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250 to 5000 Watts PWM DC/AC 220V Power

Inverter
By Nick_Zouein in CircuitsElectronics

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 By Nick_ZoueinFollowMore

This is a heavy duty design of a Pulse Width Modulator

DC/AC inverter using the chip SG3524 .
I've been using it as a backup to power up all my house
when outages occur since aprox. 6 years non stop.

If you like the work and intend to build the circuit don't
forget to click on the "I made it" button so I know how
many people benefit from the design, Thanks.

Notes:

1> The schematic circuit design is for a 250 watt

output, while the pics are of my 1500 watts inverter
that i built, to increase the power of the circuit you
have to add more of the Q7 and Q8 transistors in
parallel, each pair you add will increase your power by
250 watts, ex: to get 750 watts of power from the
inverter you need to add in parallel 2 of Q7 and 2 of Q8
to the original design.

2> If you increase the power transistors you have to

enlarge the T2 transformer to match the new needs, the
circuit's transformer is rated 25 amps to handle 250
watts of 220v, for every 1 additional amp you need on
the 220v side you have to increase 10 amps on the 12v
side, of course there are limits to the thickness of the
winding so if you need more than 750 watts i
recommend that you use a 24VDC supply instead of 12
volts:

DC voltage and Transformer "T2" size recommendation:

(Power)  (Supply)  (Transformer Winding)
(750w) (12VDC) (P:24V "12-0-12" / S:220V)
(1500w) (24VDC) (P:48V "24-0-24" / S:220V)
(2250w) (36VDC) (P:72V "36-0-36" / S:220V)
(3000w) (48VDC) (P:96V "48-0-48" / S:220V)
(3750w) (60VDC) (P:120V "60-0-60" / S:220V)
(4500w) (72VDC) (P:144V "72-0-72" / S:220V)
(5250w) (84VDC) (P:168V "84-0-84" / S:220V)
*The transformer should be "center tapped" at the
primary side.
**You can make the secondary 110v if needed.
***The transformer in the pic is a custom made (48V
center tapped / 220v ) 2000 watts, weights like 10 kilos.

Note15-Feb-16: (48V center tapped means: P:48V "24-0-

24" / S:220V)

Note18-Feb-16: Test your transformer before doing this

project. Disconnect the transformer from anything it is
attached to, connect the 220v Secondary side directly
into a 220vAC outlet and test the Primary side with your
voltmeter, you should get exactly the voltage
necessary for this project as per the table above. If not
then don't waste your time building the project, it will
not work.
****Do not supply the driver circuit with more than
24VDC max. because the voltage regulator "7812" will
burn. Look at the pic of how to connect the batteries
and where to take a 24vDC wire from.

3> R1 is to set the PWM duty cycle to 220v. Connect a

voltmeter to the AC output of your inverter and vary
VR1 till the voltage reads 220V.

4> R2 is to set the frequency to 50 or 60 Hz (R2 range

is between 40Hz to 75Hz), so guys that do not have a
frequency meter are advised to blindly put this variable
resistor mid-way which should drop you in the range of
50~60 Hz.
If you want you can substitute the variable resistor with
a fixed resistor using the following formula: F = 1.3 /
(RxC)
in our case to get a 50Hz output we remove both the
100K and the variable 100K both from pin 6 and we put
instead a 260K fixed resistor and we leave the 0.1uF
(the 104 cap) as it is, this change should give out a
fixed 50Hz as per the formula :
1.3 / (260,000 ohm x 0.0000001 farad) = 50Hz
But in reality it will not exactly give 50Hz because the
260K resistor has a specific error value margin so does
the capacitor, that's why i recommend a variable
resistor so that accurate calibration can be achieved.

5> Use either tantalum or polyester film "as in pic" for

the 104 caps, ceramic disc caps are heat sensitive,
they change value when hot and this in turn changes
the frequency of the inverter so they are not
recommended.

