A DC -DC converter topology is proposed. The DC -DC multilevel boost converter (MBC) is a pulse-width modulation (PWM)-based DC -DC converter, which combines the boost converter and the switched capacitor function to provide different output voltages and a self-balanced voltage using only one driven switch, one inductor, 2N 2 1 diodes and 2N 2 1 capacitors for an Nx MBC. It is proposed to be used as DC link in applications where several controlled voltage levels are required with self-balancing and unidirectional current flow, such as photovoltaic (PV) or fuel cell generation systems with multilevel inverters; each device blocks only one voltage level, achieving high-voltage converters with low-voltage devices. The major advantages of this topology are: a continuous input current, a large conversion ratio without extreme duty cycle and without transformer, which allow high switching frequency. It can be built in a modular way and more levels can be added without modifying the main circuit. The proposed converter is simulated and prototyped; experimental results prove the proposition's principle.

Selective harmonics elimination (SHE) is a widely applied control strategy in multilvel inverters for harmonics reduction. SHE is designed for the elimination of low-order harmonics while keeping the fundamental component equal to any previously specified amplitude. This paper proposes a novel bio-inspired metaheuristic optimization algorithm called Black Widow Optimization Algorithm (BWOA) for solving the SHE set of equations. BWOA mimics the spiders’ different movement strategies for courtship-mating, guaranteeing the exploration and exploitation of the search space. The optimization results show the reliability of BWOA compared to the state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms and show competitive results as a microalgorithm, opening its future application for an on-line optimization calculation in low requirement hardware.

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