Minimization of THD in multilevel inverter´s output voltage waveform using Imperialist Competitive Algorithm

Minimum THD is achieved, when THD Minimization (THDM) switching Strategy is employed. In this strategy, desired fundamental component is satisfied. Since the corresponding equations are nonlinear, a fitness function is constructed and evolutionary based algorithms are the best choice. In this paper, a new method based on Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) is employed to apply THDM strategy on multilevel inverter´s output waveform. The results are compared with two other successful methods namely Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Results show that this method outperforms other methods in rate of convergence and reaching to global minimum.