International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

A Comparative Study of Cascaded Z-Source and

Quasi Z-Source Multilevel Inverter for
Photovoltaic applications
D.Umarani

R.Seyezhai

PG Scholar,
Department of EEE,
SSN College of Engineering,
Chennai, India.
umasridev@gmail.com

Associate Professor,
Department of EEE,
SSN College of Engineering,
Kalavakkam, Chennai, India.
seyezhair@ssn.edu.in

Abstract - In this paper, a comparative study of five level

cascaded H-bridge Z-Source inverter and quasi Z-Source
inverter is proposed. Both the topologies employs impedance
network between the PV source and inverter circuitry to achieve
voltage boost and inversion operation in a single stage. The
double carrier PWM technique is applied for both the topologies
since it has several advantages over the conventional PWM
techniques and performance parameters are calculated. The
simulation of the above the mentioned circuits have been
performed in MATLAB/Simulink and the results are verified.

level Z-Source inverter. It has separate photovoltaic sources

for each bridge with same voltage level. By employing the
impedance network between the PV Source and the inverter
bridge, the below mentioned disadvantages can be overcome.

Keywords - Z-source inverter, Quasi Z-Source inverter, Double

carrier PWM & Multilevel inverter, Photovoltaic

I. INTRODUCTION
Cascaded Z-Source and Quasi Z- Source multilevel
inverters implemented with double carrier PWM are compared
in this paper. They are very much efficient and reliable for
inverting as well as boosting the supply voltage with a single
stage [1]-[2]. They also overcome the disadvantages of
conventional VSI. The suitability of the topologies for
photovoltaic systems is discussed. PV installations are
employed in several applications like stand-alone systems and
distributed power generation since there is a spurt in the use of
renewable energy sources. Because of the abundant
availability of solar energy and improvement energy
conversion technology, PV based power generation is
attaining importance. Photovoltaic (PV) power generation is
reliable, since it has no movable parts and very low operation
and maintenance cost. Therefore, to obtain the above
mentioned features, a PV source has been considered as the
source for each bridge of the five level cascaded H Bridge ZSource and Quasi Z-Source inverter [4]-[5]. The double
carrier PWM is a new PWM technique that can be applied for
the ZSI and QZSI which offers a number of advantages when
compared to the conventional PWM techniques. It will be
discussed in detail in the following sections. The double
carrier PWM is applied for both of the proposed topologies
and performance parameters such as boost factor and THD
will be calculated.
II.TOPOLOGY OF FIVE LEVEL CASCADED ZSI
Figure 1 shows the circuit configuration of Cascaded five

Fig.1 Five - level cascaded H Bridge ZSI

In the traditional voltage source inverter the following

problems exists [1].
The AC output voltage is limited below the input
DC voltage.

If overdrive is needed then we have to go for

additional converter stages to obtain the required
output which increases the system cost and reduces
efficiency.
The upper and lower devices cannot be gated
simultaneously as it results in shoot-through and
deterioration of devices.
Dead time has to be introduced for both upper and
lower devices which results in the distortion of the
waveform.
They are vulnerable to EMI noise.
III. TOPOLOGY OF FIVE LEVEL CASCADED QZSI
Quasi Z-Source inverter is a sub topology of Z Source
inverter in which there is difference in the impedance
network. The topology of the five- level Quasi Z-Source
inverter is illustrated in the Figure 2.It consists of a series of
single phase H bridge inverter units, Quasi Z Source

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

impedance networks and PV voltage sources. The QZSI

extends several advantages over the ZSI such as [2].

states are replaced by shoot-through states depending on the

PWM technique used.
V. DESIGN EQUATIONS

It draws continuous current from the input PV source.

cut down component ratings
Enhanced reliability
It has a wide voltage gain

QZSI and ZSI will have the same switching states and
switching pattern and the modes of operation of the bridge
network is also the same, except the front end impedance
network is replaced by a new network with different
orientation of the passive elements. All the boost control
methods developed for ZSI is applicable to QZSI.
A. Z- Source Inverter
The inductance and capacitance values of the ZSI are
calculated as follows.
Capacitance:
=

(2 )

(1)

2 (4 )

Inductance:
=

(2 )

Where,
Vm - Peak input voltage, Es - Supply voltage, Ts - Switching
period, K ripple limit in %

Fig.2 Five- level cascaded H Bridge Quasi Z-Source Inverter

IV.SWITCHING STATES
Table I shows details of the switching states and
corresponding output voltage level of multilevel ZSI and
QZSI.

B. Quasi Z-Source Inverter

The inductance and capacitance values of the QZSI are
calculated as follows.

TABLE I. SWITCHING STATES OF FIVE LEVEL ZSI AND QZSI

Inductance:

Output
voltage
2Vs
Vs
Vs
Vs
Vs
0
0
0
-Vs
-Vs
-Vs
-Vs
-2Vs

1 = 2 =

State

ON Switches

Active
Active
Shoot-through
Active
Shoot-through
Zero
Shoot-through
Shoot-through
Active
Shoot-through
Active
Shoot-through
Active

S1,S2,S5,S6
S1,S3,S5,S6
S1,S2,S3,S4,S5,S6
S1,S2,S5,S7
S1,S2,S5,S6,S7,S8
S1,S3,S5,S7
S1,S2,S3,S4,S5,S7
S1,S3,S5,S6,S7,S8
S1,S3,S7,S8
S1,S2,S3,S4,S7,S8
S3,S4,S5,S7
S3,S4,S5,S6,S7,S8
S3,S4,S7,S8

(2)

2 (4 )

. .
2. .

(3)

Capacitance:
1 = 2 =

2..
(1 +2 )

. .
2.. .

