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Published in IET Power Electronics
Received on 5th April 2011
Revised on 21st October 2011
doi: 10.1049/iet-pel.2011.0150

ISSN 1755-4535

Research on a cascaded multilevel inverter by

employing three-phase transformers
Y. Suresh A.K. Panda
Department of Electrical Engineering, NIT Rourkela, India
E-mail: ysuresh.ee@gmail.com

Abstract: Cascaded multilevel H-Bridge inverter is a promising topology and is an alternative for converters that are used for
grid-connected photovoltaic/wind-power generators, flexible alternating current systems and motor drive applications. The
cascade multilevel inverter (CMI) can flexibly expand the output power capability and favourable to develop because the
converter provides modularity in topology, control structure and modulation. A recent version of CMI topology employs a
single dc source and low-frequency three-phase transformers. Compared with conventional topologies, this CMI with three-
phase transformers facilitates high-quality output waveforms with reduced number of components. Additionally, structure has
high degree of freedom for specifying the cost function in terms of filter size, losses and total harmonic distortion (THD). In
the present study, the authors proposed three major control techniques for this CMI namely (i) fundamental frequency, (ii)
selective harmonic elimination PWM (SHEPWM) and (iii) sinusoidal PWM (SPWM) methods. To demonstrate presented
CMI effectively, THD comparison is carried out with conventional seven-level CMI. Selected experimental results are
reported to verify and validate the theoretical findings.

1 Introduction and CMI. Overall, P2MI undeniably requires too many

In recent years, multilevel inverters have presented an
important development to reach high power with increasing
voltage levels. The research on multilevel inverter has been
receiving wide attention, and becoming hot point in the
research on high-power inverters and medium-voltage drives.
Fig. 1 shows the most common multilevel power converters
and classical two-level converters. Multilevel topologies
present numerous advantages compared with conventional
and very well-known two-level converters such as high
power quality of waveforms, low switching losses, high-
voltage capability, low electromagnetic compatibility etc.
[1–5]. Plentiful multilevel inverters topologies have been
proposed during the last two decades. Contemporary research
has engaged novel inverter topologies and unique modulation
schemes. Moreover, four major multilevel inverters structures
have been reported in the literature [6], which are as follows:
diode-clamped multilevel inverter (DCMI), flying capacitors
multilevel inverter (FCMI), P2 multilevel inverter (P2MI)
and cascade multilevel inverter (CMI) with a separate dc
source [7–9]. In view of the latter, all these remarkable
topologies are compared [10] in terms of their component
count, feasibility and utilisation. However, most converters
are chosen on the basis of component count, because it
directly affects the cost factor and reliability [11]. Further, a
comparison of aforesaid topologies shows that for generating
m-level output voltages the DCMI, FCMI and P2MI
topologies need (m 2 1) capacitors on the dc bus, while the
CMI topology uses only (m 2 1)/2 capacitors for same
m-level. Clamping diodes are not required for FCMI, P2MI
components as compared with other multilevel converters, so
it is not suitable for higher-voltage levels. However, on
comparing CMI topology with DCMI, FCMI and P2MI
shows that CMI requires least number of components and its
dominant advantage is circuit layout with flexibility.
According to a recent survey CMI are extensively used in
compressors (82%), synchronous motors (92%), converters
(98%) and power generation plants (47%), in addition it is
best suited for the power quality devices such as static
synchronous compensators (STATCOMs) and universal
power quality conditioners [12, 13, 25]. Although this
inverter topology is more preferable still there are some
aspects that require further development and research. The
primary issue that strikes about conventional CMI is that,
either, it uses a separate dc source for each H-Bridge or it
uses single-phase transformers for each H-Bridge with
single dc source, this constructions not only yield
significant cost but also drastically effects efficiency and
reliability [14, 15, 25] of a converter. On the other hand, a
new version of CMI was proposed [1], which employs a
single dc source with isolated three-phase low-frequency
transformers. The main attribute of the converter is that, it
uses less number of components. In-depth assessment of
topology can be found in the above reference. In the
present work, three switching techniques namely,
fundamental frequency, selective harmonic elimination and
sine triangle PWM are investigated. The main idea behind
the operation with different techniques is to explore the
potential of the proposed CMI. However, to verify the
performance of the proposed CMI, prototype experiments

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Fig. 1 Classical two-level power converters against most common mutlilvel power converters

are carried out in the laboratory and adequate results are
presented to confirm the findings.
The rest of the paper is organised as follows. Section 2
demonstrates the details of generalised topology, proposed
topology with three-phase transformers and key issues.
Section 3 explains the details of fundamental frequency
switching and its theoretical findings. Section 4 provides the
information on the selective harmonic elimination PWM
(SHEPWM) technique. Section 5 provides details of the
sine triangle PWM (SPWM) approach. Section 6 provides
the experimental details of the proposed CMI. Section 7
discusses the performance analysis of the proposed CMI
and finally Section 8 presents the conclusion and discussion.
2 Cascaded H-Bridge multilevel inverter with
single- and three-phase transformers
Fig. 2 shows the CMI with single dc source and single-phase
transformers. This class of converter is extensively used in
utility interfacing applications [16, 17]. But, this structure
utilises the single-phase transformers for each H-Bridge,
which makes the converter size big and thereby increases

Fig. 2 Details of cascaded-inverters with single dc source by employing single-phase transformers

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& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012 doi: 10.1049/iet-pel.2011.0150
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cost. Fig. 3 shows H-Bridge multilevel inverter with single dc because primary of transformers are connected to an H-
source and several low-frequency three-phase transformers, Bridge cell generating VDC , zero and 2VDC This represents,
which reduces the size of the equipment. In this topology, output voltage is balanced only when Vak ¼ VDC ,
each primary terminal of the transformer is connected to an Vbk ¼ 2VDC and Vck ¼ 0; but when all primary voltages are
H-Bridge module so as to synthesise output voltages from equal, that is, Vak , Vbk and Vck are equal to VDC then (3) will
voltage +VDC , Zero, 2VDC . The secondary transformers not be valid. On the other hand (1) holds good for all the
are connected in series to enhance the output voltage level. conditions and it is represented by magnetic circuit concept
Further, each phase terminal is delta connected to restrain notifying that flux at the primary of phase ‘a’ will be equally
the third harmonic component. influenced on phase ‘b’ and phase ‘c’. Thus, flux on phase
Fig. 3 shows that the primary of each phase is three phase ‘b’ and ‘c’ becomes 21. As a result, voltages developed are
and each secondary is a single-phase terminal. All three Vak ¼ VDC , Vbk ¼ 2VDC and Vck ¼ 0 . The summation of
terminals are series connected to generate phase voltage. such voltages will become zero. So an unbalance relationship
Therefore each phase voltage can be synthesised is also included in (1). As shown in Fig. 3, the proposed
independently. As a result, each phase of a multilevel multilevel inverter secondaries are connected in series so
inverter can be depicted as an isolated H-Bridge cascaded output is the sum of all three voltages. Thus, it can be
multilevel inverter. Thus, we can obtain the relation between represented as
input and output voltages of a three-phase transformer as
⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤  
2 −1 −1 Vak k 
k 
k
N [VAS ; VBS ; VCS ] =
[VAk ; VBk ; VCk ] = ⎣ −1 2 −1 ⎦⎣ Vbk ⎦ (1) XAi ; XBi ; XCi (4)
3 i=1 i=1 i=1
−1 −1 2 Vck

Similarly, N is the transformation ratio (n2/n1) between primary where VAS , VBS and VCS represent summation of secondary
and secondary and if there is a balanced input, then sum of each voltages. In-depth analysis/evaluation of the structure is
phase voltage would become zero. found in [1]. Section 3 demonstrates the fundamental
frequency approach. In Sections 6 and 7, the performance
Vak + Vbk + Vck = 0 (2) verification is realised with three control techniques namely,
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ (i) fundamental frequency (ii) SHEPWM (iii) sinusoidal
VAk Vak PWM (SPWM). The next section demonstrates the
⎣ VBk ⎦ = N ⎣ Vbk ⎦ (3) fundamental frequency approach. Note that the work
VCk Vck presented aims to show the effectiveness of the proposed
CMI with respect to harmonic content. So, to highlight the
From (3) CMI with three-phase configuration, we are obtaining effectiveness of the proposed CMI (CMI with three-phase
each phase output voltage of transformer as product of input transformers), conventional CMI (CMI with single-phase
voltage and turns ratio of transformer. In reality, the transformers) performance is taken into account and
proposed configuration is often unbalanced in three phases, compared sequentially with the newly proposed CMI.

