Staircase Modulation for 17-Level Packed E-Cell Multilevel Inverter

This paper introduces a staircase modulation technique for a single-phase 17-level Packed E-Cell (PEC) Multilevel Inverter to balance capacitor voltages, improve efficiency, and reduce total harmonic distortion (THD) without a filter. The inverter prototype contains two symmetric DC sources, eight switches, one bidirectional switch, 9 gate driver circuits, two capacitors, and two voltage sensors. The proposed modulation technique is implemented on a Raspberry Pi Pico W Microcontroller. Experimental results demonstrate that THD of 4.7 % for voltage and an efficiency of 99 % tested at 470 W. This research contributes a simple control algorithm that enhances inverter performance using low switching frequency for renewable energy applications.