First Course on

Power Electronics
Module 1: Introduction
By
Ned Mohan
Professor of ECE
University of Minnesota

Reference Textbook:
First Course on Power Electronics by Ned Mohan,
www.mnpere.com
Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Module 1: Introduction to Power

Electronics
Chapter 1
1-1
1-2
1-3
1-4
1-5
1-6
1-7

Power Electronics: An Enabling Technology

Introduction to Power Electronics

Applications and the Role of Power Electronics
Energy and the Environment
Need for High Efficiency and High Power Density
Structure of Power Electronics Interface
Voltage-Link Structure
Recent and Potential Advancements
References
Problems

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Role of Power Electronics

Power Electronics
Interface
Converter
Source

Load
Controller

Figure 1-1 Power electronics interface between the source and the load.

The power electronics interface facilitates the transfer of power from the source to the
load by converting voltages and currents from one form to another, in which it is possible
for the source and load to reverse roles. The controller shown in Fig. 1-1 allows
management of the power transfer process in which the conversion of voltages and
currents should be achieved with as high energy-efficiency and high power density as
possible.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Powering the Information Technology

24 V (dc)

Vin

Power
Converter

Vo

5 V (dc)

Utility
3.3 V (dc)

Controller
(a)

0.5 V (dc)

Vo ,ref
(b)

Figure 1-2 Regulated low-voltage dc power supplies.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Boost Converter

Battery
Cell (1.5 V)

9 V (dc)

Figure 1-3 Boost dc-dc converter needed in cell operated equipment.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Adjustable Speed Drives

Electric
Drive

fixed
form

Power
Processing
Unit (PPU)

Motor
speed /
position

adjustable
form

Electric Source
(utility)

Load

Sensors
measured
speed/ position

Controller

Power
Signal

input command
(speed / position)

Figure 1-4 Block diagram of adjustable speed drives.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Induction Heating

Power
Electronics
Interface

High
Frequency
AC

Utility

Figure 1-5 Power electronics interface required for induction heating.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Electric Welding

Power
Electronics
Interface

DC

Utility

Figure 1-6 Power electronics interface required for electric welding.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Energy and the Environment: The Percentage

Energy Consumption

Lighting 19%
IT
14%
HVAC 16%

Motors 51%

Figure 1-7 Percentage use of electricity in various sectors in the U.S.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Role of adjustable speed drives in

pump-driven systems

Outlet
Adjustable
Speed Drive
(ASD)
utility

Inlet
Pump

Figure 1-8 Role of adjustable speed drives in pump-driven systems.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

10

Compact Fluorescent Lamps

Power
Electronics
Interface

CFL

Utility

Figure 1-9 Power electronics interface required for CFL.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

11

Transportation

Figure 1-10 Hybrid electric vehicles with much higher gas mileage.

Hybrid electric vehicles with much higher gas mileage

light rail, fly-by-wire planes
all-electric ships
drive-by-wire automobiles.
Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

12

Renewable Energy
Photovoltaic Systems

DC Input

Power
Electronics
Interface

Utility

(b)
(a)
Figure 1-11 Photovoltaic Systems.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

13

Wind-Electric Systems

Generator
and
Power Electronics
Utility
Figure 1-12 Wind-electric systems.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

14

Uninterruptible Power Supplies

Uninterruptible
Power Supply
Utility

Critical
Load

Figure 1-13 Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

15

Applications in Power
Systems

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

16

Strategic Space and Defense Applications

More Electric Aircraft

Electric Warship

Source: James Soeder, NASA and Terry Ericsen, ONR.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

17

NEED FOR HIGH EFFICIENCY AND

HIGH POWER DENSITY
=

Po
Po + Ploss

Po =

Ploss

500
450

Pin

Power
Electronics
Equipment

Po

Po

Power Rating

400
350
300
250

Ploss = 20 W

200
150

Ploss
(a )

Ploss = 10 W

100
50
0
0.8

0.82

0.84

0.86

0.88

0.9

Efficiency

0.92

0.94

0.96

(b)

Figure 1-14 Power output capability as a function of efficiency.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

18

Summarizing the Role of Power Electronics

Power
Electronics
Interface

utility

Output to Load
- Adjustable DC
- Sinusoidal AC
- High-frequency AC

Figure 1-15 Block diagram of power electronic interface.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

19

STRUCTURE OF POWER ELECTRONICS INTERFACE

conv1

conv2

utility

Load

controller

Figure 1-16 Voltage-link structure of power electronics interface.

