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Step-up Transformerless Seven-level DC-AC Hybrid

Topology for Interconnection of Renewable-based DC
Sources to Microgrids
a a a
Juan Ramón Rodríguez , Edgar Lenimirko Moreno-Goytia , Vicente Venegas Rebollar , Luis
a b
Eduardo Ugalde & Nadia María Salgado-Herrera
a
Ingenieria Eléctrica, Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia, Morelia, Michoacán, México
b
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, México
Published online: 03 Nov 2014.

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To cite this article: Juan Ramón Rodríguez, Edgar Lenimirko Moreno-Goytia, Vicente Venegas Rebollar, Luis Eduardo Ugalde
& Nadia María Salgado-Herrera (2014) Step-up Transformerless Seven-level DC-AC Hybrid Topology for Interconnection
of Renewable-based DC Sources to Microgrids, Electric Power Components and Systems, 42:16, 1792-1801, DOI:
10.1080/15325008.2014.949910

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 Electric Power Components and Systems, 42(16):1792–1801, 2014
Copyright C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1532-5008 print / 1532-5016 online
DOI: 10.1080/15325008.2014.949910
Step-up Transformerless Seven-level DC-AC Hybrid
Topology for Interconnection of Renewable-based DC
Sources to Microgrids
Juan Ramón Rodrı́guez,1 Edgar Lenimirko Moreno-Goytia,1
Vicente Venegas Rebollar,1 Luis Eduardo Ugalde,1 and Nadia Marı́a Salgado-Herrera2
1
Ingenieria Eléctrica, Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia, Morelia, Michoacán, México
2
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, México
Downloaded by [New York University] at 19:47 13 April 2015
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Seven-Level DC-AC Topology Description
3. Mathematical Model of the Converter and its Control
4. FPGA-based Control
5. Experimental Results
6. Discussion
7. Conclusions
References
Keywords: DC-DC converter, DC-AC converter, multi-level boost
converter, multi-level buck converter, transformerless, microgrids,
field-programmable gate array
Received 31 July 2013; accepted 22 June 2014
Address correspondence to Mr. Juan R. Rodrı́guez, Ingenieria Eléctrica,
Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia, Av. Tecnológico No. 1500, Col. Lomas de
Santiaguito, Morelia, 58120, México. E-mail: jr 386@hotmail.com
1792
Abstract—This article introduces a new step-up transformerless
multi-level DC-AC hybrid topology for interconnecting renewable
DC sources to loads or microgrids. This enabling technology incor-
porates the best characteristics of three modified basic topologies—a
DC-DC multi-level boost converter, a DC-DC multi-level buck con-
verter, and an H-bridge—to obtain a seven-level step-up DC-AC
hybrid structure using only one DC input and nine power switches for
a single-phase output with field-programmable gate array based con-
trol. The advantages of the step-up seven-level structure compared
to other proposals are higher efficiency, a reduced number of power
switches, and high power density associated with transformerless
characteristic. Furthermore, in contrast to conventional topologies,
the proposed design does not require voltage/current monitoring of
the capacitors or a capacitor-balancing control scheme, and only one
DC source input is used. Consequently, a high-performance configu-
ration is obtained. The laboratory results demonstrate the validity of
the design and the performance of the prototype.
1. INTRODUCTION
Multi-level converters have gained widespread acceptance for
applications in power grids of medium and high power voltage
[1, 2]. Some advantages of these converters are (i) low har-
monic distortion of the output voltage; (ii) low voltage stress
on devices; (iii) low switching frequency, which leads to bet-
ter efficiency; and (iv) operation without magnetic elements
[1–3]. Due to these advantages, multi-level converters are an
area of power electronics under intensive investigation and
development [4].
With today’s fossil energy crisis, environmental problems,
and nuclear prevention, photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy
(WE) power plants have emerged as viable solutions to pro-
vide a significant fraction of societal energy demand, which
will continue to grow in the coming decades [3]. In recent
years, grid-connected PV systems have become popular [5, 6].
 Rodrı́guez et al.: Step-up Transformerless Seven-level DC-AC Hybrid Topology for Interconnection of Renewable-based DC
Generally, power conditioner units (PCUs) interconnect PV
arrays to the grid. PV-PCU systems convert the DC power pro-
duced by the PV array into AC power compatible with grid
standards. This structure can also track the maximum power
point (MPP) of the PV array and inject a sinusoidal current
into the grid with total harmonic distortion (THD) levels that
meet relevant standards [7]; in relation to current proposals for
multi-level converters, an analysis is developed.
A relevant low-voltage application of multi-level convert-
ers is a signal amplifier (including audio range) for testing