(4)

Where,
To - Shoot-through Interval, M - Modulation Index, Rc - Peak
current ripple in %, Rv - Peak voltage ripple in %, IL - Rated
Load current
fs - Switching frequency
VI. DOUBLE CARRIER PWM TECHNIQUE

The important feature of ZSI and QZSI is the shoot

through state. The devices in the same limb are
simultaneously turned ON during this state. In both of these
topologies there is an impedance network present and
therefore this switching state that lasts for a very short
duration does not damage the switches as in the case of VSI.
During the shoot-through state, the DC link voltage of the
inverter becomes zero. In boost mode some or all of the zero

Double Carrier PWM technique is an emerging control

strategy which can be employed for controlling both ZSI and
QZSI. As mentioned in [9]- [10], this method employs a
sinusoidal reference signal and two triangular carrier signals
having same and high frequency. One of the carrier signals is
provided with no bias or zero dc offset value while the other
carrier signal is shifted up to certain dc offset voltage in order
to provide control over the shoot through duty ratio. The
switching pulse which is obtained by comparing the triangular
wave without dc offset and reference wave is given to the
upper leg switches of the inverter circuit. The inversion of the

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

gating pulse that is obtained by comparing the triangular wave

with dc offset and reference wave is given to the lower leg
switches of inverter circuit. Figure 3 shows double carrier
control waveforms. The following are the benefits of the
double carrier PWM control compared to the conventional
control methods [9] - [10].
Boost factor and modulation index are independent.
There is an increase in the number of shoot through states
for each cycle of the carrier signal.
During shoot through state, only one phase leg devices
are gated which results in reduced switching loss.

A. Matlab/ Simulink model of five level cascaded ZSI

Figure 4 shows the MATLAB/Simulink model of five-level
Cascaded H-bridge Z-source inverter.

Fig.4 MATAB/Simulink model of five level cascaded ZSI

The circuit shown above is modeled with the parameters listed

in Table II using MATLAB/Simulink.
B. Output Voltage of five level cascaded ZSI

Fig. 3 Double carrier PWM

VII. SIMULATION RESULTS

Table II provides the parameters used to carry out the
simulation in Matlab/Simulink for the proposed topology.
TABLE II. SIMULATION PARAMETERS

Rating for
QZSI

Rating for
ZSI

20 V

20 V

Inductors L1 , L2

3 mH

10 mH

Capacitors C1 , C2

3300 F

6000 F

Boost Factor B

Switching frequency

5 kHz

5 kHz

Load resistance RL

50

50

Parameter

Input Voltage per bridge

Fig.5 Output voltage of five level cascaded ZSI

Figure 5 shows the output voltage of five level Cascaded Hbridge Z-source inverter. The output voltage has been boosted
based on the boost factor. The boost factor is independent of
modulation index in the double carrier PWM technique.
C. Matlab/ Simulink model of five level cascaded QZSI

Fig.6 MATLAB/Simulink model of five level cascaded QZSI

ISBN 978-1-4799-3158-3
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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

Figure 6 shows the MATLAB/Simulink model of five level

Cascaded H-bridge Quasi Z-source inverter. The simulation
has been carried out with the parameters listed in Table II.

F. THD of five level cascaded QZSI

Selected signal: 50 cycles. FFT window (in red): 5 cycles
40

D. Output Voltage of five level cascaded QZSI

20
0
-20
-40
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Time (s)

Mag (% of Fundamental)

Fundamental (50Hz) = 41.93 , THD= 48.25%

Fig.7 Output Voltage of five level cascaded H-bridge QZSI

Vt Peak amplitude of the carrier wave

E. THD of five level cascaded ZSI

Selected signal: 50 cycles. FFT window (in red): 5 cycles

20
0
-20
0.4

0.6

100

200
300
Frequency (Hz)

400

500

0.8

Time (s)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Fundamental (50Hz) = 22.5 , THD= 89.53%

The authors would like express their thanks to All India Council for Technical
Education (AICTE) for funding the project and to carry out the research work.

25
Mag (% of Fundamental)

The impedance network of both ZSI and QZSI for five level
cascaded H bridge configurations has been designed. The PV
source has been modeled using mathematical model of PV
array in MATLAB and used as separate source for each bridge
of the five level cascaded H -bridge ZSI and QZSI.
Simulation was carried out for both the circuits for a specific
boost factor (2) using the double carrier PWM technique. The
obtained output voltage is almost twice that of the input
voltage and the results are shown above for both the
topologies.THD has been found out using FFT analysis in
MATLAB. It can be seen that the THD is lesser (48.25%) for
five level quasi Z-Source inverter configurations than fivelevel Z-Source inverter configuration.

Voff DC offset Voltage,

0.2

VIII. CONCLUSION

Fig.9 THD Of five level cascaded QZSI

(5)

Where,

-40

Figure 9 shows the THD of the five level cascaded H-bridge

ZSI. It is found to be equal to 48.25%.

The Boost factor is calculated by

12

Figure 7 shows the output voltage of five level Cascaded Hbridge Quasi Z-source inverter. Based on the boost factor, the
output voltage will be boosted.

10

20

REFERENCES

15

[1] Peng, Fang Zheng ,"Z-source inverter", Industry Applications, IEEE

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[2] J. Anderson and F.Z. Peng, Four Quasi-Z-Source Inverters, Power
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[3] J.Rodriguez,J.-S. Lai, and F. Z. Peng, Multilevel inverters: A survey of
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[4] Yuan Li Joel Anderson, F.Z.Peng and Dichen Liu, "Quasi Z-Source
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10
5
0

100

200
300
Frequency (Hz)

400

500

Fig.8 THD of five level cascaded ZSI

Figure 8 shows the THD of the five level cascaded H-bridge

ZSI. It is found to be equal to 89.53%.

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

Inverter, Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 10, No. 1, January 2010, pp. 7984.
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