BEE4223

Power Electronics &

Drives
Systems
DC TO AC

CONVERTER
Mohd Shawal Bin Jadin
Faculty of Electrical & Electronic Engineering

shawal@ump.edu.my

OVERVIEW
1. Introduction
2. Principle of operation
3. Performance parameter
4. The half-bridge inverter
5. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
6. PWM Generation
7. PWM Harmonics

8. Current Source Inverter

9. Introduction to three-phase inverter
10. Conclusions

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lecture,
student should be able to:
1. State the operation and
characteristics of Inverter.
2. Discuss the performance
parameters and use
different technique for
analyzing and designing of
DC to AC Converter.

INTRODUCTION
Inverters are circuits that converts dc input
voltage to a symmetric ac output voltage by
which both magnitude and frequency can be
controlled.
Applications :
adjustable speed ac motor drives, uninterruptible
power supplies (UPS), and ac appliances run from
an automobile battery.

TYPES OF INVERTER
Voltage Source Inverter (VSI):

Current Source Inverter (CSI)

VOLTAGE SOURCE INVERTER (VSI)

WITH VARIABLE DC LINK
DC link voltage is varied by a DC-to DC
converter or controlled rectifier.
Generate square wave output voltage.
Output voltage amplitude is varied as DC link is
varied.
Frequency of output voltage is

varied by changing the

frequency of the square
wave pulses.

VOLTAGE SOURCE INVERTER (VSI)

WITH VARIABLE DC LINK
Advantages:
simple waveform generation
Reliable

Disadvantages:
Extra conversion stage
Poor harmonics

VSI WITH FIXED DC LINK

DC voltage is held
constant.
Output voltage
amplitude and
frequency are varied
simultaneously using
PWM technique.
Good harmonic
control, but at the
expense of complex

SQUARE WAVE INVERTER

Square wave inverter can be
simplifying justified with a switching
scheme of full bridge converter.
An square wave ac output voltage is
synthesized from a dc input by
closing and opening the switches in
an appropriate sequence.
The output voltage can be +Vdc, Vdc, or zero, depending on which

OPERATION OF SIMPLE
SQUARE-WAVE INVERTER

SQUARE-WAVE
INVERTERS

EQUIVALENT
CIRCUIT

Parallel diode is used when the current in the

switch is negative
Diode will reverse-biased when current is

WHEN S1-S2 TURN ON & S3-S4

OFF FOR T1 < T < T2

WHEN S1-S2 TURN OFF& S3-S4

ON FOR T2 < T < T3

PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
Vdc
Vdc t
R I m in - R e

I o (t )
T
t
Vdc
Vdc 2
I m in
e

R
R
I m in

Vdc 1 e 2
I m ax
R 1 e T 2

Pdc Vdc I s

T
0t
2
T
t T
2

EXAMPLE
A square-wave inverter has a dc source of
125V, an output frequency of 60 Hz, and R-L
series load with R = 20 Ohm and L = 20 mH.
Determine
a) An expression for load current
b) Rms load current and
c) Average source current

FOURIER SERIES ANALYSIS FOR

SQUARE WAVE INVERTER
Fourier series method is often the most practical
way to analyze load current and to compute
power absorbed by load.
4Vdc
Vo
n , odd n
Vn
In

Zn

4Vdc

n
R no L
2

Pn I n2,rms R
I rms

I
n 1

In

n 1

2
n , rms

FOURIER SERIES ANALYSIS FOR

SQUARE WAVE INVERTER
The quality of ac output voltage or current can
be expressed by total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

THDv

2
V
n,rms
n2

THDI

V1,rms
2
rms

2
1, rms

V1,rms

4Vdc
V

4Vdc

2
dc

2
I
n,rms
n2

I1,rms

EXAMPLE 1
Consider a square wave inverter
with Vdc=100V, R=10, L=25mH,
and f=60Hz. Determine
i. Fundamental output voltage
ii. THD for output voltage and current and
power absorbed by load

EXAMPLE 2
i. Fundamental output
voltage
4
4V
V1 dc
100 127.3V
n

(1)

ii.THDv and THDI

4Vdc
Vn
n
4 100

n
127.3

Z n R 2 fnL
2

10

2 n 60 25 10

100 9.43n

.... ii

Vn
127.3
In

Z n n 100 9.43n 2

.... i

.......(iii )

EXAMPLE 2
n

fn (Hz)

Vn (V)

Zn ()

In (A)

Pn (W)

60

127.3

13.7

9.27

429.3

180

42.3

30

1.42

10

300

25.5

48.2

0.53

1.4

420

18.2

66.7

0.27

0.37

540

14.1

85.4

0.17

0.14

EXAMPLE 1 (CONT)

4 100
100
2 1
THDv
4 100

2 1
2

10000 8106

90.03
0.484
48.4%

THDI

I
n2

2
n , rms

I1,rms
2

1.42 0.53 0.27 0.17

2 2 2 2

9.27

2
0.167
16.7%
2

I
Pn I n2,rms R n R
2
P Pn
429.3 10 1.40 0.37 0.14
441W

AMPLITUDE & HARMONIC CONTROL

The amplitude of the
90 o

fundamental frequency for

n
a square-wave output from
the full-bridge inverter is
determined by the dc input
voltage.
A controlled output can be
produced by modifying the
switching scheme.
This output voltage can be
controlled by adjusting the
interval on each side of

4V
V1 I1Z1 dc

Vn
In

Zn

cos

4V1

n
R 2 no L

EXAMPLE 2
Design an inverter that will supply the series R-L
load of R=10, L=25mH with a fundamental
frequency of 60Hz and current amplitude of
9.27A and THD less than 10%. A variable source
is available.

