Evaluation of PWM Methods for Two-Level Voltage Source Inverters Considering Efficiency, Power Losses Distribution and Harmonic Performance

In this paper, the most well-known pulse-width modulation (PWM) methods, including both continuous PWM and discontinuous PWM techniques are evaluated being applied to two-level voltage source inverters (VSI) taking into account features such as the converter efficiency, the power losses distribution among the power devices, and the obtained harmonic performance. An exhaustive study of the PWM methods is addressed considering the apparent power, the power factor and the switching frequency as operational conditions for the VSI. In the work, it is shown that all the optimization features cannot be achieved at the same time and an appropriate selection of the modulation method is required depending on the demands of the application.