Fig. 3 Details of cascaded-inverters with single dc source by employing three-phase transformers

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3 Fundamental frequency approach the linearisation method to each area. These prospects are
useful in eliminating lower-order harmonic components.
Before proceeding, let us examine output waveform However, by solving the above limitation using the
characteristic of conventional CMI and the proposed CMI Newton– Raphson method three switching angles a1 , a2 ,
with three-phase transformers. Fig. 4a demonstrates a3 can be predicted, which are less than p/2.
conventional converter characteristic waveform and its Fig. 5 illustrated the calculated switching angles and actual
switching fashion. Three single-phase transformers produce switching angles at different modulation indexes. It can be
a seven-level output waveform by using three switching observed from Table 1 that at modulation index 1 the
angles. In general, the minimum harmonic switching angle switching angle of transformer 1 is 11.708 and its extinction
can be easily solved by the Newton– Raphson’s approach angle is 168.38, which produces an output voltage VAl
[6]. Fig. 4b gives the details of output characteristics of shown in Fig. 4b. Similarly, for transformers two and three
CMI with three-phase transformers and output waveform at switching angles are 31.2 and 58.68 and there
each transformer terminal in phase ‘a’ are presented. To corresponding extinction angles are 148.8 and 121.48. From
demonstrate the fundamental frequency approach, consider Fig. 5, one can observe a slight difference between actual
the theoretical output voltage waveforms VA1 , VA2 and VA3
of each of the three-phase transformers. The output voltages
are connected in series to produce a net output voltage, that
is, VA1 + VA2 + VA3 and this situation is shown in Fig. 4b.
Output characteristics shown in Fig. 4b are the solutions
from (6). The phase voltage VA1 is obtained by three input
voltages, that is, val , vb1 and vc1 (observe Fig. 3). In a
similar fashion VA2 and VA3 can be obtained. These output
voltages are independent of switching angles, and range
from 0 , ak , p/2. So output voltage can be represented as

Vout = 4VDC /np( cos(na1 ) + cos(na2 ) + cos(na3 )) (5)

Aforementioned output voltages of converter are controlled

by switching angles, which are represented by a1 , a2 , a3 , Fig. 5 Variation of switching angles based on different modulation
all these angles lie between 0 and p/2 and it can be indexes
represented as 0 ≤ a1 ≤ a2 ≤ a3 ≤ p/2. In practice by
controlling the switching angles, the fundamental
component can be synthesised and meanwhile, fifth and
seventh harmonic components can be suppressed. But the
Table 1 Calculated switching angle based on the modulation
interesting feature is that the third harmonic component can
index
be completely eliminated because the secondary side of the
transformer is delta connected. Indeed, from the above Modulation a1 a2 a3
scenario, a set of non-linear equation can be written to find index (M)
switching angles.
0.1 76.42 – –
0.2 61.93 – –
cos(a1 ) + cos(a2 ) + cos(a3 ) = 3mp/4 0.3 50.22 86.24 –
cos(5a1 ) + cos(5a2 ) + cos(5a3 ) = 0 (6) 0.4 44.21 74.33 –
cos(7a1 ) + cos(7a2 ) + cos(7a3 ) = 0 0.5 40.80 66.12 89.45
0.6 39.44 58.61 83.10
0.7 35.35 53.90 74.50
where m is the modulation index, which is varied from 0.1 to 0.8 29.80 54.46 65.55
1. Herein, switching angles of each switch are calculated by 0.9 17.76 43.05 63.21
the Newton– Raphson method on the basis of area of each 1 11.7 31.27 58.60
switch [18]. All relay angles can be determined by applying

