A Comprehensive Review of dc/ac Single-Phase Differential-Mode Inverters for Low-Power Applications

Switched-mode power supplies (SMPSs) are single-switch, two-state, dc/dc power electronic converters and can be generally classified into buck, boost, and buck-boost converters according to voltage transfer functions. There are more than 33 SMPSs with different characteristics in terms of their current and voltage ripples, voltage and current stresses, and their being voltage/current sourced. Although they are usually employed in the dc/dc mode, these SMPSs can be connected differentially to operate as single- and three-phase dc/ac inverters; hence, they are used in low-power applications. The resultant inverters will behave differently according to the topologies that they are descendant from. Several publications have presented differential-mode single-phase inverters (DMSIs) for low-power applications, focusing on their suitability for renewable energy systems. These proposals have mainly focused on boost and buck-boost configurations, with less focus on the buck inverter topologies. Also, several possible configurations for other DMSIs have not yet been proposed or discussed. This paper proposes a comprehensive review of the different possible configurations of the DMSIs, illustrating a systematic method by which to generate and explore them. The paper will mainly categorize the DMSIs in terms of their voltage transfer function and will then discuss the topologies, presenting the main advantages and disadvantages of each one.