Voltage-link structure of power electronics interface

Unipolar voltage handling transistors used
Decoupling of two converters
Immunity from momentary power interruptions
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20

 Current-Link Systems
Matrix Converters

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21

Current-Link Systems

AC1

AC2

Figure 1-17 Current-link structure of power electronics interface.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

22

Matrix Converters
ia
va
vc

daA
vb

dbA
dcA

vA

daB
dbB
dcB

daC

vB
vC
dbC
dcC

Figure 1-18 Matrix converter structure of power electronics interface [13].

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

23

Voltage-link System

conv1

conv2

utility

Load

controller

Figure 1-19 Load-side converter in a voltage-source structure.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

24

SWITCH-MODE LOAD-SIDE CONVERTER

Group 1

Adjustable dc or a low-frequency sinusoidal ac output in

- dc and ac motor drives
- uninterruptible power supplies
- regulated dc power supplies without electrical isolation

Group 2

High-frequency ac in
- compact fluorescent lamps
- induction heating
- regulated dc power supplies where the dc output voltage needs to be
electrically isolated from the input, and the load-side converter
internally produces high-frequency ac, which is passed through a
high-frequency transformer and then rectified into dc.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

25

Switch-Mode Conversion: Switching Power-Pole

as the Building Block

qA = 1

Vin

+
vA
-

qA

(a)

vvA

Vin

00

t
(b)

Figure 1-20 Switching power-pole as the building block in converters.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

26

Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) of the Switching Power-Pole

qA

idA

d A Ts
+

Vin

iA

dA

Tup
Ts

vA

vA

q A = 1or 0

Vin

vA

(a)

(b)

Figure 1-21 PWM of the switching power-pole.

d A ( = Tup / Ts )
vA =

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

Tup
Ts

Vin = d AVin

0 dA 1

27

Switching Power-Pole in a Buck DC-DC Converter:

An Example
qA

iin

iL

Vin

vA

vA

Vo

qA

d ATs
Ts
Vin

vA

iL

iin
(a)

t
(b)

Figure 1-22 Switching power-pole in a Buck converter.

Vo = v A = d AVin

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

0 Vo Vin

28

Example 1-2

In the converter of Fig. 1-22a, the input voltage Vin = 20V . The
output voltage Vo = 12V . Calculate the duty-ratio d A and the pulse
width Tup , if the switching frequency f s = 200 kHz .

Solution

v A = Vo = 12V .

Using Eq. 1-4, d A =

Vo 12
1
=
= 0.6 and Ts =
= 5s .
Vin 20
fs

Therefore, as shown in Fig. 1-23, Tup = d ATs = 0.6 5 s = 3 s .

1

qA
0

3 s
5 s
Vin = 20V

Vo = 12V

vA

t
Figure 1-23 Waveforms in the converter of Example 1-2.
Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

29

Simulations using
PSpice

SwitchingWaveform.Sch

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

30

Simulation Results
vA

8.0V

vo

Vo

6.0V

4.0V

2.0V

0V
450us
V(vA)

460us
V(vo)

470us

480us

490us

500us

Time

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

31

Fourier Analysis
FOURIER COMPONENTS OF TRANSIENT RESPONSE V(vA)
DC COMPONENT = 6.080000E+00
HARMONIC FREQUENCY FOURIER NORMALIZED PHASE
NORMALIZED
NO
(HZ) COMPONENT COMPONENT (DEG)
PHASE (DEG)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

1.000E+05
2.000E+05
3.000E+05
4.000E+05
5.000E+05
6.000E+05
7.000E+05
8.000E+05
9.000E+05
1.000E+06

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

3.487E+00
2.543E+00
1.310E+00
1.600E-01
6.012E-01
8.387E-01
6.193E-01
1.600E-01
2.763E-01
4.924E-01

1.000E+00 -4.860E+01
7.293E-01 -7.200E+00
3.757E-01 3.420E+01
4.589E-02 7.560E+01
1.724E-01 -6.300E+01
2.405E-01 -2.160E+01
1.776E-01 1.980E+01
4.589E-02 6.120E+01
7.923E-02 -7.740E+01
1.412E-01 -3.600E+01

