DC (direct current) voltage source reduction in stacked multicell converter based energy systems

Multilevel power converters are key elements in the electrical grid-tied energy systems. This paper presents a novel topology for stacked multicell (SM) multilevel converters. The suggested SM converter has considerable interests of applications for interconnection of energy systems (renewable energy generation systems, energy storage systems, HVDC (high voltage direct current) systems, FACTS (flexible alternating current transmission system) devices, and custom power devices) to the electric power systems. The main advantages of the proposed converter, compared to the conventional SM converter, for attaining the aforementioned purpose are the reduction of the DC voltage energy sources from two to one, power switches (IGBT's) voltage rating, converter cost and size, losses, and installation area.