A new 37- level inverter with reduced switches for renewable energy applications

Multilevel inverters (MLIs) are now crucial in producing high-quality output waveforms due to their modularity and efficiency. This paper presents a novel 37- level MLI topology with a reduced number of switches and sources. The proposed design offers several advantages, including lower total harmonic distortion (THD) of 1.21% in hardware and 0.8% in simulation, high efficiency of 93.26%, reduced total standing voltage of 18 V_DC), and an improved component-per-level ratio compared to existing MLIs. The inverter performance is validated using MATLAB/Simulink and a laboratory prototype controlled by a dSPACE system under different load conditions. Results confirm that the proposed inverter maintains stable operation during dynamic load changes and provides a cost-effective, compact, and reliable solution for renewable energy and electric vehicle applications.