Introduction to Power Electronics

ECEN 4797/5797

Robert W. Erickson
University of Colorado, Boulder
Fall 2015
 Introduction to Power Electronics
ECEN 4797/5797

• Instructor: Prof. Bob Erickson

– Office: ECOT 356
– Telephone: (303) 492-7003
– Email: rwe@colorado.edu
– Office hours: Tentatively M 2-3, Th 2-3:30
• Textbook:
– Erickson and Maksimovic, Fundamentals of Power Electronics,
second edition, Springer, ISBN 0-7923-7270-0.

• Prerequisite:
– A 3-4 semester sequence of undergraduate EE circuits and electronics courses
(at Univ. of Colorado: ECEN 3250)
 Online materials

• Course web site:

– http://ece.colorado.edu/~ecen5797
– Includes lecture slides, handouts, homework assignments, and class schedule for semester
• Desire to Learn (D2L) site:
– https://learn.colorado.edu
– Login with your CU Identikey, then select ECEN 4797-5797
– Includes discussion forums, homework solutions, homework upload site, and grades
– Includes link to recorded lectures
– Includes link to Zoom (teleconference software)
• Zoom
– Teleconference software, free
– Remote students can (optionally) watch on-campus lectures in real time, and ask questions
 Coursework in Power Electronics
at the University of Colorado
• Power electronics courses
– ECEN 4797/5797 (this course): Intro to power electronics (Fall)
– ECEN 5807 Modeling and Control of Power Electronics Systems (Alt Spring
semesters, including S ‘17)
– ECEN 5817 Resonant and Soft-Switching Techniques in Power Electronics (Alt Spring
semesters, including S ‘16)
– ECEN 4517/5517 Photovoltaic Power Electronics Laboratory (Spring)
• Professional Certificate in Power Electronics
– ECEN 5797, 5807, and 5817
• Electric vehicle courses
– ECEN 5017 Power Electronics for Electric Drive Vehicles (Fall)
– ECEN 5737 Adjustable Speed AC Drives (Spring)
• This semester
– ECEN 5007 Electric Power Systems and Renewable Energy
 Grading

• Homework
– Due at beginning of class on date listed on Lecture Schedule web page
– Submit online via D2L dropbox; late homework not accepted
– Homework counts 50% of grade
– You may speak with others about the homework, but turn in your own work
– Homework and exam problems of additional depth and complexity for those
earning graduate credit; separately graded
• Exams
– Midterm exam: one-week take-home exam, 17% of grade
– Final exam: five-day take-home exam, 33% of grade
– See course schedule page for dates
– See course vitals page for details
 Desire to Learn (D2L) Website

learn.colorado.edu Log on with your campus IdentiKey

Dropbox for submission of homework and exams

• Scan, save as pdf, then upload to the D2L dropbox
• Automatic deadline at beginning of class
A log of your grades for all assignments
• When grading is complete, your grade will appear online
• Running total of your overall course grade
• Grader will post comments and annotations online
Homework solutions
• Posted within D2L after submission deadline
Student discussion forum
• You can post questions and discussions with your classmates
• Normally questions will not be answered by Prof. Erickson
• Posting of homework solutions in the forum is prohibited
 Off-Campus Students

• Viewing of lectures
– Lectures are normally available online by the end of the day of the on-campus lecture
• Assignments
– Use the D2L site to upload your pdf file: same as for on-campus students
– Generally, by Friday the lectures will finish covering the material needed for the
homework assignment due the following Friday. So you can work the homework over
the weekend.
– Check out the D2L student forums
– Due dates and times are the same as for the on-campus students
• Educational Officers
– Not needed
• See course vitals page
– Link to academic calendar for BBA students, including add/drop deadlines
 Key Dates
See Lecture Schedule page on course website

• Drop deadlines
– September 9: last day to drop the course and receive full tuition refund, with no “W”
grade appearing on transcript
– October 30: last day to drop the course via MyCUInfo
• Tentative exam dates
– Midterm exam: 1 week take-home exam. Available through D2L on Oct. 16, due on
Oct. 23.
– Final exam: Four day take-home exam. Available through D2L on Dec. 11, due on
Dec. 15.
• Grades assigned in December appear on your permanent university
transcript
• Campus holidays
– Labor day: Sept. 7
– Fall break / Thanksgiving holiday: Nov. 23-27
 1.1 Introduction to Power Processing