purposes [8, 9]. The topology used includes two H-bridges
connected in cascade to build a nine-level DC-AC converter
using only eight power switches. In [10], a converter perfor-
mance based on cascaded cells was presented that generates a
17-level voltage from 4 DC isolated sources. The DC sources
are coupled to the structure, operate independently, and require
Downloaded by [New York University] at 19:47 13 April 2015
individual regulation by means of additional DC-DC convert-
ers, which, in turn, increase the total number of components,
switches, and transformers.
In [11], the author showed a complete rectifier inverter
system for a motor driver; the system is based on a single-
phase H-bridge rectifier and three-phase inverter with three
levels of voltage on a clamped diode topology.
Implementation of this technique demonstrates the need for
balancing capacitors through additional circuitry or switches to
a multi-level converter. Similar to [11], the implementation of
bidirectional switches was shown in [12] to five voltage levels
for a DC-AC converter, showing themselves as an alternative
to the traditional multi-level topologies, such as a clamped
diode, cascaded cell, or flying capacitor.
On the other hand, a motor drive using a multi-level DC-AC
hybrid three-phase converter was shown in [13]. This structure
generates 81 levels using 4 H-bridges in cascade and contains
DC-DC converters (each one using 4 switches and a high-
frequency transformer) for supplying power to each H-bridge.
Although the high number of levels helps to greatly decrease
the THD, the total number of switches and the need for mul-
tiple high-frequency transformers, a disadvantage in [13] due
to the high number of elements, making it difficult to imple-
ment for the interconnection of DC sources to the AC grid.
A nine-level DC-AC converter, based on four H-bridges con-
nected to a single DC bus, was presented in [14]. The voltage
outputs of each H-bridge are combined through transform-
ers to generate a multi-level voltage waveform. To construct
a nine-level voltage signal, this structure requires the same
number of cells per phase, as in [8], which is disadvantageous,
more so if the need for 50–60-Hz transformers is taken into
consideration.
Another alternative multi-level inverter was presented in
[15]; this topology is a seven-level structure built with a DC-
1793
AC hybrid converter that uses two cascaded H-bridges, one
connected to a DC bus at Vdc and the other to a flying ca-
pacitor continuously charged at 0.5Vdc. To maintain an output
voltage that is steady but well controlled by modulation, this
configuration requires constant capacitor voltage/current mon-
itoring.
A five-level voltage inverter was shown in [16].The topol-
ogy of one leg is an interesting modification of a three-level
Buck converter with two DC sources in series with an H-
bridge. The use of two DC sources with this topology may
be considered an advantage, as isolated DC sources are not
required as in converters with cascaded cells. Also relevant
is that, in addition to the use of a DC source, the topology
requires (i) extra DC-DC converters, (ii) voltage/current mon-
itoring, and (iii) additional capacitor balance SPWM control.
Together, these requirements decrease reliability and increase
the complexity and cost of the converter. If the DC sources
are replaced with capacitors, the imbalance between DC levels
can increase the harmonic distortion at the output.
After analyzing some recent proposals related to multi-level
converters, it can be concluded that some of these proposals
require extras transformers or capacitors. The use of trans-
formers reduces the power density, while capacitors require
voltage balancing strategies. Moreover, some of these propos-
als also require two or more DC voltage sources, making its
implementation difficult.
This article introduces a novel transformerless multi-level
hybrid conversion topology that integrates three basic topolo-
gies modified to obtain a step-up seven-level DC-AC structure
using a single DC input and nine power switches for a single-
phase output. Since the proposed structure does not require
a transformer, its advantages include higher power density,
higher efficiency, lower cost, and reduced harmonic distortion
at output.
The article is organized as follows. In Section 2, the pro-
posed structure is detailed. Section 3 presents the mathemat-
ical model of the seven-level DC-AC converter, and Section
4 presents the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) based
implementation control. In Sections 5 and 6, the prototype and
laboratory results are shown and discussed, and conclusions
are given in Section 7.
2. SEVEN-LEVEL DC-AC TOPOLOGY
DESCRIPTION
Figure 1 shows the novel seven-level topology with a single
DC source. The structure incorporates three basic structures to
boost and condition the voltage to implement the seven-level
signal.
 1794 Electric Power Components and Systems, Vol. 42 (2014), No. 16

FIGURE 2. MBC topology (N = 3).

