Comparative Performance Evaluation of Conventional and Optimized Control Strategies for A Single-Phase 23-Level Multilevel Inverter

Hamdy, Laith A.

doi:10.26706/ijceae.7.5.20261008

Abstract

In this paper, the comparative performance analysis of conventional control and optimization-based control strategy of reduced-switch single phase 23-level multilevel inverter (MLI) is presented. The proposed inverter uses an asymmetrical DC-source configuration and uses only 10 power semiconductor switches to obtain the output voltage of 23 levels. Conventional Nearest Level Control with Pulse Width Modulation (NLC–PWM), Harris Hawks Optimization algorithm based Selective Harmonic Elimination (HHO–SHE) and Mother Optimization algorithm based Selective Harmonic Elimination (MOA–SHE) three control strategies are studied under the same operating conditions.

Finally, simulations are performed in MATLAB/Simulink to analyse the output voltage, harmonic spectrum, total harmonic distortion (THD), and computing performance. The simulation results show that the proposed NLC–PWM strategy has the best performance and results in the lowest voltage THD value (0.230%) and the lowest current THD value (0.086%) with the simplest implementation and also the lowest computational complexity. Compared with the other optimization-based techniques, MOA–SHE offers the lower voltage THD, which is 0.816% and 1.119% with MOA–SHE and HHO–SHE, respectively, showing its superior capability for solving the switching-angle optimization problem. The obtained results prove the effectiveness of the proposed 23-level inverter topology and indicate that NLC–PWM is the most suitable method of inverter topology for applications, which demand high power quality and simple implementation, while MOA–SHE is an effective optimization-based application of SHE.

Keywords

Multilevel inverter Selective Harmonic Elimination (SHE) Nearest Level Control (NLC) Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO) Mother Optimization Algorithm (MOA) Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

References

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[1] J. Rodríguez, J. S. Lai, and F. Z. Peng, “Multilevel inverters: A survey of topologies, controls, and applications,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 724–738, Aug. 2002, doi: 10.1109/TIE.2002.801052.

[2] A. Singh, V. Jately, P. Kala, Y. Yang, and B. Azzopardi, “Advancements in multilevel inverters for efficient harnessing of renewable energy: A comprehensive review and application analysis,” IEEE Access, vol. 12, pp. 156939–156964, 2024, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3477501.

[3] M. Sarebanzadeh, M. A. Hosseinzadeh, C. Garcia, E. Babaei, S. Islam, and J. Rodriguez, “Reduced switch multilevel inverter topologies for renewable energy sources,” IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 120580–120595, 2021, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3105832.

[4] S. Kouro et al., “Recent advances and industrial applications of multilevel converters,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 57, no. 8, pp. 2553–2580, Aug. 2010, doi: 10.1109/TIE.2010.2049719.

[5] Harbi et al., “Model-predictive control of multilevel inverters: Challenges, recent advances, and trends,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 38, no. 9, pp. 10845–10868, Sep. 2023, doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2023.3288499.

[6] C. Garcia et al., “Model predictive control in multilevel inverters part I: Basic strategy and performance improvement,” IEEE Open J. Ind. Appl., vol. 5, pp. 428–441, 2024, doi: 10.1109/OJIA.2024.3460669.

[7] M. Tariq, S. A. Khan, D. Upadhyay, A. Sarwar, A. Sarwat, and P. Peltoniemi, “Implementation of NLC-SHM based novel PWM scheme on packed U-cell multilevel inverter,” IET Power Electron., vol. 17, no. 15, pp. 2416–2427, Nov. 2024, doi: 10.1049/pel2.12789.

[8] Omorodion Uwagboe and A. K. Saha, “A comprehensive review of multilevel inverter topologies and control strategies for grid-connected photovoltaic battery energy storage systems integrating active power filter,” IEEE Access, 2025, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3615104.

[9] M. Ayala, L. Tipán, M. Jaramillo, and C. Cuji, “THDv reduction in multilevel three-phase inverters using the SHE-PWM technique with a hybrid optimization algorithm,” Energies, vol. 18, no. 16, Art. no. 4292, Aug. 2025, doi: 10.3390/en18164292.

