Harmonic Reduction of Multilevel Inverters Using Particle Swarm Optimization

In modern power systems, the growing integration of renewable energy sources and sensitive electronic loads has exacerbated harmonic distortion concerns, leading to compromised power quality. Conventional harmonic reduction methods frequently fall short in addressing complex and dynamic harmonic profiles. To confrontation this challenge, our proposed system harnesses Particle Swarm Optimization to dynamically optimize switching angles in multilevel inverters, efficiently mitigating harmonics and ensuring a stable and high-grade power supply. The paper emphases on improving the harmonic performance of multilevel inverters using innovative techniques. Multilevel inverters are susceptible to generating harmonics in their output waveform, which can principal to power quality issues. One broadly used technique for harmonic reduction is the Selective Harmonic Elimination (SHE) method. In SHE, precise harmonics are targeted for elimination by setting their desired values to zero. However, this technique includes solving nonlinear transcendental equations to determine the necessary phase angles for harmonic elimination, which can have manifold solutions and even points of discontinuity. To report these challenges, this paper introduces the utilization of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). PSO is a nature-inspired optimization algorithm that can efficiently handle complex and discontinuous optimization problems. The study comprises multilevel inverters and the 7 level configuration. The prime performance metric assessed in this study is the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the output voltage waveform. Through wide-ranging experimentation and analysis, the paper underscores the remarkable efficacy of PSO-based switching angles in substantially reducing THD levels after contrasted with conventional switching methods.