Simulation and Experimental Evaluation of a 5-Level Cascaded H-Bridge Inverter

Authors

  • Ibrahim Abdulwahab Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria
  • Mahmud Ismaila Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria
  • Sulaiman H. Sulaiman Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria
  • Ibrahim Abdullahi Shehu Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria
  • Musa Mohammed Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26740/vubeta.v2i2.37172

Keywords:

Multilevel Inverter, Pulse Width Modulation, Switches, Total Harmonic, Voltage Output

Abstract

Multilevel inverters (MIs) are designed in such a way that different DC sources could be used to achieve the desired output voltage. This includes high quality output voltage, reduction of voltage stress on the switches, low common mode voltages, better harmonic content and reduction in total harmonic distortion compared to the conventional voltage source inverter. As there will be reduction in THD the size of the filter will also get minimized which decreases complexity of the system. Sinusoidal pulse width modulation technique is commonly employed in MIs in order to obtain undistorted output voltage by eliminating lower order harmonics. Cascaded H-bridge MIs are the most preferable for this purpose due to their modularity, reliability, less usage of clamping diodes and ease of control of circuitry and it also reduces the switching and conduction losses of the system. In this study, 5-level cascaded H-bridge inverter was simulated in MATLAB/Simulink software environment. A prototype of the simulated 5-level inverter was also constructed and the result was compared with that obtained from simulation. The results of both the simulation and experimental measurement have the similar output voltage waveform and the THD value of 33.12% and 33% for the simulation and experiment respectively.

Author Biographies

Ibrahim Abdulwahab, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

Mahmud Ismaila, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

Sulaiman H. Sulaiman, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

Ibrahim Abdullahi Shehu, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

Musa Mohammed, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria

References

[1] R. K. Gatla et al., "Comprehensive analysis of faults and diagnosis techniques in cascaded multi-level inverters," Heliyon, vol. 10, no. 21, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39901.

[2] O. S. Vargas, S. E. D. L. Aldaco, J. A. Alquicira, L. G. Vela-Valdés, and A. R. L. Núñez, "Adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) applied to inverters: a survey," IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 869-884, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2023.3327014.

[3] A. Salem, H. Van Khang, K. G. Robbersmyr, M. Norambuena, and J. Rodriguez, "Voltage source multilevel inverters with reduced device count: Topological review and novel comparative factors," IEEE transactions on power electronics, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 2720-2747, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2020.3011908.

[4] B. Mosepele, R. Samikannu, and L. Amuhaya, "A structural review on reduced switch count and hybrid multilevel inverters," Frontiers in Energy Research, vol. 12, p. 1396149, 2024, https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2024.1396149.

[5] A. Hafis, A. S. Adamu, Y. Jibril, and I. Abdulwahab, "An Optimal Sizing of Small Hydro/PV/Diesel Generator Hybrid System for Sustainable Power Generation," Journal of Engineering Science Technology Review, vol. 16, no. 6, 2023, http://dx.doi.org/10.25103/jestr.166.01.

[6] I. Abdulwahab, S. Faskari, T. Belgore, and T. Babaita, "An improved hybrid micro-grid load frequency control scheme for an autonomous system," FUOYE Journal of Engineering Technology, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 369-374, 2021, http://dx.doi.org/10.46792/fuoyejet.v6i4.698.

[7] S. Sulaiman, H et al., "Investigation of Effect of Dust Accumulation on the Performance of Solar Photovoltaic Modules: A Case Study of Samaru, Zaria," Nigerian Journal of Engineering, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 92-99, 2024, https://njeabu.com.ng/?mno=172569.

[8] I. Abdulwahab et al., "Solar Irradiance Prediction for Zaria Town Using Different Machine Learning Models," Pakistan Journal of Engineering Technology, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 66-71, 2024, http://dx.doi.org/10.51846/vol7iss2pp66-71.

[9] M. Dogra, V. S. Sharma, A. Sachdeva, and J. Dureja, "TPM-a key strategy for productivity improvement in process industry," Journal of Engineering Science Technology, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1-16, 2011, https://jestec.taylors.edu.my/Vol%206%20Issue%201%20February%2011/Vol_6_1__001_016_MANU%20DOGRA.pdf.