FIGURE 1. Novel transformerless step-up seven-level DC-AC
hybrid topology.
conventional equation of a boost converter:
Downloaded by [New York University] at 19:47 13 April 2015

Vc 1
= . (1)
Vin is the input voltage, which can be the feed renewable V in 1− D
DC source, such as a PV cell arrangement or battery bank,
and it is connected to the input of a multi-level boost converter Equation (1) can be modified for the MBC to
(MBC) followed by a modified three-level Buck converter and DCBUS n
an H-bridge converter, which feeds an output load ZOUT . = , (2)
V in 1− D
Among the most important contributions of this proposal
where the relationship between Vc and the DC bus converter
are a factor of high-voltage elevation without an elevation
is
transformer, auto-balance of the capacitor voltages, continu-
ous input current, and DC-AC voltage conversion with seven nV c = DCBUS . (3)
voltage levels using only nine switches.
The increased steady-state current when S 1 = 1 can be defined
as
D·T
3. MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF THE 1
CONVERTER AND ITS CONTROL I Lon = V in · dt. (4)
L
0
3.1. MBC
Figure 2 shows the intrinsic topology of the MBC with the
The structure of the DC-DC MBC is a combination of boost main control voltage and current waveforms. For conventional
converter capabilities with a switched-capacitor network. The boost converters, IL can be initially expressed in terms of the
MBC voltage output is obtained from five capacitors in series, input current, input–output voltage, and duty cycle (D), being
each with the same voltage. This PWM-controlled converter obtained:
also has an auto-balancing voltage capability, which is a useful
characteristic when feeding converters with no voltage balanc- Pin = Vin I L = Pout = DCBUS IBUS . (5)
ing capability [17, 18]. Applying Eq. (4) to Eq. (5) gives
For N levels of DC output, only one driven switch, one in-
DCBUS nV c n 2 V c2
ductor, 2N – 1 diodes and 2N – 1 capacitors are needed. The Pout = DCBUS = nV c = , (6)
two main advantages of this topology are (i) a large input-to- R Load R Load R Load
output boost ratio with low duty cycle is achieved, and (ii) no 1 n 2 V c2 n2 V c
IL = = . (7)
transformer is required at the input of the MBC. The N levels Vin R Load (1 − D)R Load
of the voltage output can be incremented by stacking capaci- Equation (7) indicates that IL in the MBC can be controlled
tors and diodes (preserving the ladder-type structure shown in by D, which is a relevant capability on input voltage varia-
Figure 2), and thus the MBC can be built modularly, increasing tions. Moreover, using the stray resistance Rp of the inductor,
or decreasing voltage levels. The input-to-output relationship a transfer function that more closely describes the boost con-
of the voltage on the first capacitor (C 1 ) corresponds to the verter behavior can be obtained. On these grounds, starting
 Rodrı́guez et al.: Step-up Transformerless Seven-level DC-AC Hybrid Topology for Interconnection of Renewable-based DC 1795

FIGURE 3. DCBUS /Vin behavior at different RP /RLOAD .

from the analysis of the inductance voltage, the transfer func-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 19:47 13 April 2015