Fig. 4 Details of waveforms for

a Conventional seven-level inverter
b Proposed CMI with three-phase transformers

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and calculated switching values, but by adjusting these values
manually we can solve the problems. Rest of the switching
angles from M ¼ 0.1 to 1 were given in Table 1.
4 Multilevel SHEPWM technique
The multilevel SHEPWM technique has a theoretical
potential to achieve the highest output power quality at low
switching frequencies in comparison with other methods
[18]. Owing to mathematical complexity SHEPWM is less
preferred. But still this method is effective in suppressing
significant harmonics in the system. Applying SHEPWM to
a multicell converter is well presented by several authors
[19]. But in the present case we adopt this technique to
the CMI with three-phase transformers. Aforementioned
topology shown in Fig. 4 employs three-phase transformers
and its structure is quite diverse when compared with
conventional CMI. Thus, its relative performance is
interesting to analyse and thereby the inherent potential of
the converter can be explored.
4.1 Harmonic elimination and phase shift
Consider the generalised three-level SHEPWM shown in
Fig. 6 and let m be the number of chopped switching
angles per quarter-cycle. The output waveform is assumed
to be odd quarter wave symmetry, whose amplitude equals
E. Because of odd quarter wave symmetry, the dc
component and even harmonics are equal to zero. Thus, the
generalised Fourier expression of the three-level SHEPWM
can be written as

