Among multilevel inverters (MLIs), two-level inverters are the most common. However, this inverter type cannot maintain total harmonic distortion (THD) due to its limited number of levels. Reductions in THD are inversely proportional to the number of levels where increased output occurs in diverse ways, and the use of fewer components with low harmonic distortion is necessary for such reductions. This work proposes a seven-level (7L) MLI design with a small number of components and low harmonic distortion. The proposed MLI is combined with switched capacitor (SC) cells to promote output levels and at the same time to boost the input voltage. The connections between the capacitor and the source are based on the series to parallel topology, where the charging and discharging of the SC cells are caused by fluctuations in their connection. The output of the SC cell is combined with an H-bridge inverter controlled by a proposed PWM controller. The simulation result of the SC 7L inverter was completed using LTspice software. A comparison of the proposed topology with that of other current MLI led to better validation results. The proposed design shows a reduction in the THD with fewer components. The cost and size of the proposed inverter is minimal due to the smaller number of components. Ohmic load and inductive ohmic load were used as loads for the system.

With power demands continuously growing, the penetration of renewable energy resources, particularly solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, across the residential sector has been extensive. A voltage source inverter (VSI) is the key element for efficiently processing energy conversion and connecting PV systems to home loads or utility grids. The operation of this inverter relies heavily on power-switching devices, which suffer from larger power losses due to the conventional semiconductors used based on silicon (Si) material. The new materials of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors, for example, gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC), provide remarkably distinct characteristics of semiconductor devices to minimize power loss and boost the inverter’s operational capabilities. This research paper assesses the effects of integrating SiC-MOSFET devices into VSIs in order to improve the switching behavior and efficiency level. An experimental double-pulse testing (DPT) circuit was configured and set up for investigating the switching characterization of SiC-MOSFETs compared to the widely used Si-IGBTs. Under various operating circumstances, the switching behavior of two different types of power transistors was tested while their turning-on and turning-off losses were measured. The VSI based on SiC and Si transistors was simulated to examine the performance of the inverter. The results reveal that incorporating SiC-MOSFETs into the VSI substantially enhances the switching operation and reduces total power losses while increasing the efficiency compared to the inverter based on Si-IGBTs.

Theoretical and experimental work for a novel topology of DC-DC boost switching capacitor converter is introduced in this paper. This new design is an adjustment for boost series and parallel topology developed by Makowski. Thus, a comparison between the two designs presented in this paper aims to highlight the improvement in the conversion rate of the boost converter’s output voltage while using the same number and size of capacitors. Converter analyses for both with and without load are presented. Also, a boost converter with a nonlinear ferroelectric capacitor is presented to further increase the boost converter conversion rate using advantages of the ferroelectric capacitors, such as their big dielectric constant and polarization reversal.

This paper presents a new non-isolated high-gain Buck-Boost Converter (BBC) that uses a switched-inductor (SL) voltage multiplier. This type of DC-DC converter can be very useful in renewable energy applications, especially PV, where the output DC voltage is stepped up to a higher voltage. The output voltage of the proposed switched-inductor BBC (SLBBC) is around 15 times the input voltage with positive polarity when a 0.75 duty cycle of the power switches is used. This is achieved without the use of a transformer or common-core coupled inductors, so the topology is simple to construct. This high output voltage is achieved by using the SL voltage multiplier, which consists of three diodes and two inductors. There are two power switches that operate synchronously, which is an advantage of the design. However, it is discovered that the voltage gain in the step-down mode of the proposed converter is less than that of the other converters. The proposed converter is analyzed in the Continuous Conduction Mode (CCM). The operating principles and steady-state analysis are presented in detail. MATLAB/Simulink was used to prove the effectiveness of the proposed SLBBC.

This paper presents the analysis and design of a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for a 6 KW photovoltaic (PV) system. The MPPT is implemented through a DC–DC buck-boost converter, modeled and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink. The design begins with determining the operating point of the system by establishing the relationship between the converter’s input impedance, output impedance, and duty ratio, which defines the mechanism of maximum power tracking under system disturbances such as variations in solar irradiance. To achieve optimal performance, the perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm is applied to track the maximum power point, generating a DC signal that is processed by a proportional–integral (PI) controller. The PI controller is designed using a mathematical model developed with the state-space approach, ensuring that the operating point of the system is maintained at the maximum power level.