An Integrated Switched-Capacitor-Based Boost Five-Level Inverter Eliminating Inrush Current

Abstract

The inherent capacitor voltage balancing and voltage-boosting abilities of switched-capacitor multilevel inverters make them ideal for a broad range of applications, but high inrush current remains a significant issue. A single stage switched-capacitor-boosted five-level inverter with a reduced component count is proposed to overcome the limitations of conventional switched-capacitor multilevel inverters. The proposed topology improves output voltage, enhances efficiency, and reduces inrush/impulse charge currents through soft charging. The proposed topology is compared with recent five-level switched-capacitor inverter topologies to demonstrate its advantages. The switching sequence pattern is generated using single-carrier pulse-width modulation. The proposed 400 W topology is validated through simulation and a laboratory prototype, demonstrating its suitability across various modulation indices, sudden changes of input voltage, and dynamic loads.