1
Vout (wt) = an sin(nwt) (7)
n=1
4E M
an = ( − 1)k+1 cos(nak ) (8)
np K=1
where M is the number of switching angles per quarter [20],
and ak is the switching angle that must satisfy the following
conditions
a1 , a2 , a3 · · · , aM (9)
E is the amplitude of the dc source and n is the harmonic
order.
This entire prospect is for only single cell and to extend
further switching, phase shifting is carried out for each
subsequent series cells. In the present case, consider b as
Fig. 6 Details of a generalised three-level SHEPWM waveform
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doi: 10.1049/iet-pel.2011.0150
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the phase-shifted angle. However, in practice if the number
of switching angles in a quarter period is m, then the first
significant harmonic crest for each cell is just above the 2
mth harmonic. One of the crest harmonics can be
eliminated by the phase shift, and the other will be
suppressed. If the 2m + 3 harmonic is selected for
elimination, the phase shift angle b can be obtained as
2p
b= (10)
3(2m + 3)
At the moment, consider the proposed three-cell three-phase
converter. Corresponding switching for each cell is obtained
by solving set of non-linear equations. Herin M
is considered as five, that is, basic quarter waveform is
chopped at five instants, so that low-order harmonic is
predominantly reduced. To obtain a switching angle
consider the following inequalities.
For each cell, the generalised expression is defined by
including phase shift angle b.
4E
a1 = [cos na1 − cos na2 + cos na3 + · · · + cos ak ]
np
(11)
4E
a2 = [ cos n(a1 − b) − cos n(a2 − b)
np
+ cos n(a3 − b) + · · · + cos(ak − b)] (12)
4E
a3 = [cos n(a1 + b) − cos n(a2 + b)
np
+ cos n(a3 + b) + · · · + cos(ak + b)] (13)
Resolving above inequalities a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . , ak values are
obtained. For other two phases 1208 apart is considered for
switching. The Newton– Raphson approach is used to solve
the above inequality. From the structure point of view,
secondary terminals are delta connected, so the third
harmonic and its multiples are automatically eliminated.
Owing to this, 1, 5, 7, 11, 13 are considered for chopping.
In practice, with this scenario output voltage does not
consist of any harmonics upto 13th except for fundamental.
As the number of chopping angles is low, switching losses
are also drastically reduced. But in the case of conventional
structure high-quality output voltages are not achieved as
three phases are individual and so low-order harmonics are
primarily observed; thereby the number of choppings is to
be increased to achieve qualitative output voltages with
better total harmonic distortion (THD). However, to
demonstrate the effectiveness of presented CMI,
conventional CMI verifications are also incorporated with
same number of choppings.
Generalised equations for switching first H-Bridge cell are
illustrated as follows
cos(a1 ) − cos(a2 ) + cos(a3 ) − cos(a4 ) + cos(a5 ) = 3mp/4
cos(5a1 ) − cos(5a2 ) + cos(5a3 ) − cos(5a4 ) + cos(5a5 ) = 0
cos(7a1 ) − cos(7a2 ) + cos(7a3 ) − cos(7a4 ) + cos(7a5 ) = 0
cos(11a1 ) − cos(11a2 ) + cos(11a3 ) − cos(11a4 )
+ cos(11a5 ) = 0
cos(13a1 ) − cos(13a2 ) + cos(13a3 ) − cos(13a4 )
+ cos(13a5 ) = 0
(14)
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Solving the above inequality by means of the Newton–
Raphson approach a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 , a5 are calculated. The
remaining inequalities are solved in similar fashion, but by
including angle b. To verify theoretical fact, experimental
verifications are presented in the subsequent section.
5 Multilevel SPWM technique
5.1 PWM techniques
Fig. 7 provides the details of PWM techniques. Holtz [21] had
reported about multicarrier-based PWM techniques. To be
specific, carrier-based PWM approaches are quite good to
handle. According to literature survey, two major carrier-
based PWM approaches are presented, namely phase-shifted
PWM and level-shifted PWM techniques. An In-depth
assessment between PWM methods can be found in
[22, 23]. In brief, rather than level-shifted PWM, phase-
shifted PWM technique had finite merits such as no rotation
in switching pattern [24], less switching losses and easy
implementation. In the present configuration, we adopt
