Switched-diode structure for multilevel converter with reduced number of power electronic devices

To reduce the number of power electronic devices in multilevel converters, a new switched-diode multilevel converter is proposed in this study. This topology generates a large number of levels with fewer number of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), gate driver circuits and power diodes. For recommended multilevel converter, a novel method for determination of dc voltage sources magnitudes is presented. Also, the optimal structures is presented for different aims including less number of IGBTs, gate driver circuits, dc voltage sources and power diodes in order to generating a large number of levels. The proposed structure is compared with other topologies to reflect the merits of the proposed structure. The operation and performance of the proposed topology is verified by experimental and simulation results.