Z-Source Inverter

The Z-source inverter (ZSI) is an emerging topology for power electronics converters with very interesting properties such as buck-boost characteristics and single-stage conversion with potential for reduced cost, reduced volume, and higher efficiency due to a lower component number. This chapter presents the different dc/ac ZSI topology improvements and topology arrangements. There are many topology modifications either to overcome the drawbacks of the basic ZSI topology or to increase its voltage gain. In addition, the impedance source topological concept has been integrated with cascaded and multilevel concepts to improve the output quality and to reduce switch voltage and current stress. The chapter provides a comprehensive overview of most dc-ac ZSI topology improvements and arrangements. It focuses on the topology modifications of the two-level voltage-fed ZSI. This overview will help power electronics researchers and engineers to understand and identify the pros and cons of each topology and choose the most suitable topology for their applications.