phase-shifted PWM approach to CMI.
5.2 Switching and phase shifting
For multicell switching, phase shifting is an important
criterion. The present CMI uses nine H-Bridge cells and for
each phase, it uses three cells. Thus, three carriers are
chosen with appropriate phase shift. In general, with
unipolar switching, a multicell converter requires (m 2 1)/2
Fig. 7 Details of PWM techniques
Fig. 8 H-Bridge operation and unipolar switching criteria
a Details of a single H-Bridge cell
b Unipolar modulation of one arm of the H-Bridge of VSC
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triangle carriers. However, in the present case (m 2 1)/4
carriers are required, which signifies that carrier count is
drastically reduced. For example, for a 13-level output
waveform (13 2 1)/2 carriers are needed in conventional
structures, whereas it is half in the present case, that is,
(13 2 1)/4. Besides, all triangle carriers in conventional and
proposed topologies have the same frequency and same
peak-to-peak amplitude, but then phase differences between
two adjacent carriers are given by
wcr = 360/(m − 1)/2 (15)
wcr = 360/(m − 1)/4 (16)
By using (15) and (16), appropriate phase shifts are
incorporated for conventional and proposed topologies.
5.3 Unipolar switching
A unipolar switching scheme is considered for generating
pulses. Fig. 8a provides details of single H-Bridge
operation and Fig. 8b unipolar switching criteria. Herein,
the 13-level voltage source modulation is accomplished by
comparing the duty cycles with a set of carrier waveforms.
The switching function Vsin is compared with a triangular
carrier Vtri of frequency fs and with definite amplitude.
The switching function Vsin is modulated with a carrier
following the principle of unipolar PWM, that is,
Condition 1.1: Vsin . Vtri . Then SW1 is on and resultant
voltage VA0 ¼ +1/2Vdc
Condition 1.2: Vsin , Vtri , Then SW2 is on and resultant
voltage VA0 ¼ 21/2Vdc
In a similar manner for the other phase leg of H-bridge,
Condition 2.1: Vsin . Vtri Then SW3 is on and resultant
voltage VB0 ¼ +1/2Vdc
Condition 2.2: Vsin , Vtri Then SW2 is on and resultant
voltage VB0 ¼ 21/2Vdc
Therefore net voltage levels obtained for one H-Bridge is
VDC , 0, 2VDC . The process is repeated for other H-Bridges
with a carrier phase shifted by the corresponding angles.
The sum of all these three voltages results in producing the
resultant output waveform.
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doi: 10.1049/iet-pel.2011.0150
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6 System hardware aforementioned switching techniques for both conventional
and proposed CMI.
For the experimentation, an FPGA-based module was used.
An analogue expansion daughter board is interfaced
between the FPGA module and insulated gate bipolar 7 Experimental results
transistor inverter. To programme the FPGA, two distinct
software packages are used in Matlab and Xilinx ISE. In Herein, performance verifications are presented for all three
Matlab, the programme is written, and with the help of ISE switching techniques. However, to confirm the superior
the programme is configured to run the FPGA. The main performance of the proposed CMI, performances of the
bridge between the two packages is system generator which conventional CMI are also taken into account and compared
is added as a part of Matlab to convert the Simulink math
code to very high speed integrated circuit hardware
description language (VHDL) code that the ISE recognises.
Later, proposed circuit topology was realised with system
generator and appropriate VHDL code is generated and
dumped to the Xilinx sparatn-3 FPGA board. Fig. 9
indicates the construction of CMI using three-phase
transformers. Total nine H-Bridge modules are used. The
measured quantities are the load currents and load voltages,
which are measured with Hall-effect voltage and current
transducers. Input dc voltage is taken as 60 V and for
transformers, transformation ratios are taken as 1:1. With
the help of FPGA, PWM signals are generated. Target
output voltage and its frequency are 110 Vac and 50 Hz,
respectively. For experimentation, a highly inductive load is
considered. A detailed component list is given in Table 2.
To be specific, prototype experiments are carried out with

