A comprehensive review on recent trends and future prospects of PWM techniques for harmonic suppression in renewable energies based power converters

Research has concentrated on promoting the development of environmentally friendly energies since air pollution, energy crises, and global warming are main challenges in modern era. One effective way to reduce environmental damage is to use Renewable Energy Resources (RER). The prominence of RER is increasing due to escalating global energy challenges. Power converter development and application are closely associated to the deployment of RER. One major problem with these power converters is the presence of extremely high harmonic components in their output voltage. Various PWM techniques are employed to suppress harmonics and no singular PWM technique is universally applicable to all circumstances. Firstly, this review paper provides readers with in-depth explanation of the significance of harmonic suppression as well as presentation of several important PWM strategies. Then, the advantages and disadvantages are explored, and the methods are compared in terms of the number of harmonics suppressed by each PWM technique. Further, this review also discusses and describes harmonics suppression, PWM categorization, Single PWM, Multiple PWM, Sinusoidal PWM, Modified Sinusoidal PWM, SVPWM, Hysteresis PWM, Selective Harmonic Elimination PWM, and Multiple Carrier PWM, as well as their benefits and drawbacks. Tables with comparative assessment based on various parameters are provided for each PWM technique. Lastly, conclusion with a thorough presentation of future tendencies is provided. •Detailed overview of harmonic suppression.•Classification and widespread investigation of PWM techniques for renewable energy applications.•Comparative assessment and tabulated analysis of various conventional and advance PWM techniques.•Analysis of future development and future research trends.