6> Pin 10 of the SG3524 can be used to auto shut down

the inverter, once a positive voltage is given instead of
negative to pin10, the SG3524 will stop oscillating. This
is useful for persons wanting to add some cosmetic
makeup to their inverter like "overload cut-off", "low
battery cut-off" or "overheating cut-off".

7> Wiring connections on the power stage side should

be thick enough to handle the huge amps drain from the
batteries. I marked them with thick black lines on the
schema also I included a pic so you see how thick
those wires must be. (You can make the driving circuit
section on a breadboard for testing purposes
but NOT the power stage).

8> The design does not include a battery charger since

each person will be building a custom version of the
inverter with specific power needs. If you are ordering a
custom made transformer you can ask them to take out
for you an additional output wire on the primary side to
give 14v (between point 0 and this new wire) and use it
to charge a 12v battery, of course this needs a separate
circuit to control charging auto cut-off. But anyway this
is not advisable because it will shorten the life of the
transformer itself since using it as a charger will toast
the enamel coating layer of the copper wires over time.
Anyway .. YES can be done to reduce cost.

9> A cooling fan will be needed to reduce heat off the

heat sinks and transformer, i recommend getting a 220v
fan and connecting it to the output T2 transformer,
when you power up the circuit the fan will start this will
always give you a simple way to know that 220v is
present and everything is OK.. You can use a
computer's old power supply fan if you like.
Note that the fan must suck air out from the inverter
case and NOT blow inside, so install it the correct way
or it will be useless.
Also note how I fixed both the heat sinks and where the
fan is, in a way that the fan sucks hot air from like a
channel between the 2 heat-sinks.

10> 2 circuit breakers are recommended instead of

fuses, one on the DC side and one on the AC side,
depending on your design
Ex: for a 24vDC ( 1500 watts design ) put a 60Amp
breaker on the DC side and a 6Amp on the AC side.
For every 1amp of 220vAC you will be draining like 8 to
10 Amps from the 12v battery, make your calculations !

11> The 2 Heat sinks should be big enough to cool the

transistors, they are separate and should NOT touch
each other. "see the pics"

12>Important: If you're building a big design that uses

more than 24VDC as power source, make sure not to
supply the driver circuit with more than 24v maximum.
(EX: If you have 4 batteries 4x12 = 48v , connect the v+
supply of the driver circuit to the second battery's (+)
terminal with a thin 1 mm wire which is more than
enough. (This supplies the driver circuit with +24v while
supplies the power transformer with +48v) "see the
batteries pic example"

13> "Optional" : Deep Cycle batteries are your best

choice, consider them for best results .. read more

14> Be cautious when building this circuit it involves

high voltage which is lethal, any part you touch when
the circuit is ON could give you a nasty painful jolt,
specially the heat-sinks, never touch them when the
circuit is on to see if the transistors are hot !! I ate it
several times :)

15> The optional "Low voltage warning" is already

embedded in the PCB layout, you can disregard it and
not install it's components if you do not need it. It does
not affect the functionality of the main circuit, it just
sounds a buzzer.

16> The Motorola 2N6277 is a durable heavy duty

power transistor, it is used in many US tanks for it's
reliability but unfortunately it is a very hard to find part,
instead you can substitute each 2N6277 with 2 x
2N3773 or any equivalent, and yes equivalents work
too.

17> I've included an optional "Battery level indicator"

circuit diagram that has 4 LEDs, you can see it installed
on the front panel of my inverter pic, it is functioning
great and shows precisely how much juice the batteries
still have. I have included a small relay that is powered
by the last LED to auto shutoff the inverter once last
LED is off.