[10] A. A. Khan, A. F. Minai, Q. Alam, and F. I. Bakhsh, "Multilevel Inverters: Classification, Approaches, and Its Application in Photovoltaic System," Multilevel Converters, pp. 27-50, 2024, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781394167371.ch2.

[11] R. Nagar, K. Shroff, A. Jagtap, N. B. Patil, and L. P. Patil, "A Survey on Conventional Multilevel Inverter Topologies," in International Conference on Smart Computing and Communication, pp. 249-262, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1326-4_21.

[12] W. Wu, X. Liu, J. Liang, Z. Liu, and C. Huang, "Application of cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter in the speed regulation of medium-and high-voltage asynchronous motor," Journal of Power Electronics, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 391-413, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43236-023-00759-0.

[13] S. Kamlu, "Comparative analysis for Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter," in 2024 3rd International Conference for Innovation in Technology (INOCON), pp. 1-6, 2024, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/INOCON60754.2024.10511338.

[14] D. Narmitha, K. Karthikumar, P. Chandrasekar, and P. G. Sankar, "Cascaded H Bridge Inverter Fed Motor Drive for Electric Vehicle Applications," in 2024 10th International Conference on Electrical Energy Systems (ICEES), pp. 1-9, 2024, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICEES61253.2024.10776852.

[15] X. Guo, X. Wang, C. Wang, Z. Lu, C. Hua, and F. Blaabjerg, "Improved modulation strategy for singe-phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter," IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 2470-2474, 2021, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2021.3109982.

[16] K. Jena et al., "A novel three-phase switched-capacitor five-level multilevel inverter with reduced components and self-balancing ability," Applied Sciences, vol. 13, no. 3, p. 1713, 2023, https://doi.org/10.3390/app13031713.

[17] M. Kavitha, A. Arunkumar, N. Gokulnath, and S. Arun, "New cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter topology with reduced number of switches and sources," IOSR-JEEE, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 26-36, 2012, https://doi.org/10.9790/1676-0262636

[18] A. Bhanuchandar and B. K. Murthy, "A new generalized floor function based high switching frequency modulation and control technique: Multilevel inverters," International Journal of Circuit Theory Applications, vol. 51, no. 10, pp. 4754-4773, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1002/cta.3659.

[19] I. Harbi et al., "Model-predictive control of multilevel inverters: challenges, recent advances, and trends," IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 38, no. 9, pp. 10845-10868, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2023.3288499.

[20] I. Ahamad et al., "Performance assessment of solar energy driven cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters," Microsystem Technologies, pp. 1-9, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-024-05748-2.

[21] N. Agrawal, A. Agarwal, and T. Kanumuri, "Advanced PWM technique for power quality optimization in 5-level CHB inverter systems," Electrical Engineering, pp. 1-17, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00202-024-02869-9.

[22] B. Sathyavani, K. S. Tara, and K. Sreedevi, "Modelling and Examination of Symmetric and Asymmetric CHB Inverter for Multiple Output Levels," in Emerging Technologies & Applications in Electrical Engineering: CRC Press, pp. 203-210, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003505181-25.

[23] R. Sarker, A. Datta, and S. Debnath, "An improved multicarrier PWM (MCPWM) technique with a new harmonic mitigation strategy for cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter applications," IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 1500-1510, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1109/TII.2021.3087458.

[24] A. Arranz-Gimon, D. Morinigo-Sotelo, A. Zorita-Lamadrid, and O. Duque-Perez, " IEEE Access, vol. 2024, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3474176.

[25] M. C. Garcia, M. A. Sanz-Bobi, and J. Del Pico, "SIMAP: Intelligent System for Predictive Maintenance: Application to the health condition monitoring of a windturbine gearbox," Computers in industry, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 552-568, 2006, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2006.02.011

Downloads

Published

2025-06-11

How to Cite

[1]
I. Abdulwahab, M. Ismaila, S. H. Sulaiman, I. Abdullahi Shehu, and M. Mohammed, “Simulation and Experimental Evaluation of a 5-Level Cascaded H-Bridge Inverter”, Vokasi Unesa Bull. Eng. Technol. Appl. Sci., vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 243–251, Jun. 2025.

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2025)

Section

Article

License

Copyright (c) 2025 ibrahim Abdulwahab, Sulaiman H. Sulaiman

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Abstract views: 13 , PDF Downloads: 22