Ting, Naim Suleyman; Sahin, Yakup; Ozgenel, Mehmet Cihat

A novel soft-switched three-level T-type inverter is proposed in this article. The proposed inverter provides turning-on by zero-voltage transition and turning-off by zero-voltage switching (ZVS) for main switches without any voltage or current stresses. The switching energies are transferred to the snubber capacitors, so the turning-off process of the main switches is improved by these snubber capacitors. Besides, the auxiliary switches are turned on by zero-current switching and turned off by ZVS. Furthermore, all snubber diodes are operated by soft-switching (SS), and the proposed SS snubber cell decreases the electromagnetic interference noises. The novel snubber cell has a simple structure, ease of application, common-ground switches, and low-cost features. The theoretical analysis of the inverter is clarified, and the operating modes for steady-state analysis are presented in detail. The experimental results rated 1-kW output power and 100-kHz switching frequency are provided to justify the theoretical analysis. The proposed unique snubber cell can be easily implemented in other three-level inverters, and the practice is demonstrated in the article.