirement. However, the recent topologies are to be re-
important key areas for designing a new multilevel inverter circuits, viewed based on their structure and arrangement of switches and re-
and other practical implementation issues are not discussed in this commend the suitable topologies to fit for PV /wind energy conversion
paper. The detailed views of each parameter are discussed as follows: system. Most of the researchers developed topologies to reduce the
switches and maximum blocking voltage of switches. In this section, the
(A) Based on the Number of Switch Count effect of a number of switches is discussed.
•Number of Switch Count The number of switch and maximum blocking voltage of switches is
•Switching and Conduction losses inversely proportional. If the switches are reduced, the maximum

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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy
blocking voltage will increase. The number of switches added in the
circuit degrades the reliability of the inverter and increases the in-
stallation space and more complex switching scheme. The losses asso-
ciated with switch count are switching losses and conduction losses.
The conduction losses depend on the number of switches turn on for
each output voltage level, and the switching losses depend on the
number of times the switches are turned on and off per cycle, (i.e the
switching frequency and switch count). Here, the switching frequency
is kept constant, the switches vary in quantity. Increase in the number
of switch count leads to production of the maximum redundant state,
which supports to provide the redundant path for different voltage le-
vels.
Switching and conduction losses: Controlled power semiconductor
devices always produce two major losses: conduction losses (PC) and
switching losses (PSW),
The total power loss in power semiconductor device is
PLOSS = PC + PSW (1)
The conduction loss depends on the current through the switch with
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
resistance of semiconductor materials used in the switches. In this,
maximum topologies are derived with antiparallel diode. It is necessary
to calculate the conduction loss across the antiparallel diode; Eqs. (3)
and (4) give the conduction losses across the switch (PC,T) and diode
(PC,D), respectively.
PC = PC,T + PC,D (2)
PC,T = [Von, T (t ) + RT . I β (t )]. I (t ) (3)
PC, D = [Von, D (t ) + RD . I (t )]. I (t ) (4)
β is the constant specification-related transistor and it is available in the
manufacturer data sheet; Von,T and Von,D are the constant parameters,
on state voltage of transistor and diode, respectively.
The expression for energy loss during the turn on (EON) and turn off
(EOFF) of switch is:
Voff . I . toff
EOFF =
6 (5)
Voff . I . ton
EON =
6 (6)
where ton and toff are on and off state time of switches, Voff is the voltage
across the switches in off state.
PSW = 2f (EON + EOFF) (7)
The above Eqs. (5) and (6) give the energy losses for one switch and
the resultant Eq. (7) gives switching loss of single switch; in order to
calculate the switching losses for all the switches presented in multi-
level inverter, Eq. (8) is used.
k
⎛ ⎞
PSW = 2f ⎜ ∑ EON, i + EOFF, i⎟,
⎝ i = 1 ⎠ (8)
where k is the ith switch of the multilevel inverter
However, both conduction and switching losses depend on the
voltage and current ratings of switches, but in recent topologies, the
voltage rating of switches is variable and current is equal in all the
switches. The voltage ratings of switches are chosen based on the
blocking voltage across the switches.
B. Based on the maximum blocking voltage
Maximum blocking voltage is another important parameter to
evaluate the multilevel inverter. The voltage stress (dv/dt stress) across
the switches depends on the blocking voltage of switches. Blocking
voltage is increased to produce more switching losses; the switches
need high protection circuits and also more cooling system to be pro-
vided. The dv/dt stress is one of the major issues considered in high-
power applications. To avoid dv/dt stress, specially designed snubber
circuits are to be used and also the high value of isolation circuit is
needed between the switches and controller. The maximum blocking
voltage across the switches should be Vdc, where Vdc is base value.
Blocking voltage of switches increase the topology use for low number
of switches and vice versa.
J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy
C. Based on the isolated and non-isolated dc sources
DC source of multilevel inverter plays vital role to produce the
synthesized stepped waveform at the output. These sources are classi-
fied into groups based on the structure of multilevel inverter, which are
(i) isolated dc sources can also be called as separate dc source, and (ii)
non-isolated dc source is single dc source with multiple dc link capa-
citors. The single dc source with multiple dc link capacitors reduces the
cost of the inverter, but the voltage balancing circuits is needed, and it
has limited advantages over separate dc source. The separate dc source
does not require any additional balancing circuit, but it needs more
number of dc voltage sources.
Capacitor losses: In power electronics circuits, the most common
failure component is dc link capacitor, which has losses based on heat
dissipation and reduces the reliability of system. The major capacitor
losses are due to voltage stress, excessive operating voltage, reverse
voltage, and excessive ripple current. These factors influence increased
dissipation factors of the capacitors as presented in [53], and capacitor
designs are considered based on the reliability, and life time capacitor is
based on their applications [54].
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
R
tan δ = = ωCR
1/ ωC
ω = 2πf , π − Circular Constant, f − Frequency (9)
R- Equivalent series resistance of capacitor
(D) Based on the Configurations
In order to produce higher number of output voltage level, required
numbers of switches are chosen based on the configuration of the
topologies. These configurations are divided into two types (i) sym-
metric configuration and (ii) asymmetric configuration. The symmetric
configuration does not require different voltage ratings of switches
because equal dc source magnitude is required. Asymmetric config-
uration required unequal dc source magnitude to produce stepped
output voltage waveform.
The generalized formula to determine the number of level in terms
of dc source/dc link capacitor is expressed as:
Number of Level = 2n + 1, n − number of dc source . (10)
Eq. (10) is only suitable for the symmetric configuration; for
asymmetric configuration, the number of level depends on the magni-
tude of source, which is normally in geometric progression like binary
or trinary values. Most of the multilevel inverter topologies are pro-
posed for both symmetric and asymmetric configurations. The sym-
metric configuration-based topologies should generate both odd and
even levels, which can be determined by Eq. (11).
m−1
Odd or Even Level = , where m is the number of level
2 (11)
J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