0.000E+00
9.000E+01
1.800E+02
2.700E+02
1.800E+02
2.700E+02
3.600E+02
4.500E+02
3.600E+02
4.500E+02

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FOURIER COMPONENTS OF TRANSIENT RESPONSE V(vo)

DC COMPONENT = 6.083044E+00
HARMONIC FREQUENCY FOURIER NORMALIZED PHASE
NORMALIZED
NO
(HZ) COMPONENT COMPONENT (DEG)
PHASE (DEG)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

1.000E+05
2.000E+05
3.000E+05
4.000E+05
5.000E+05
6.000E+05
7.000E+05
8.000E+05
9.000E+05
1.000E+06

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

1.795E-02
3.400E-03
8.465E-04
1.226E-04
1.602E-04
1.718E-04
1.158E-04
5.644E-05
4.483E-05
5.570E-05

1.000E+00
1.894E-01
4.715E-02
6.826E-03
8.922E-03
9.570E-03
6.448E-03
3.143E-03
2.497E-03
3.102E-03

1.343E+02
1.746E+02
-1.489E+02
-1.492E+02
1.447E+02
1.707E+02
-1.626E+02
-1.560E+02
1.751E+02
1.789E+02

0.000E+00
-9.403E+01
-5.518E+02
-6.865E+02
-5.269E+02
-6.352E+02
-1.103E+03
-1.231E+03
-1.034E+03
-1.164E+03

33

Currents
16A

iL

iR

10A

iC
0A

-4A
450us
I(L)

455us
I(C) I(R)

460us

465us

470us

475us

480us

485us

490us

495us

500us

Time

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

34

Frequency Analysis

SwitchingWaveform_AC-Analysis.Sch

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

35

Simulation Results
50

(100.000K,-45.867)

-50

-100
100Hz
1.0KHz
DB(V(vo)/V(VA))

10KHz

100KHz

1.0MHz

Frequency

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

36

Transistor and diode forming a switching power-pole

in a Buck converter
+

iL

Vin

+
Vo

(a)
+

iL

Vin

qA = 1

(b)

+
Vo

iL
+
Vo

Vin

qA = 0

(c)

Figure 1-24 Transistor and diode forming a switching power-pole in a Buck converter.

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

37

Hardware Lab: very low-cost

Switching Power - Pole Board

Magnetics Plug - In Board

Feedback Control Plug - In Board

Experiments:
- Buck, Boost, Buck-Boost
- Feedback Control: VoltageMode, Peak-Current-Mode
- Flyback, Forward
Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

USERS MANUAL

www.ece.umn.edu/groups/power

38

RECENT AND POTENTIAL ADVANCEMENTS

Devices that can handle voltages in kVs and currents in kAs
ASICs
DSPs
Micro-controllers
FPGA
Integrated and intelligent power modules
Packaging
SiC-based solid-state devices
High energy density capacitors

Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

39

CONCEPT OF PEBB
Power Electronics Building Block (PEBB) [15] is a broad concept that
incorporates the progressive integration of power devices, gate drives,
and other components into building blocks, with clearly defined
functionality that provides interface capabilities able to serve multiple
applications. This building block approach results in reduced cost,
losses, weight, size, and engineering effort for the application and
maintenance of power electronics systems. Based on the functional
specifications of PEBB and the performance requirements of the
intended applications, the PEBB designer addresses the details of
device stresses, stray inductances, switching speed, losses, thermal
management, protection, measurements of required variables, control
interfaces, and potential integration issues at all levels.
It has numerous benefits such as technology insertion and upgrade via
standard interfaces, reduced maintenance via plug and play modules,
reduced cost via increased product development efficiency, reduced time to
market, reduced commissioning cost, reduced design and development risk,
and increased competition in critical technologies [14].
Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

40

Summary
Power Electronics an Enabling
Technology
Applications
Need for High Efficiency and High Power
Density
Structure of Power Electronic Converters
Switching Power-Pole as the Building
Block
Potential for Advancements
Copyright Ned Mohan 2008

41