Fig. 9 Details of prototype set up for the proposed cascaded

multilevel converter with three-phase transformers

Table 2 Hardware specifications

Items Specifications and features

switching devices FGH20N60UFD 600 V, 20 A Fair child

semiconductors
transformers El lamination (3 EA) 1:1 ratio
input voltage 1-single DC, 60 V
output voltage 13-level, 220 V
FPGA Xilinx Spartan3 device generate PWM signals
translator SN74LVCC3245A bi-directional voltage
translator Fig. 10 Performance of a cascaded multilevel inverter with
current sensor LTS 25-NP 25 A a Three-phase transformers by using the fundamental frequency approach at
voltage sensor LV25-P 1200 V modulation index 1, 0.5, 0.2 (from top to bottom)
load parameters R ¼ 400V, L ¼ 1000 mH b Single-phase transformers by using fundamental frequency approach at
modulation index 1, 0.5, 0.2 (from top to bottom)

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sequentially. THD is taken as the basic element for validating
the performances. An experimental detail of each switching
technique is demonstrated in the following sections.
7.1 Fundamental frequency approach
Fundamental switching criterion is demonstrated in Section
3. Switching is carried out with three switching angles per
quarter period. Figs. 10a and b provide the experimental
results of the proposed and conventional CMI, respectively.
For simplicity, results of phase ‘a’ only are presented. All
the waveforms for parallel connected resistive and inductive
loads (400 V + 1000 mH) were taken at the modulation
indexes 1.0, 0.5 and 0.2, respectively. Observing Fig. 10a
at modulation index 1, we notice that 13-level performance
is achieved with just nine H-Bridge cells. This defines
Fig. 11 Performance of cascaded multilevel inverter with
a Three-phase transformers by using a selective harmonic PWM approach at
modulation index 1, 0.5, 0.2 (from top to bottom)
b Single-phase transformers by using a selective harmonic PWM approach at
modulation index 1, 0.5, 0.2 (from top to bottom)
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the inherent potential of a converter. In fact, this is
an important finding regarding the proposed CMI.
Further, Fig. 10a provides information of FFT spectrums
for corresponding voltages. Observing THD, voltage
harmonics gradually increases with decrease in modulation
index and at modulation index 1 its THD is 8.19% and at
0.1 it is around 17.1% and lowest harmonic component
is 11th, the rest of the harmonics are suppressed and as
modulation index reduces all odd harmonic components are
noticed.
But for all the modulation indexes it is evident that third
harmonic component is completely absent. On the other
side, Fig. 10b provides conventional CMI output voltages
and FFT spectrum information. On inspecting, odd
harmonic components are observed for every modulation
index, particularly the third and its multiple harmonic
components. Further, the lowest harmonic component at
modulation index 1 is found to be fifth.
Fig. 12 Performance of a cascaded multilevel inverter with
a Three-phase transformers by using a sinusoidal PWM approach at
modulation index 1, 0.5, 0.2 (from top to bottom)
b Single-phase transformers by using a sinusoidal PWM approach at
modulation index 1, 0.5, 0.2 (from top to bottom)
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7.2 Selective harmonic approach
Multilevel selective harmonic approach is demonstrated in
Section 4. With the help of five switching angles the
proposed CMI is operated. As before, prototype experiments
are carried out for the proposed and conventional CMI with
same load parameters. Fig. 11a highlights the performance
of the proposed CMI with SHEPWM approaches. Output
waveforms and FFT spectrums are provided. Validation is
done for three modulation indexes, that is, 1, 0.5 and 0.2.
Observing the output voltage of the proposed CMI at
modulation index 1, it is almost sinusoidal in fashion and
respective FFT spectrum correspond complete elimination of
lower-order harmonics. Fig. 11b demonstrates the details of
conventional converter performance and its harmonic
spectrum with SHEPWM approach. To be specific,
verifications are presented with the same number of
choppings. However, on observing Figs. 11a and b, the
difference in output waveform could be predicted. In fact, at
modulation index 1 voltage level becomes twice as
compared to conventional CMI. Meanwhile, as modulation
index decreases level reduces but for all modulation indexes
the third and its multiple harmonic are completely
eliminated. Further on observing the conventional FFT
spectrum specifies the presence of lower-order harmonics
particularly at modulation index 1 and for all modulation
indexes the third harmonic component is also noticed.
However, an attractive feature of SHEPWM is that the
number of switching is reduced per cycle and this reduces
the switching losses. In addition, predominant harmonics are
completely eliminated and thereby facilitate an option to
design the output filter. However, one distinct limitation of
SHEPWM is a prerequisite of offline calculations to compute
the angles for a variety of modulation indexes.
† SPWM approach: The switching criterion is demonstrated
in Section 5. Both converters are set to operate at a switching
frequency of 5 kHz. Fig. 12a highlights the performance of
the proposed CMI at different modulation indexes.
Observing verifications, it is clear that output waveforms are
very close to sinusoidal at modulation index 1 and the
corresponding FFT spectrum signifies complete elimination
of lower-order harmonics. Later in Fig. 12b, conventional
CMI verifications are presented with the same modulation
indexes. But performance is disaster when compared with
the proposed one. FFT spectrums specify the presence of
low-order harmonics such as 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 and 15. Further,
as the modulation index decreases the harmonic content
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increases dramatically. However, such drastic changes are
not visible in the case of the proposed CMI. Furthermore,
one of the interesting observations is that the proposed CMI
response is quite impressive under lower modulation indexes
with SPWM. In fact, output voltages and FFT spectrums are
excellent and promising when compared with other
techniques. Overall, with the help of prototype experiments
and findings, the potential of the proposed CMI is explored.
However, to confirm the superior performance a comparative
approach is done by considering all FFT spectrum
information. This is presented in the next section.
8 Performance analysis of the proposed CMI
To highlight the performance verifications, consider Table 3
which provides complete information regarding conventional
and proposed CMI performance. This is summarised as
follows:
† In the case of the fundamental frequency approach, THD
of output waveform at modulation index 1 is about 8.9 and
14% with the proposed and conventional CMI, respectively.
On comparing, about 6% margin level is noticed which is
an extraordinary improvement. In a similar fashion, at
modulation index 0.2 THD for the proposed CMI and
conventional CMI are 17.9 and 37%, which is a huge
margin and this specifies that the proposed CMI is capable
of operating effectively for a wide range of operating
conditions. In fact, with fundamental frequency switching,
the proposed CMI provides little transition loss of switch
because of very low switching frequency.
† In the case of selective harmonic PWM, THD at modulation
index 1 is 6%. Interesting observation here is that, switching
angles used are only five for SHEPWM approach and with
this low-order harmonics are completely eliminated and
lowest harmonic content is 17th. On the other hand with the
same number of switching angles conventional performance
is not satisfactory and its THD is about 12%. Further, at
modulation index 0.2 THD is 17 and 33%, which is half of
the conventional one. Furthermore, conventional FFT
spectrums specify the presence of lower-order harmonics
particularly at modulation index 1 and for all modulation
indexes third harmonic component is also observed. In
practice, lower-order harmonics are always dangerous and
contribute a large amount in total harmonic content.
However, with SHEPWM, efficiency of the proposed CMI
dramatically improved by decrease in switching losses.