The number of gate driver circuits depends on the two factors (i)
structure of topology and (ii) type of switch used in these topologies
(either unidirectional or bidirectional switch). Reliability and cost of
the circuits also depend on the number of driver circuits presented
in the topology.
3. Voltage Balancing Circuits
Most of the non-isolated dc source topologies require voltage bal-
ancing circuits to maintain the constant dc link capacitor voltage.
The voltage balancing circuit will add the extra cost to the multi-
level inverter.
4. Multiwinding Transformer in output side
In order to generate the stepped voltage level from single dc source,
multiwinding transformers are used in output side. The multi-
winding transformer may have equal or different turn ratio in the
secondary winding. Designing of different turn ratio of winding is
more difficult, which further leads to increase in the losses, cost of
the inverter, and size of the inverter because the low-frequency
transformer is used in output side.

Transformer losses: Total transformer losses are associated with total

core losses, which depend on the materials used in transformer and the
total copper losses of the coil.

PT = PCR + PCP (12)

PT= Total transformer loss; PCR and PCP are total core and copper loss,
respectively,

Core loss:
(E) Other Components:
The core loss of the transformer can be written as
The other components such as power diode, gate driver circuits, and
transformers are considered in this section. Other than these, heat sink, PCR = K CR (ΔB ) βACR lm, (13)
isolation coupler, and cables are not considered because these compo-
nents are directly related to switches, gate driver circuits, and layout of KCR and β are constants which dependent on the core materials and
inverter. When number of switches increases, it further increases the operating principle.
gate driver circuit, dc source, and diodes. AC is core cross-sectional area,
lm is the length of magnetic path,
1. Number of diodes ΔB is flux density
Power diode is used as auxiliary diode in some topologies [55–58]. where
In general, life of the diode is higher than the transistor, and it can
λ1
withstand higher temperature, but the diode is a unidirectional ΔB = ,
2n1 ACR (14)
device which does not allow the current in both the directions,
unless antiparallel connections of diode are not present. Most of the
λ1 and n1 are the voltage time area applied to the primary side of the
topologies are designed with high resistor value and low inductor
transformer and the number of turns in primary side, respectively.
value at the load. Suppose the inductor value is higher than the
Copper loss:
resistor value, the energy stored by inductor will be released during
the zero state and the current should be continuous, but the diode 2
ρ (MLT ) n12Itot
will allow only one polarity. The stored energy in the inductor will PCC = ,
WA ku (15)
suddenly reduce from high to low when the switch is closed. This
effect will produce the voltage spike at the load and is not suitable where MLT, WA, and ku are the mean length of turn, winding area, and
for highly inductive load application [59,60]. In load side LC filter is copper fill factor, respectively, the Itot is total current in transformer,
used to minimize the voltage spike, but the value of L and C will k nj
and this can be written as, Itot = ∑ j = 1 n I j , and this includes ρ with
increase, and one of the advantages of the multilevel inverter is the 1
proximity and skin effect of coil.
absence of LC filter which will be not met at this condition.
2. Number of Gate driver circuits

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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Fig. 10. Isolated DC source multilevel inverter for (a) centralized inverter system (b) single-string (c) multistring (d) AC modules.

