Abstract: Transformerless inverters are widely adopted in photovoltaic (PV) generation systems due to their reduced cost, compact size, and high efficiency. However, the presence of common-mode voltage in such systems can give rise to leakage current through parasitic capacitances, which remains a major technical concern. To address this issue, various inverter topologies, control techniques, and modulation schemes have been investigated. In common-ground inverter configurations, the source and load share the same ground reference, which effectively bypasses the parasitic capacitance and results in complete suppression of leakage current. This work proposes a novel switched-capacitor-based thirteen-level common-ground (CG) type inverter topology with six-times voltage boosting capability and inherent voltage balancing ability. This topology is suited for low-voltage PV systems without any intermediate voltage boosting stage. The CG feature of this inverter bypasses the PV parasitic capacitor, which results in the elimination of leakage current. The proposed inverter uses twelve switches, two diodes, and three capacitors to synthesize thirteen levels in the output voltage with six times voltage gain. The pulse-width modulation (PWM) scheme, along with the developed switching states, charges and discharges the capacitors periodically, which ensures stable and balanced voltages across the capacitors. The circuit description of the proposed inverter, switching states, PWM scheme, grid-tied control scheme, loss analysis, and design guidelines for switched capacitors are discussed in detail. A detailed comparative assessment of the proposed topology is carried out with existing state-of-the-art common-ground type topologies, which highlights the merit of the proposed inverter topology. The operation and control of the proposed inverter topology are validated through extensive experimental results.

Event Details
Title: Design of Switched-Capacitor-Based Multilevel Inverter for Renewable Energy Application
Date: January 16, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Venue: Online (https://meet.google.com/zrk-fbaa-kqq)
Speaker: Mr. Ajit Kumar Upadhiya (EE20D750)
Guide: Dr. Lakshminarasamma N
Type: PHD seminar

Updated: