Recently, multilevel inverters (MLIs) have gained lots of interest in industry and academia, as they are changing into a viable technology for numerous applications, such as renewable power conversion system and drives. For these high power and high/medium voltage applications, MLIs are widely used as one of the advanced power converter topologies. To produce high-quality output without the need for a large number of switches, development of reduced switch MLI (RS MLI) topologies has been a major focus of current research. Therefore, this review paper focuses on a number of recently developed MLIs used in various applications. To assist with advanced current research in this field and in the selection of suitable inverter for various applications, significant understanding on these topologies is clearly summarized based on the three categories, i.e., symmetrical, asymmetrical, and modified topologies. This review paper also includes a comparison based on important performance parameters, detailed technical challenges, current focus, and future development trends. By a suitable combination of switches, the MLI produces a staircase output with low harmonic distortion. For a better understanding of the working principle, a single-phase RS MLI topology is experimentally illustrated for different level generation using both fundamental and high switching frequency techniques which will help the readers to gain the utmost knowledge for advance research.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are universally recognized as an incredibly effective method of lowering gas emissions and dependence on oil for transportation. Electricity, rather than more traditional fuels like gasoline or diesel, is used as the main source of energy to recharge the batteries in EVs. Future oil demand should decline as a result of the predicted rise in the number of EVs on the road. The charging infrastructure is considered as a key element of EV technology where the recent research is mostly focused. A strong charging infrastructure that serves both urban and rural areas, especially those with an unstable or nonexistent electrical supply, is essential in promoting the global adoption of EVs. Followed by different EV structures such as fuel-cell- and battery-integrated EVs, the charging infrastructures are thoroughly reviewed in three modes, specifically—off-grid (standalone), grid-connected, and hybrid modes (capable of both standalone and grid-connected operations). It will be interesting for the readers to understand in detail several energy-source-based charging systems and the usage of charging stations for different power levels. Towards the improvement of the lifetime and efficiency of EVs, charging methods and charging stations in integration with microgrid architectures are thoroughly investigated. EVs are a multi-energy system, which requires effective power management and control to optimize energy utilization. This review article also includes an evaluation of several power management and control strategies followed by the impact assessment of EVs on the utility grid. The findings and the future research directions provided in this review article will be extremely beneficial for EV operators and research engineers.

Renewable energy utilization is the only suitable solution to diminish the increasing level of greenhouse gas emissions, fuel costs, and energy crisis in the next generation. Out of many renewable sources, solar energy sources that are clean, green, and emission-free have gained wide utilization despite their intermittency nature. Several solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are connected in series-parallel to achieve the energy demand. In such a system, it is possible that each panel operates differently due to uneven temperature and irradiation that results in uniform and partial shading conditions. Thus, a unique and efficient mechanism is required to extract maximum power from uniformly and partially shaded PV systems. Numerous maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods have been developed to increase the efficiency and lifetime of photovoltaic systems. This study provides a unique, in-depth, and organized review of MPPT methods under four categories: classical, intelligent, optimization, and hybrid techniques. All possible selection benchmarks are considered to do a comprehensive review, which is not deliberated in the existing review literature. Based on the selection benchmarks, the advantages and disadvantages of each MPPT technique under different categories are summarized in tabulated form. To address the research gaps for further investigation in this field, a concise discussion is included at the end. This review article may find an accessible reference for engineers to understand the most useful MPPT method and to undertake extensive research in PV systems.

Multilevel inverters (MLIs) with self-balanced switched-capacitors (SC) have received wide recognition for increasing power capacity and power quality of the renewable energy and high-frequency power distribution systems. This brief presents a new SC MLI structure using a reduced number of switches and a single dc source. By suitable charging-discharging patterns, the SCs are self-balanced and high voltage boosting is achieved. Comparative analysis with state-of-art MLIs in terms of the number of components, standing voltage, boosting factor, and cost factor demonstrate the merit of presented topology. Further, experimental results confirm the workability of the proposed MLI under linear, non-linear loading and dynamic test conditions using both the 50 Hz and 2.5 kHz modulation.

Multilevel inverters (MLIs) are nowadays extensively used in integration with renewable energy sources and in drives applications. The converter cost and voltage quality improvement are the utmost importance in such application of MLI. A six‐switch seven‐level reduced switch symmetrical MLI (6S‐7L MLI) is proposed here. Compared to the conventional and similar existing MLI topologies, the proposed MLI uses less active switches and has less driver circuit requirement. A particle swarm optimisation (PSO)‐based modified selected harmonic elimination technique is derived and analysed for computing optimal switching angles of proposed 6S‐7L MLI to eliminate third‐ and fifth‐order harmonics. Moreover, the performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with the two most commonly used PSO variants. The analysis shows the modified version of PSO is most suitable for optimising the output voltage of proposed MLI through targeted harmonic elimination. The proposed topology is investigated through simulation by applying the calculated switching angles using modified PSO algorithm. Finally, a single‐phase experimental prototype is designed to verify the validity of the proposed structure.