Fig. 11. Non-Isolated DC source multilevel inverter for (a) centralized inverter system (b) single-string (c) multistring (d) AC modules.

4. Evaluation of the recent multilevel inverter for PV and wind

configurations

In this section, based on the evaluation, advantages and dis-

advantages of each recent multilevel inverter topologies are presented
and also discussed PV and wind configuration for each topology. In
addition to this, the suitable PV and wind configuration for recent
multilevel inverter is identified based on the classification.
PV configurations for isolated and non-isolated dc source-based
multilevel inverter:
PV configurations in multilevel inverter for both isolated and non-
isolated dc source are shown in Figs. 10 and 11. In this, only H-bridge-
based topologies are considered, and for remaining topologies, the
multilevel inverter part will be replaced with other topologies. Multi-
string configurations use dc/dc converter at the input side to boost the
output voltage; other configurations may or may not use the dc/dc
converter depending on the load requirement. DC/DC converter is used
to further increase the number of power electronics components, in-
crease switching pulses, increase more complex to switching pulse
generation, and need a digital controller with high number of input and
output ports.

4.1. H-bridge-based switch-reduced topologies

More than hundreds of new multilevel inverter topologies are de-

veloped with H-bridge unit by using switch reduction techniques. In
this, most of the topologies require fewer number of power semi-
conductor devices such as IGBTs and power diodes. The main aim of
using H-bridge is to provide both positive and negative voltages at the
load. However, major drawback of H-bridge unit is that it should
withstand sum of the dc source magnitudes, and it increases the cost of
the inverter, heating in switches, and reduces the reliability, but highest
The key point of each parameter is highlighted with pros and cons.
voltage-rated switches may operate in fundamental switching fre-
In addition to this, the recent multilevel inverter topologies are corre-
quency. The H-bridge-based isolated and non-isolated dc source
lated with the each parameter to evaluate photovoltaic and wind en-
ergy conversion applications.

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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Table 3
Pros and Cons of H-bridge-based multilevel inverter with PV/Wind configurations [63,64], [66-69].

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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Advantages:

• Equal power sharing among the devices.

• Additional voltage balancing circuit is not required.
• Number of on state IGBTs: “n – for even source, and n-1 for odd
source in [59] & [62]”.
• Level generator part switches require voltage ratings of V for [61]
dc
& V and 2V for [59].
dc dc

• Switching pattern is easy for these topologies.

• Both symmetric and asymmetric configurations are possible in [61].
• Required gate driver is equal to the number of IGBTs
• All the switches are unidirectional.
Fig. 12. Generalized structure of Packed H-bridge-based multilevel inverter with Central- • Single DC source with self-voltage balancing in [65]
Type PV configuration.
• More redundant states are available for symmetric configuration
topologies are mentioned in Table 3.
The advantages and disadvantages of the H-bridge based isolated Disadvantages:
DC source multilevel inverter are as follows:
• Level generator requires different ratings of switches.
Table 4
Pros and Cons of Packed H-bridge-based multilevel inverter with PV/Wind configurations [71,73].

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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