tion is given by FIGURE 4. Multi-level buck converters: (a) three-level output

and (b) four-level output.
VL = D(Vin − I L R p )
+ (1 − D)(Vin − V c − I L R p ) = 0, (8) The modification to the basic topology (Figure 4(a)) focuses
DVi − D I L R p + (1 − D)V in − (1 − D)V c on (i) substituting Ca with two series capacitors, C 5 and C 3 and
−(1 − D)I L R p = 0, (ii) substituting diodes Da and Db with two power switches S 3
and S 4 . Using these changes, the presented DC-DC converter is
V in(D − 1 − D) + I L R p (−D − 1 + D)
able to drive the bidirectional current and produce a four-level
= (1 − D)V c, voltage at its output.
V in = (1 − D)V c + I L R p ,
DC BU S n DC BU S 3.3. Topological States of Seven-level DC-AC Hybrid
V in = (1 − D) + Rp,
n (1 − D)R Load Structure
V in 1
= (1−D) nR
. (9) For the case when the current flow is considered positive, when
DC BU S
n
+ (1−D)Rp Load current ICx where (x ∈ {1, 2, . . ., 5}) enters by the positive
terminal of the capacitor, the MBC will behave as a constant
Equation (9) relates Vin to the DCBUS voltage at the MBC energy source into the capacitors, keeping a balanced voltage
output. Figure 3 illustrates the sensitivity of the improved MBC between them.
at various RP /RLOAD values. It can be observed that such a The basic task of the four-level DC-DC buck converter is
relationship is relevant for determining the efficiency and boost to combine the energy supply times of capacitors C 1 , C 3 , and
capacity of the MBC. C 5 to the load impedance for each half-cycle. Afterward, the
Once ratios RP /RLOAD and DCBUS /Vin have been selected, H-bridge converter will interchange the voltage polarity in the
the magnitude of Vout directly depends on the amplitude mod- load for the next line semi-cycle.
ulation index. The switching states of the seven-level DC-AC hybrid
topology are presented in Figure 5, which shows eight dif-
3.2. Four-level Buck-type DC-DC Converter ferent topological combinations.
A version of a DC buck converter modified to implement a Terminal voltage Vout first takes the zero voltage level,
three-level output was detailed in [19]. This converter utilizes which can be obtained by two distinct topological states, as
the capacitor voltage divider principle to reduce the voltage- shown in Figures 5(a) and 5(e). Note that at the zero voltage
blocking level of the switches and the bandwidth of the filter level, all capacitors receive only constant energy from the
at the output. MBC, so there is a charging time for C 1 , C 2 , and C 3 , through
Therefore, based on the concept of the three-level converter, the MBC.
a novel four-level DC-DC structure is developed for this work. Considering the case when switches S 6 = S 9 = 1 (first
Figure 4(a) illustrates the three-level buck converter, and Fig- semi-cycle of line), it can be concluded that voltage level Vout
ure 4(b) shows the new proposed four-level DC-DC converter. will always be positive. The first energy input to the ZOUT
 1796 Electric Power Components and Systems, Vol. 42 (2014), No. 16
Downloaded by [New York University] at 19:47 13 April 2015

FIGURE 5. Topological states of seven-level DC-AC hybrid topology.

impedance is realized by extracting energy from C 1 , so the provides the same amount of energy to ZOUT . This leads to an
applied voltage level is Vout = VC through S 3 , S 5 , S 6 , and S 9 . energetic equilibrium between the input and output energy in
At this state, the C 3 and C 5 capacitors have a charge time, each capacitor, thus influencing the voltages balance.
while C 1 will experience a discharge time, as shown in Figure
5(b). Subsequently, the voltage level of series capacitors C 3 3.4. SPWM Multi-level Modulation
and C 5 is applied to the ZOUT impedance, causing Vout = 2Vc, To correctly generate the topological states necessary for op-
through S 2 , S 4 , S 6 , and S 9 . Now capacitor C 1 will experience eration, the converter requires a multi-level SPWM modu-
a charging time, while C 3 and C 5 will have a discharge time, lation system, which compares a sinusoidal reference signal
as shown in Figure 5(c). (Asin(ωt)) with six triangular waveforms: three for the positive
Finally, the highest voltage level corresponds to the series half-cycle (TwYP ) and three for the negative half-cycle (TwYN ),
connection of C 1 , C 2 , and C 3 , producing Vout = 3Vc through where Y ∈ {1, 2, 3}. Additionally, a signal zero crossing rela-
S 2 , S 5 , S 6 , and S 9 . Now these three capacitors will experience tive to the sinusoidal reference is required (Cz).
a discharge time, as shown in Figure 5(d). The results of these comparisons provide seven logic sig-
For the case when switches S 7 = S 8 = 1 (second semi- nals, PWMYP , PWMYN (where Y ∈ {1, 2, 3}), and Cz, as shown
cycle of line), the operation of the four-level DC-DC buck in Eqs. (10), (11), and (12):
converter is repeated again, but now the load impedance is

subject to negative voltage levels due to the polarity change of 1 if A sin(ωt) > T wY P
the H-bridge converter caused by the closing of switches S 7 PWM Y P = , (10)
0 if A sin(ωt) < T wY P
and S 8 . 
Note that the MBC is able to maintain balanced voltages 1 if A sin(ωt) < T wY N
PWM Y N = , (11)
in all capacitors, including the case for converters that require 0 if A sin(ωt) > T wY N
different levels of energy in each capacitor, as shown in [19]. 
1 if A sin(ωt) > 0
From the topological states of Figure 5, discussed above, Cz = . (12)
0 if A sin(ωt) < 0
it follows that in the seven-level DC-AC hybrid topology, ca-
pacitors C 1 , C 2 , and C 3 always have the same levels and same After processing PWMYP , PWMYN , and Cz using the combi-
charging and discharging times, which ensures that each one natory relationships in Eqs. (13), (14), and (15), the activation
 Rodrı́guez et al.: Step-up Transformerless Seven-level DC-AC Hybrid Topology for Interconnection of Renewable-based DC 1797

