Extended T-type inverter

This paper presents a new concept for a power electronic converter – the extended T-type (eT) inverter, which is a combination of a three-phase inverter and a three-level direct current (dc)/dc converter. The novel converter shows better performance than a comparable system composed of two converters: a T-type inverter and a boost converter. At first, the three-level dc/dc converter is able to boost the input voltage but also affects the neutral point potential. The operation principles of the eT inverter are explained and a simulation study of the SiC-based 6 kVA system is presented in this paper. Presented results show a serious reduction of the DC-link capacitors and the input inductor. Furthermore, suitable SiC power semiconductor devices are selected and power losses are estimated using Saber software in reference to a comparative T-type inverter. According to the simulations, the 50 kHz/6 kVA inverter feed from the low voltage (250 V) shows <2.5% of power losses in the suggested SiC metal oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) and Schottky diodes. Finally, a 6 kVA laboratory model was designed, built and tested. Conducted measurements show that despite low capacitance (2 × 30 μF/450 V), the neutral point potential is balanced, and the observed efficiency of the inverter is around 96%.