• The on state switching losses are “n” for [61]
• In [59] & [62], only symmetric configuration is possible.
• Switching losses at H-bridge unit is higher.
• Multiple DC/DC converters are used to boost the input voltage.
• Multiple DC source is required.
• Redundant state is available only at higher number of level [59] &
[62]
• Additional diodes are required in [65]
The H-bridge-based non-isolated DC source multilevel inverter is ad-
vantages and disadvantages:
Advantages:
• Single DC source is required
• Switching pattern is easy
• Required low number of gate driver circuits
• On state IGBTs for any number of levels are four
• In [70], single IGBT with four-diode bidirectional switch is proposed
• Single DC/DC converter is used to boost the input voltage.
blocking voltages across switches.
• Not equal power sharing among the devices.
• Highest voltage-rated switches are operated in fundamental
switching method (H-Bridge Unit)
• Single-leg inverter is not possible for high-voltage application due to
high stress across the H-bridge unit.
In general, the voltage rating of switches should be 1.5 times higher
than the blocking voltage, in such a case, the switch ratings are limited
to 6.5 kV. However, the 6.5 kV ratings switches are still under appli-
cations study. In order to minimize the blocking voltage of H-bridge
unit, the cascaded topologies are proposed [86–90]. These topologies
are optimized for different goals such as number of gate circuits, power
diode, blocking voltage, and switches. The advantage of H-bridge unit
is that it operates at low frequency, and this minimizes the switching
losses. The generalized structure of H-bridge-based single DC source
topology is shown in Fig. 11; these DC link capacitors are non-isolated
and bidirectional switches used to obtain each level of output voltage.
In non-isolated source, unidirectional switches are not suitable because
of reduction in the output voltage magnitudes and non-symmetrical
waveform at the load.

Disadvantages:
• Additional voltage balancing circuit is required.
• Bidirectional switch required
• Only symmetric configuration is possible
• No redundant state
• All the switches require different voltage ratings.
• Asymmetric configuration is possible by cascaded connection of
proposed topology and reduces the voltage stress across the H-
bridge unit.
• Switching losses and conduction losses are high due to different
4.2. Packed-H-bridge-based reduced switch topologies
The H-bridge is packed with upper and lower switches, these types
of topologies are used to minimize the maximum blocking voltage
switches, but two switches are added, and the total blocking voltages
are same. In h-bridge topology, only one side in switch reduction part is
employed, but in the case of packed H-bridge, in both the side switches
reduction parts (left and right arm sides) are employed. The main ad-
vantage of these topologies is simple construction and requires single dc
source for each side as shown in Fig. 12, and each topology is correlated
with PV, and wind configuration is listed in Table 4.

Table 5
Pros and Cons of Packed U-cell-type-Based multilevel Inverter with PV/Wind configurations.

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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Disadvantages:

Fig. 13. Generalized structure of Packed U-cell-type multilevel inverter with String-Type
PV configuration.
Advantages:
• Number of maximum blocking voltage switch is two
• Each right and left sides uses single DC source
• Most of the switches are required in different voltage ratings
• Switching pattern is easy
• Both symmetric and asymmetric configurations are possible
• Switching losses and conduction are high due to various voltage
ratings of switches
• Switching losses are low in [74] because of single IGBT with four
diode switch configurations is used.
• On state IGBTs for any number of level is three [74] and “n” number
for [72].
• More number of diodes is used in [74], which increases the con-
duction losses
• All the switches should operate in same switching frequency
• Single leg inverter is not possible for high-voltage application due to
stress across the H-bridge.
• Not equal power sharing among the devices.
• Additional voltage balancing circuit is required.
• Bidirectional switch required.
• No redundant state.
4.3. Packed-U cell-based switch reduced topologies
The Packed “U” cell is introduced by Yousuf Ojjuner et al. [75], in
this topology switches are significantly reduced and the maximum
blocking voltage of switches are 2Vdc, whereas conventional CHB uses
Vdc, but the number of switches is higher in conventional topology.
Real-time implementation of packed cell for 5-level inverter is proposed
in [93], and also, this type of topology is called as modified flying ca-
pacitor because the capacitors charge and discharge by proper
switching pulses. Some of the other experimental tests are conducted

Table 6
Pros and Cons of Transformer-Based multilevel Inverter with PV/Wind configurations.