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 = S9 S7 = S8 Vab Vout The voltage levels (Vab) generated by the seven-level buck
converter are presented in Figure 6(c). As voltage Vab is a
X 1 0 0 1 1 0 3Vc 3Vc
X 1 0 1 0 1 0 2Vc 2Vc sinusoid-like single-polarity waveform, it can be represented
X 0 1 0 1 1 0 Vc Vc by a sine wave Asin(ωt) multiplied by output voltage DCBUS
X 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 of the MBC (see Eq. (9)):
X 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
X 0 1 0 1 0 1 Vc −V c V ab = DCBUS |A sin(ωt)| . (16)
X 1 0 1 0 0 1 2Vc −V c
X 1 0 0 1 0 1 3Vc −3Vc
The AC voltage output Vout of the seven-level converter is
shown in Figure 6(d).
TABLE 1. Switching states and respective voltage levels The AC waveform is obtained from Vab by means of the
H-bridge at the final converter stage. A mathematical repre-
pulses S2 , S4 and S9 for the converter, are obtained. sentation of Vout is

S2 = S 3 = PWM 2P + PWM 2N , (13) V out = DC BU S A sin(ωt),

S4 = S 5 = PWM 3P • PWM 2P + PWM 3N • PWM 2N 3 · V in (17)
V out =
Downloaded by [New York University] at 19:47 13 April 2015

A sin(ωt).
+ PWM 1P • PWM 1N , (14) (1 − D)
S6 = S9 = S7 = S8 = C z. (15)

Table 1 summarizes the resulting switching states and re-
spective voltage levels at Vout, where S 1 is the switching fre-
quency of the MBC, which is higher and independent of the
switching states of PWMYP and PWMYN .
Figure 6 shows the SPWM scheme and voltage output of the
multi-level converter. Figure 6(a) illustrates the comparison
process of signals TwYN , TwYP , and Asin(ωt). Furthermore,
Figure 6(b) shows the gates pulses resulting from Eqs. (13),
(14), and (15) corresponding to S 2 , S 4 , and S 6 , respectively.
4. FPGA-BASED CONTROL
The FPGA-based control for the seven-level converter has
four subsystems: (i) a triangular wave shape synthesizer, (ii) a
sinusoidal waveform generator, (iii) a comparator for the im-
plementation of the SPWM, and (iv) pulse signal conditioning
for all switches. The triangular waveform is synthesized using
pulses of the main FPGA clock. The signal level rises to a max-
imum, T max , and then decreases to zero in a stair-like shape.
This sequence repeats until the overall process is stopped. Six
triangle waveform signals are required to accurately drive the
converter.
The control generates a unique “mother” triangle signal
and, from this, reproduces the other five, each of specific bias
to avoid overlapping. The SPWM internal pulses (PWMYP and
PWMYN ) are generated by comparing six triangular signals
(TwYN and TwYP ) against a modulating signal (Asin(ωt)), as ex-
plained for Figure 5. Triangular carriers are synthesized using
the master clock pulses of the FPGA, which runs at 50 MHz.
The sinusoidal signal is synthesized from a 500 data-point table
stored in ROM. Figure 7 shows the flowchart of the algorithm
for multi-level modulation implemented in the FPGA.
The synthesized sinusoidal signal is continuously compared
with each of the carrier signals, according to Eqs. (13)–(15).
This generates a train of pulses. If the reference is greater than
a carrier signal, then the pulse is active; if the reference is less
than one of the carrier signals, then the pulse is zero.

5. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

FIGURE 6. SPWM scheme and voltage output of multi-level A 100-W laboratory prototype has been built to experimen-
converter. tally verify the performance of the seven-level DC-AC hybrid
 1798 Electric Power Components and Systems, Vol. 42 (2014), No. 16
Downloaded by [New York University] at 19:47 13 April 2015

FIGURE 8. Voltage, current, and control signal waveforms

from operation of the seven-level DC-AC hybrid topology: (a)
ripple current and pulse of control from the MBC (IL , S 1 ), (b)
MBC voltage output and voltage in switch S 1 (DCBUS , VS1 ), (c)
control pulses without SPWM (S 2 , S 4 ), (d) control pulses with
FIGURE 7. FPGA-based modulation algorithm: flow dia- SPWM (S 2 , S4 ), (e) four-level voltage output from the DC-DC
gram. buck (Vab), and (f) converter (H-bridge) voltage output (Vout).

L1 1 mH
Rp 0.08 ohms
Cx 4700 μF is that IL is not discontinuous. This characteristic makes the
Vin 36 V proposed converter well suited for PV applications or other
FPGA Spartan 3E DC power sources (e.g., batteries).
Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) GPC40UD The voltage resulting from commutations of switch S 1 , VS1
Switching frequency (MBC) 10 kHz 50% duty cycle
≈ 65 V, is shown in Figure 8(b). The magnitude of VS1 corre-
Switching frequency (Tw) 3 kHz
sponds to the voltage level of VC1 . Mathematically, this voltage
can be defined as (1 – D) Vc. The maximum voltage output
TABLE 2. Parameter values and hardware for the implementation of the MBC is DCBUS = 200 V; this condition agrees with the
transfer function described in Eq. (2).
topology. The parameter values for the prototype implementa- The control pulses, with no SPWM, for multi-level modu-
tion are shown in Table 2. lation (obtained from Eqs. (13) and (14)) are shown in Figure
The SPWM-based multi-level prototype produces a 200-V 8(c). The same control pulses, using SPWM, are shown in
output at 60 Hz from a 36-V DC input. The main waveforms Figure 8(d).
resulting from the experiment (voltage and control signals) are The voltage output of the four-level DC-DC buck converter,
presented in Figure 8. Vab, is shown in Figure 8(e). This waveform is analyzed in Fig-
The current through the inductor L1 and the control signal ure 6(c). The voltage step is Vab(max)/3 = 200/3 = 66.66Vdc.
are shown in Figure 8(a). As shown, there is a charge increment This voltage level agrees with the values obtained with Eq.
when S 1 = 1 (IL increment) and a discharge when S 1 = 0 (IL (16). Figure 8(f) illustrates voltage output Vout of the pro-
decrement). A relevant characteristic of the proposed converter posed seven-level DC-AC hybrid converter. The H-bridge at
 Rodrı́guez et al.: Step-up Transformerless Seven-level DC-AC Hybrid Topology for Interconnection of Renewable-based DC
IGBTs Extra diodes Capacitors
Proposed converter 9 0
Clamped diode 8 6
Flying capacitor 8 0
Cascaded cells 8 0
TABLE 3. Number of elements for various single-phase DC-AC seven-level converters
the output of the MBC changes the DC-like waveform of Vab
to an AC waveform at 60 Hz.
The multi-level voltage output of the proposed converter
additionally requires filtering to reduce THD and generate a
signal approximate to an ideal sinusoidal waveform. As the fre-
Downloaded by [New York University] at 19:47 13 April 2015
quency spectrum of the three- and five-level converter is wider
than that of the seven-level converter, the filtering requirement
of the latter is less demanding.
Figure 9 shows the scaled-down physical prototype of the
DC-DC MBC with the FPGA-based control platform, auxil-
iary subsystems, and experimental setup.
6. DISCUSSION
Table 3 shows the number of elements required for seven-level
DC-AC converters of different topologies. Note that the seven-
level converter presented in this work requires fewer elements
than the clamped diode and flying capacitor configurations.
Compared to the topology of the cells in cascade, the novel
seven-level inverter is less complex in construction as it uses
FIGURE 9. Transformerless step-up seven-level DC-AC con-
verter and experimental test bed: (a) battery bank (Vin), (b)
four-level DC-DC buck converter (Vab) and H-bridge con-
verter (Vout), (c) MBC, (d) FPGA-based control, (e) circuitry
DC source, and (f) ZLOAD .
1799
Auto-balancing
DC sources capacitor Voltage elevation
5 1 Yes Yes
4 1 No No
10 1 No No
0 2 — No
a single power source, whereas cascaded cell topologies use a
DC source for each H-bridge, as in [20, 21].
A general advantage of the proposed seven-level converter
over the other configurations is that its control algorithm is
relatively simple and that it does not require monitoring of the
capacitor voltage. The latter characteristic is due to the high
boost ratio achieved without the need of a transformer. These
enhanced features make the seven-level converter introduced
in this article very suitable for microgrid applications.
7. CONCLUSIONS
This work presents a new step-up seven-level topology that
combines a DC-DC MBC, a DC-DC multi-level buck con-
verter, and an H-bridge in a single structure. The important
advantages of the seven-level topology are (i) a voltage step-
up factor of 1:6 without the need of a transformer, (ii) auto-
balanced capacitor voltages, (iii) continuous input current IL ,
and (iv) use of only nine power switches.
The analysis and experiments carried out on the seven-level
structure, as well as its comparison against well-known con-
figurations, confirm that the converter is adequately designed
and performs very well. Based on the converter capabilities
described above, the application opportunities for the seven-
level converter are abundant in the context of smart grids
and small-scale renewable power sources. This topology is a
competitive option suitable for efficiently integrating and con-
trolling renewable power sources (such as PV, fuel cells, and
low-voltage wind) into low–medium-voltage power grids and
microgrids. For instance, a household application is the inter-
connection of PV modules, while in isolated microgrids, the
applications may be PV and fuel cells. In other contexts, an
ambitious goal is to explore the application possibilities related
to the integration of large PV fields.
This work is a step forward in the direction of reducing the
number of elements in a converter structure while improving
overall efficiency and enhancing performance relative to other
well-known converter configurations. The authors expect that
the step-up multi-level converter introduced in this article will
 1800 Electric Power Components and Systems, Vol. 42 (2014), No. 16
become a useful alternative for research and development in
the area of DC-AC converters.
The solutions and capabilities proposed can be enhanced
further. Additional future advances from this work focus on
i) minimizing the voltage and current harmonic distortion
by means of a suitable modulation scheme,
ii) obtaining a mathematical model of the dynamic behav-
ior of the seven-level converter and its interaction with
(a) a distribution grid and (b) a microgrid,
iii) evaluating the benefits of using various types of LC
and LCL filter for the interconnection of the seven-
level converter with the grid,
iv) incorporating the converter to the smart grid concept,
and
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v) analyzing the transient behavior of the converter.
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BIOGRAPHIES
Juan Ramón Rodrı́guez received his B.Eng. in electronics
engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia, Mi-
choacán, México, in 2010. He specialized in digital design in
the PADTS at the CINVESTAV-IPN. He is currently working
toward his Ph.D. in electrical power systems at the Instituto
Tecnológico de Morelia. His areas of interest are power elec-
tronics converters, power quality, and FPGA programming.
Edgar Lenimirko Moreno received his Ph.D. from the Uni-
versity of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, in 2003. He joined
 Rodrı́guez et al.: Step-up Transformerless Seven-level DC-AC Hybrid Topology for Interconnection of Renewable-based DC
the Department of Electric and Electronics Engineering at
the Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia, Morelia, Michoacán,
México, in 1993 where he is now a reader. His fields of inter-
est are VSC-based DC links, power electronics transformers
for medium and high voltages, and multi-terminal HVDC sys-
tems.
Vicente Venegas Rebollar obtained his B.Eng. and M.Sc.
in electrical engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de
Morelia in 1992 and 1996, respectively. He received his Ph.D.
in electrical engineering from the ESIME-Zacatenco, IPN,
México, in 2004. He joined the Postgraduate Studies Pro-
gram in Electrical Engineering at the Instituto Tecnológico de
Morelia, Morelia, Michoacán, México, in 1995. His areas of
interest are electromagnetic transients and fields and power
electronics.
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1801
Luis Eduardo Ugalde received his B.Eng. and M.Sc. from
the Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia (ITM) and his Ph.D. from
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo in México
(UMSNH). In 2003, he joined the Postgraduate Studies Pro-
gram in Electrical Engineering at the ITM. His current research
interests include control systems, power electronics, renewable
energy sources, and HVDC systems.
Nadia Marı́a Salgado-Herrera received her B.Eng. and
M.Sc. in electronics engineering and electrical engineering, re-
spectively, from Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia, Michoacán,
México, in 2009 and 2011. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D.
in electrical engineering at the Universidad Michoacana de
San Nicolás de Hidalgo. Her research interests include power
electronics and power quality.