EXAMPLE 2 (CONT)
The dominant harmonic
current is for n = 3 (third
harmonic), so the
switching scheme must
eliminate the third
V1 I1Z1
harmonic. 2
I1 R 2 no L
(9.27) 10 1 2 60 0.025
127V
2

eliminate the 3rd harmonic,

90o
o

30
3

V1
Vdc

4
cos

127

o
4
cos
30

116V

EXAMPLE 1 (CONT)
Z n R 2 fnL
2

10

2 n 60 25 10

100 9.43n

.... ii

Vn
127
In

Z n n 100 9.43n 2

.......(iii )

EXAMPLE 1 (CONT)
n

fn (Hz)

Vn (V)

Zn ()

In (A)

1
3
5
7
9

60
180
300
420
540

127.3
0
25.5
18.2
0

13.7
30
48.2
66.7
85.4

9.27
0
0.53
0.27
0

0.53 0.27

2 2
THDI
9.27

2
0.067
6.7% than 10%

TRY THIS
Foq vhe ftll-bqidge
inveqveq:
Given :
Dc uotqce = 125 V;
-Load (R-L in ueqieu) R =
10 and L = 20 mH
-- usivching fqertency = 60
Hz.

(a)Deveqmine vo pqodtce
otvptv sivh an amplivtde
100V av ftndamenval
fqertency.
(b)Deveqmine vhe THD of vhe

PULSE-WIDTH MODULATED
OUTPUT
In square wave inverters, maximum output
voltage is achievable.
However there in NO control in harmonics and
output voltage magnitude.
i.e the harmonics are always at three, five,
seven etc times the fundamental frequency.
Hence the cut-off frequency of the low pass filter
is somewhat fixed. The filter size is dictated by
the VA ratings of the inverter.
To reduce filter size, the PWM switching
scheme can be utilized.
In this technique, the harmonics are pushed to
higher frequencies. Thus the cut-off frequency of
the filter is increased. Hence the filter

PULSE WIDTH MODULATION

(PWM)

PULSE WIDTH MODULATION

(PWM)
Triangulation method (Natural sampling)
Amplitudes of the triangular wave (carrier) and sine
wave (modulating) are compared to obtain PWM
waveform. Simple analogue comparator can be
used.

Basically an analogue method. Its digital version,

known as REGULAR sampling is widely used in
industry.

PULSE WIDTH MODULATION

(PWM)
Production of PWM waveform using reference
sinewave:

Comparator determines instants at which

waveforms cross in order to produce switching
waveform

PULSE WIDTH MODULATION

(PWM)
As switching frequency is increased, switching
loss becomes issue
Implementation by ICs which essentially
contain tables of pre-calculated values of
switching angles covering range of output
frequencies
As computational speeds of ICs increase, it is
now possible to calculate required firing angles
in real time in order to optimise strategy for
harmonic elimination, and control, further
improving inverter performance

PULSE WIDTH MODULATION

(PWM) TYPES
Natural (sinusoidal) sampling (as shown on
previous slide)
Problems with analogue circuitry, e.g. Drift, sensitivity etc.

Regular sampling - simplified version of natural sampling that

results in simple digital implementation

Optimised PWM - PWM waveform are constructed based on

certain performance criteria, e.g. THD.

Harmonic elimination/minimisation PWM

PWM waveforms are constructed to eliminate some undesirable
harmonics from the output waveform spectra.
Highly mathematical in nature

Space-vector modulation (SVM)

BIPOLAR SWITCHING

UNIPOLAR SWITCHING

PULSE WIDTH MODULATION IN

UNIPOLAR INVERTERS
The square wave
output can be
produced using a
comparator to
compare the
triangle wave
with the sine
wave.

HALF-BRIDGE INVERTER

Also known as the inverter leg.

Basic building block for full bridge, three phase and higher
order inverters.
G is the centre point.
Both capacitors have the same value. Thus the DC link is
equally spilt into two.
The top and bottom switch has to be complementary, i.e. If

SHOOT THROUGH FAULT

ANDDEAD-TIME
In practical, a dead time as shown below is required to avoid
shoot-through faults, i.e. short circuit across the DC rail.
Dead time creates low frequency envelope. Low frequency
harmonics emerged.
This is the main source of distortion for high-quality sine wave
inverter.

INTRODUCTION TO THREEPHASE INVERTER

Each leg (Red, Yellow, Blue) is delayed by 120 degrees.
A three-phase inverter with star connected load is shown
below

THREE PHASE INVERTER

WAVEFORMS

SUMMARY
Have examined operation of inverters as
means of producing variable-frequency,
variable voltage AC source from DC supply
PWM provides amplitude control of the
fundamental output frequency although the
harmonics have large amplitudes, they occur at
high frequency and are filtered easily.
Considered voltage-sourced and currentsourced inverters which operate from DC
supplies which approximate constant voltage
source

Introduced pulse-width-modulated inverter