16
J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy
and recorded in [94]. Till now, the packed U-cell-type topologies are
proposed for isolated dc source, but flying capacitor-based new multi-
level inverter topology with reduced number of switch is addressed in
[95]. In this, number of switches and capacitors are significantly re-
duced. The packed U-cell-type topologies and its suitability for PV and
wind configuration is listed in Table 5 (Fig. 13).
Advantages:
• Equal power sharing among the devices.
• No voltage balancing circuit is required.
• No bidirectional switch required.
• More redundant state for symmetric configuration in [76]
• The maximum blocking voltage across the switch is 2V for [76]
• Switching pattern is easy
• Both symmetric and asymmetric configurations are possible in [76]
& [78,79]
• Switching losses and conduction loss
• No additional components are required.Disadvantages:
Fig. 14. Generalized structure of transformer-based multilevel inverter with central-type
PV configuration.
Table 7
Pros and Cons of other multilevel Inverter topologies [86] and [87] with PV/Wind configurations.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
• Multiple DC sources are required.
• High maximum blocking voltage switches are required in [77,78]
• The on state switches are high in [76] & [79]
• In [77], only symmetric configuration is possible
• Switching losses at unit are higher
• Multiple DC/DC converters are used to boost the input voltage
• Redundant state is available only at higher number of level [77]
4.4. Transformer-based multilevel inverter
Another structure of multilevel output voltage generation topology;
the various turns of multiwinding transformers are used in output side
to produce multistepped output voltage waveform at the load. Various
dc topologies are proposed for transformer-based multilevel inverter as
mentioned in Table 6 (Fig. 14).
Advantages:
• Equal power sharing among the devices
• Switching pattern is easy
• Both symmetric and asymmetric configurations are possible in [84]
Disadvantages:
• High switching losses and conduction losses in high-voltage appli-
cations.
• The output levels depend on the transformer ratio.
• Multiwinding transformer with different turn ratios is more com-
plicated.
• Transformer losses are high
• Total system size increases due to transformer
• Number of level increases the required transformer winding and
ratio will increase
• All the switches are rated to supply voltage
• Symmetric configurations are not proposed in [81–83] & [85]
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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Fig. 16. Number of Level vs Total Blocking Voltage.

topology [74] is presented, and this topology uses bidirectional

switches, which consist of single IGBT with four diodes. The topology
[76,80] is called as packed U-cell-type and this topology has minimum
blocking voltage because of maximum blocking voltage of switch is
Fig. 15. Generalized structure of “T”-type multilevel inverter with central-type PV con-
2Vdc. In transformer type, each switch should withstand for supply
figuration.
voltage, which means that each switch withstand voltage equal to the
two-level inverter switches, and this limits the high-voltage applica-
4.5. Other topologies tions. The comparison diagram of each topology is illustrated in Fig. 16.

More than hundreds of topologies are not listed in the above cate-
gory, but the recent topology [86] and older topology [87] are con-
sidered under this category; both the topologies require bidirectional
switches. In [87], it requires different types of voltage rating of switches
and it requires single dc source with multiple dc link capacitor. In the
topology presented in [86], the single unit can generate maximum of
13-levels from two different magnitudes of dc sources. Table 7 gives the
advantage and disadvantage of each topology for PV and wind con-
figuration. Other than these, several recent topologies are proposed
[88–95], but these topologies are not considered in this paper (Fig. 15).
5.2. Number of switches vs number of level
Most of the topologies reduce the switches with or without addi-
tional components. In [70], is used minimum number of IGBT (n+3), in
each level, one IGBT increment with four diodes. More auxiliary diodes
are added which reduce the reliability. The same switch configuration
is used in packed h-bridge topology [74], and this topology also re-
quires various blocking voltages of switches, but it uses minimum
switches. In transformer-type topology, both symmetric and

Advantages:

• Equal power sharing among the devices in [86]

• All the switches require same voltage ratings
• Both symmetric and asymmetric configurations are possible in [86]
• Switching pattern is easy in [87]
• Low on state switches in [87]
• Single dc source is required for [87].
Disadvantages:

• Not equal power sharing among the devices [87]

• Both the topologies suffer from switching losses and conduction
losses are high in high-voltage applications Fig. 17. Number of Switches Vs Number of Level.

• The fixed output level is only possible [86]

• More number of on state switches in [86]
• Both the topologies required bidirectional switches
• Both the topologies require different voltage ratings of switches
5. Comparison of each topology

The number of level, total blocking voltage, and gate driver circuits
are considered in this comparison. Each topology from main classifi-
cation is taken based on the minimum value.

5.1. Number of level vs total blocking voltage

The number of level against total blocking voltage is considered

because maximum blocking voltage is almost high in all the topology
except [76,80]. The topology [59] has a minimum blocking voltage Fig. 18. Number of gate driver circuits Vs Number of level.

among that presented in h-bridge based topologies. packed H-bridge

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J.S. Mohd.Ali, V. Krishnaswamy Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Table 8
Summary of the different multilevel inverters.