Table 3 Performance verification of CMI with single- and three-phase transformers

Switching Fundamental Fundamental SHEPWM for SHEPWM for SPWM for SPWM for
techniques frequency frequency CMI with CMI with CMI with CMI with
approach for CMI approach for CMI three-phase single-phase three-phase single-phase
with three-phase with single-phase transformers transformers transformers transformers
transformers transformers

m¼1 m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼ m¼
0.5 0.2 1 0.5 0.2 1 0.5 0.2 1 0.5 0.2 1 0.5 0.2 1 0.5 0.2

phase output 13 9 5 7 5 3 13 9 5 7 5 3 13 9 5 7 5 3
voltage levels
THD (In %) 8.19 11.94 17.1 14.1 24.94 37.9 6.61 11.91 17.6 12.61 21.01 33.33 4.1 8.89 16.89 12.39 27.39 48.9
least harmonic content 11.. 7,11.. 5,7.. 7.. 5,7.. 3,5,7.. 17 11,13 5,7.. 9,11 3,5.. 3,5,7.. 37.. 19,23. 11,13.. 11,13. 7,9.. 3,5,7..
observed in phase
output voltage

IET Power Electron., 2012, Vol. 5, Iss. 5, pp. 561–570 569

doi: 10.1049/iet-pel.2011.0150 & The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012
www.ietdl.org
† In the case of the PWM approach, a converter confirms
excellent outcome. The FFT spectrum signifies complete
elimination of low-order harmonics and the lowest
harmonic component noticed is 37th. Such performance is
observed in 48 pulse converters. Comparing THD
spectrums, proposed CMI reports 4 and 16% at modulation
indexes 1 and 0.2, respectively. However, conventional
CMI reports 12 and 48%, again a huge marginal gain in
THD being achieved. Thus, power quality has been
improved significantly. With such scenarios, the proposed
CMI confirms the superior performance over conventional
while operating with SPWM technique. In fact, after
comparing all approaches, sine triangle PWM formulates
outstanding prospects both in implementing and in
operating points of view.
9 Conclusions
This article proposed a new version of cascaded multilevel
inverter, which employed a single dc input source and low-
frequency three-phase transformers. Performance of the
proposed CMI is investigated with three switching
techniques namely, fundamental frequency switching,
SHEPWM and SPWM approaches.
The fundamental frequency approach to the proposed CMI
had definite advantage like little transition loss of switch
because of low switching frequency and reduced
electromagnetic interference, which is suitable for high-
voltage applications but on the other hand, it is much
difficult for a time variable non-linear system because of its
complicated off-line computation algorithms.
The SHEPWM approach to the proposed version of CMI
provides the highest-quality output voltages. Observing the
CMI performance, harmonic content is drastically reduced
and the lowest harmonic content observed is 17th, thus
SHEPWM attains high-quality output waveforms with
reduced switching frequency. This feature facilitates for
high-power applications, but an important limitation of
SHEPWM is complicated hardware implementation. Sine
triangle PWM approach for present converter provides
excellent performance. On observing FFT spectrums, the
least harmonic component noticed at modulation index 1 is
37th and such performance is similar to a 48-pulse converter
(NPC-with zigzag transformers). SPWM approach is easy to
handle and implement, particularly while dealing the time
variable non-linear systems. Thus, the converter can be easily
implemented for utility applications such as STATCOM,
static series compensators (SSSC), unified power quality
conditioners (UPQC) and so on. CMI performance is well
demonstrated with theoretical and experimental findings.
Results confirm the superiority over conventional archetype
and with the help of the proposed techniques a new evolution
of technical requirements takes place.
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