[10] T. A. Taha et al., “Optimization of cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter using Mother Optimization Algorithm (MOA) and Starfish Optimization Algorithm (SFOA),” Discover Appl. Sci., vol. 8, no. 8, Art. no. 868, 2026, doi: 10.1007/s42452-026-08755-2.

[11] T. A. Hussein, L. A. Mohammed, and L. A. Hamdy, “Three phase MLI implementation of V/F control for three phase induction motor based on FPGA and Gary wolf algorithm,” Przegląd Elektrotechniczny, vol. 98, no. 8, pp. 41–46, 2022, doi: 10.15199/48.2022.08.08.

[12] T. A. Hussein, L. A. Mohammed, and L. A. Hamdy, “Design and implementation of nineteen level three-phase inverter for constant torque three phase induction motor,” in AIP Conf. Proc., vol. 2862, no. 1, 2023, Art. no. 020033, doi: 10.1063/5.0171420.

[13] A. M. Abdel-hamed, A. M. Nasser, H. Shatla, and A. Refky, “An improved SPWM control approach with aid of ant lion optimization for minimizing the THD in multilevel inverters,” Sci. Rep., vol. 15, no. 1, Art. no. 4678, Dec. 2025, doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-84678-5.

[14] H. Yiğit, S. Ürgün, and S. Mirjalili, “Comparison of recent metaheuristic optimization algorithms to solve the SHE optimization problem in MLI,” Neural Comput. Appl., vol. 35, no. 10, pp. 7369–7388, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1007/s00521-022-07980-1.

[15] S. Ürgün, H. Yiğit, and S. Mirjalili, “Investigation of recent metaheuristics based selective harmonic elimination problem for different levels of multilevel inverters,” Electronics, vol. 12, no. 4, Art. no. 1058, Feb. 2023, doi: 10.3390/electronics12041058.

[16] T. A. Taha et al., “Recent advancements in multilevel inverters: Topologies, modulation techniques, and emerging applications,” Symmetry, vol. 17, no. 7, Art. no. 1010, Jul. 2025, doi: 10.3390/sym17071010.

[17] Matoušová, P. Trojovský, M. Dehghani, E. Trojovská, and J. Kostra, “Mother optimization algorithm: A new human-based metaheuristic approach for solving engineering optimization,” Sci. Rep., vol. 13, no. 1, Art. no. 10471, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-37537-8.

[18] A. Choudhary, R. Kumar, S. S. Letha, F. I. Bakhsh, A. Singh, and M. J. Khan, “Review of recent trends of advancements in multilevel inverter topologies with reduced power switches and control techniques,” IET Power Electron., Jan. 2026, doi: 10.1049/pel2.12564.

[19] A. Heidari, S. Mirjalili, H. Faris, I. Aljarah, M. Mafarja, and H. Chen, “Harris hawks optimization: Algorithm and applications,” Future Gener. Comput. Syst., vol. 97, pp. 849–872, Aug. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.future.2019.02.028.

[20] M. I. Sarwar et al., “A hybrid nearest level combined with PWM control strategy: Analysis and implementation on cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter and its fault tolerant topology,” IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 44266–44282, 2021, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3058136.

[21] N. Chiasson, L. M. Tolbert, K. J. McKenzie, and Z. Du, “Elimination of harmonics in a multilevel converter using the theory of symmetric polynomials and resultants,” IEEE Trans. Control Syst. Technol., vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 216–223, Mar. 2005, doi: 10.1109/TCST.2004.839556.

[22] D. G. Kumar et al., “Performance analysis of an optimized asymmetric multilevel inverter on grid connected SPV system,” Energies, vol. 15, no. 20, Art. no. 7665, Oct. 2022, doi: 10.3390/en15207665.

[23] R. R. K, S. R. P, S. K, and V. Janamala, “Enhanced mother optimization algorithm-based optimal reconfiguration to accommodate emerging electric vehicle demand,” J. King Saud Univ. – Eng. Sci., vol. 37, no. 3, Jun. 2025, doi: 10.1007/s44444-025-00008-8.