Types High voltage stress Number of Major losses Bidirectional PV applications Wind
components switches Applications

H-Bridge Based High-voltage across H-
Bridge Unit (Four Switches)
restricted to medium-
voltage applications
Packed H- High-voltage across Packed
Bridge H-Bridge Unit (two
switches) restricted to
medium-voltage
applications
Packed U- Cell Maximum of 2Vdc
Transformer DC Supply Voltage (V)
Low in symmetric 1. Capacitor losses Some topologies More suitable for but Isolated DC source topologies
configuration (Non-Isolated DC required limited low- and need multiwinding losses will
Source Topologies) medium-power increase, non-isolated DC sources
2. Switching Losses applications are suitable
3. Conduction Losses
Medium 1. Input Capacitor Most of the More suitable for but Isolated DC source topologies
losses in all topologies are limited to low- and need multiwinding transformer
topologies required medium-power and losses will increase, non-
2. Switching Losses applications isolated DC sources are suitable
3. Conduction Losses
High 1. Switching Losses – Applicable large-scale Limited to medium-power low-
2. Conduction Losses PV plant and due-input multiwinding
transformer
Medium 1. Capacitor losses – Medium-voltage Medium-voltage because all the
2. Switching Losses because all the switches switches are rated input voltage
3. Conduction Losses are rated as input
4. Transformer losses voltage

asymmetric configurations are possible in [84], and this is taken in to
account. The topology [74] requires minimum number of switches
compared to that shown in Fig. 17.
5.3. Number of gate driver circuits vs number of level
Other important parameters for reliability are based on the number
of gate driver circuits, and the single dc source-based multilevel in-
verter topologies use fewer number of gate driver circuits because these
topologies are constructed with bidirectional switches. The common
emitter base bidirectional switches use single gate driver circuit to turn
on both the switches. However, these topologies suffer from different
voltage ratings of switches and additional voltage balancing circuits. In
Fig. 18, the comparison of gate driver circuits against number of level is
illustrated, and the brief summary of each table is presented in Table 8.
Design issues and challenges for development of new multilevel
inverter topology:
To determine the cost of multilevel inverter, the following equation
is recommended in [59]:
K = NIGBT *NDriver *VBlock *NDC *NVariety *other components (Like Capacitor , Diode,
Voltage balancing circuits and Transformer , etc.),
Where K - cost function
NIGBT - number of IGBTs
NDriver - number of driver circuit
VBlock - blocking voltage of individual switches
NDC - number of DC source
NVariety - Number of variety of DC source
When the number of switches increases, the blocking voltage may
be reduced. These topologies provide better results in terms of switch
count compared to conventional topologies, but instead of focusing on
switch reduction part, the researchers pay attention to design a multi-
level inverter with following key points:
• The topology should have minimum number of on state switches.
• Should not use transformer in input and output sides.
• The topology should not have additional diodes and capacitors.
• Topology should have required single DC source with multiple
DC link capacitors and it should have more switching combinations
(redundant state).
6. Conclusion and future work
New multilevel inverters significantly reduce the switch count, but
they fail to satisfy the blocking voltage of switches. The number of
switches that reduce the blocking voltage will increase. The H-bridge-
based topology uses minimum switch count, but the voltage across the
switches increases. This limits to the use of high-voltage applications.
Cascaded topologies are proposed with optimized goals, but these topol-
ogies give low blocking voltage as they operate as CHB topology. The
packed H-bridge topologies are not feasible for high-voltage applications,
and it needs more number of switches and maximum blocking voltage
same as H-bridge topologies, but the advantage is it requires two max-
imum blocking voltage switches, whereas H-bridge topologies require
four. Packed U-cell topology significantly reduces the switches and max-
imum blocking voltage, and it can be used in high-voltage applications by
using symmetric configurations, but this is more suitable for PV power
generation, and for wind energy, it may require multiwinding transformer
at input side for isolated dc source. The string-type PV configuration is
more suitable for isolated dc source topologies, and central-type PV con-
figuration is more suitable for non-isolated dc source topologies. Wind
energy conversion system with multiwinding transformer is the possibility
to feed the input to isolated dc source, and non-isolated dc source without
transformer is possible and more suitable for wind energy system. Overall,
no single topology is developed to suit both wind and PV with reduced
power components and blocking voltage. The researcher may develop
various topologies to suit for both PV and wind energy system. The
modulation techniques are responsible for reduction in THD in multilevel
inverter, and the modulation techniques may be analyzed for PV and wind
energy system as future work.

• Maximum blocking voltage should be V with reduction in number

dc
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