Level Switched-Capacitor Multilevel Converter with High Gain for Grid Connected Solar Photovoltaic Applications

Solar photovoltaic (SPV) systems have traditionally been used as standalone autonomous systems, but recently there has been a shift in focus to their integration with the grid. PV string can be formed by connecting multiple PV modules in series, which is used in an SPV application to generate a high voltage and then that voltage is converted to an ac voltage through a conventional two-level inverter, thus producing voltage with large harmonic content. To address this issue, multilevel converters (MLCs) have been studied due to their ability to increase power quality, minimize harmonic distortion, and shrink the size of the filtering unit. As the output voltage level increases, more switching components are required but with better power quality. As a result, switched-capacitor multilevel converters (SCMLCs) are now becoming increasingly popular for grid integration of solar photovoltaic systems. The focus now is towards the minimal devices for SCMLC. Consequently, less money is spent, and smaller converters are made. Its greater voltage boosting makes it appropriate for grid integration of low-voltage sources like SPV and fuel cells. A 13-level SCMLC topology is considered for the grid-connected operation of SPV in our case. It produces thrice voltage boosting by utilizing reduced component count.