Update 18-Feb-16: There are cheap readily available,

professional looking Battery level indicators these days
for a couple of $, consider them in your project. LED
meterLCD meter

18> Also included an optional "Overload circuit", it is

very easy to build and can be calibrated to the desired
overload current threshold cutoff point through the
potentiometer VR1.
R1 is rated 5watts for inverters upto 1000 watts. For
bigger versions of the inverter like 1000 to 3000 watts
inverters, replace R1 (1 ohm, 5watts) with (1 ohm,
17watts) which should handle loads upto 10 VA.
Make sure you install a proper relay to handle big
current drains.

19> Please guys take your time to read and understand

my notes, browse and read the posts and questions
asked by others because there are many useful
information listed in replies. The main reason for me
not answering your question is because it has already
been asked before and answered upon.

20> It would be nice and inspiring for others if you take

some photos and show us how you built your version,
any additions to the circuit are mostly welcomed to be
listed here, we can all benefit from them.

21> Please click on the "I've made it" button/icon if you

did build the circuit so I know how many people benefit
from this design.

22> Testing the circuit on a breadboardwith crocodile

clips or thin wires WILL NOT WORK ! You'll get wrong
voltage readings. Don't come back crying that you're
getting a 150v output or so.

Benit19

Question 7 months ago on Introduction

Sir, what do you think about replacing the transistor in the power stage with IGBT?
My project is to build 10 KW AC 240Volt
1 answer 

AnswerUpvote

1
lannypks

3 months ago
Hello Nick,
is PWM inverter same with pure sine wave inverter? and, can the power transistor be
replaced with IGBT ? thanks
1 reply 

ReplyUpvote

Mehrdad47

Question 5 weeks ago

Hello. Does this IC need special software?If so how can I get it Thanks.
2 answers 

AnswerUpvote

Dominicnze

2 months ago
Hello Mr Nick, what are the voltages of the electrolytic capacitors in these
schematics?
1 reply 

ReplyUpvote

AnilB26

2 months ago
Hello Broo pcb PDF sendmee
ReplyUpvote
zaalahareeth

3 months ago
can i buy some your inverter mr nick
1 reply 

ReplyUpvote

Chibu046

3 months ago
Hey sir,am politely asking for a PDF,my email is nyasakakevo@gmail.com,thank you
ReplyUpvote

wh1teshadow

3 months ago
Anyone know how to make this circuit output a sine wave instead of square wave?
Because square wave isn't good for sensitive electronic households like: electric fan,
TVs, etc. I read somewhere that you could use 4017 IC to output a modified sine
wave. Please reply thanks
ReplyUpvote

wh1teshadow

4 months ago
Hi Nick, it's me again. I finally built my first inverter based on your schematic (the
one with MOSFET) but I replaced the IRFP250 and use IRFZ44N instead. I also
removed the feedback transformer and connect the bridge rectifier (I used KBP307,
with 3A ratings and 600V max. voltage) directly from the main transformer.

The problem now is the inverter didn't work. I measured the voltages across the
MOSFET without the transformer connected to it. The probes connected at the 'Drain'
pin of the MOSFET and the others at the CT input of the transformer (or the Vcc
which is 12 V in). The results are both of them had a different voltage, one MOSFET
shows 10.1 V and the other one shows 5.78 V.
When I connected the transfomer to the terminal block (which contains two
MOSFETs and 12V Vcc) to the the transformer primary windings (12-0-12). I
measured the voltage drops at the main input terminal and it shows about 8V-to-
11,1V while the battery is measured at 12,67 V.

And also the MOSFETs seem only work alone (The ones getting very hot and
sometimes the two getting hot together) these conditions can be swapped, I mean it
can be the upper MOSFET connected to the pin-14 or the MOSFET at the pin-11 of
the SG3524 that getting hot while the other stays cold.

Here's my schematic diagram compared to yours.

2 replies 

ReplyUpvote

CliffordMay

4 months ago
Dear Nick,
Would please be so kind to email me all the schematic diagrams for this project as I'm
not able to view it on instructables please sir, my email address
is clivaro@gmail.com. We have a lot of power outages here, please help.