Coupled Three-Phase Converter Concept and an Example: A Coupled Ten-Switch Three-Phase Three-Level Inverter

The bridge arms of traditional three-phase multilevel converters are independent of each other; thus, more active switches and passive diodes are required. In order to reduce the number of devices, a coupled three-phase converter architecture, which is suitable for both dc-ac and ac-dc converters, is presented. Based on this architecture, a ten-switch three-phase three-level (10S-3P-3L) inverter is proposed in this article. The proposed topology employs only ten active switches and no additional diodes, which helps to cut size, weight, and costs of system. The proposed space vector modulation enables 10S-3P-3L inverter to operate full modulation indexes. A comparison between the proposed inverter with some existing topologies in terms of device voltage and current stresses, conduction loss, switching loss, and other parameters is made to highlight its excellent performance. Moreover, the experimental results from a 3-kW experimental prototype reveal that the proposed inverter offers superior power quality.