Abstract

In this article, a novel multilevel topology for three-phase applications, having three-level and hybrid N-level modular configurations, enabling low-, medium-, and high-voltage operations, is presented. The proposed topology has several attractive features, namely reduced component count, being capacitor-, inductor-, and diode-free, lowering cost, control-complexity, and size, and can operate in a wide range of voltages and powers. Selected simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the performance of the proposed topology. Further, the overall efficiency of the topology and loss distribution in switches are studied. Finally, the key features of the proposed topology in terms of component count, blocking voltage, and dc-link requirements are highlighted via a comparative study.