Design and Analysis of a 13-Level Switched Capacitor Boost Multilevel Inverter with Reduced Number of Switches

This paper presents the design and simulation of a high step-up 13-level switched-capacitor multilevel inverter (SC-MLI) with a reduced number of power switches. The proposed inverter topology is capable of generating thirteen output voltage levels using a single DC source, thereby eliminating the need for multiple isolated sources or bulky transformers. A switched-capacitor configuration is employed to achieve voltage boosting while maintaining self-voltage balancing of the capacitors. Nearest Level Modulation (NLM) is adopted as the control strategy to generate the gating signals, which enables low switching frequency operation and reduces switching losses. The performance of the proposed inverter is evaluated using MATLAB/Simulink under no-load and load conditions, and key parameters such as output voltage waveform, RMS voltage, voltage regulation, and total harmonic distortion (THD) are analyzed. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed 13-level SC-MLI achieves high voltage gain, improved power quality, and acceptable voltage regulation with reduced circuit complexity. Due to its compact structure and efficient operation, the proposed inverter is suitable for renewable energy and medium-power applications.