Application of multi-stage converter in distributed generation systems

► This paper investigates novel multi-stage DC/AC converter. ► It includes three parts: voltage source converter (VSC), HF transformer and novel AC/AC converter. ► The main purpose of this paper is reduction of stages and components of the multi-stage converters. ► The proposed AC/AC converter can generate staircase output voltage from square input voltage. The distributed generation systems are usually connected to the grid through power electronic converters which influence the efficiency of the system. This paper presents a multi-stage converter for distributed generation systems with a new bidirectional converter in output stage which can be a suitable solution for the medium to high-power applications. In addition, a DC/AC converter composed by a high-frequency link bidirectional power converter produces desired output voltage with less number of bidirectional switches and stages. The operation and performance of the suggested converter has been verified by the simulation results using SIMULINK/MATLAB.