The switching converter is the

Power Switching Power “brain” of the power system,
input converter output allowing conversion of voltage
and current levels with high
efficiency, plus control
Control
input

Dc-dc conversion: Change and control voltage magnitude

Ac-dc rectification: Possibly control dc voltage, ac current
Dc-ac inversion: Produce sinusoid of controllable magnitude and frequency
Ac-ac cycloconversion: Change and control voltage magnitude and frequency
 Control is invariably required

• Traditional analog
Power Switching Power feedback
input converter output • Sophisticated control using
inexpensive digital
microcontrollers
Control
input

Feedforward Feedback
Controller

Reference
 Electric Vehicle
Tesla Model S

Functions of the power electronics:

1. Convert the DC battery voltage to the
variable AC required to drive the AC motor
• 240 V battery
• Variable-frequency, variable-voltage AC
drives the motor
• AC motor propels the rear axle
• Up to 330 kW (acceleration)
• Up to 60 kW regenerative braking
2. Control charging of the battery
• Interface to 240 V 60 Hz 1φ 100 A circuit in garage
• Control AC current waveform to be sinusoidal, unity
power factor
• Control charging of battery to maximize life
 Hybrid Vehicles
Toyota Prius

Power Electronics Module:

• Convert the DC battery voltage to the variable AC
required to drive the AC motor
• Includes dc-dc boost converter and dc-3φac inverter
• Control system can operate in all-electric mode or in
hybrid gas+electric mode
• Partial-power electronics

Under the hood:

Gas engine
Power electronics module
 Variable-Speed Wind Turbine Systems

AC generator produces “wild ac”: frequency and

amplitude change with wind speed
Utility operates with constant frequency (60 Hz)
constant voltage ac
Power electronics changes the frequency and
voltage, and also implements control functions
• Cycloconverter, or
• DC link system: rectifier, boost dc-dc, inverter
 Photovoltaic Solar Power Systems

Grid-tied solar: inverter converts

dc of solar panels to ac for grid
Stand-alone solar: dc-dc converter
interfaces solar panels to batteries
A solar roof shingle system

Buck-boost DC
PV + Transformer +
converter Output
input (noninverting) 1:8
48 V 400 V to
12- Zero-voltage inverter
100 V – switching –

Controller
A standalone photovoltaic power system

The system constructed in ECEN 4517/5517 Power

Electronics and Photovoltaic Systems Laboratory
 Computer power supply systems
Battery-powered and servers

Inverter Display
backlighting

iac(t) Charger
Buck Microprocessor
vac(t) PWM converter
Rectifier Power
management

ac line input Boost Disk

85–265 Vrms Lithium
battery converter drive

Laptop power system

Computer servers iPhone power system and charger

Server farms
 High Efficiency is Essential

Pout 1 –1
h= Ploss = Pin – Pout = Pout h
Pin

• High efficiency leads to low power loss within

converter
• Small size and reliable operation is then
feasible
• A good measure of converter performance is
the ratio of output power to loss:
Pout h
=
Ploss 1 – h
Converters generally are loss-limited, and
Pin Pout
technologies that can produce large output Converter

power while incurring small loss result in small

Large input Small Large output
size and low cost
power converter power
Devices available to the circuit designer
Devices available to the circuit designer

Signal processing: avoid magnetics

Devices available to the circuit designer

Power processing: avoid lossy elements

 Power loss in an ideal switch

• Switch closed: v(t) = 0 1

i
• Switch open: i(t) = 0 +
• In either event: p(t) = v(t) i(t) = 0 v
• Ideal switch consumes zero power –
0
A simple dc-dc converter example

• Input source: 100V

• Output load: 50V, 10A, 500W
• How can this converter be realized?
 Dissipative realization

• Resistive voltage divider

 Dissipative realization

• Series pass regulator: transistor operates in active region

 Use of a SPDT switch
I
1 10 A
+ +

Vg 2
+ vs(t) R v(t)
– 50 V
100 V
– –

vs(t)
Vg

Vs = DVg

0
DTs (1 – D) Ts t
switch
position: 1 2 1
 The switch changes the dc voltage level

vs(t) D = switch duty cycle

Vg
0≤D≤1
Vs = DVg

0 Ts = switching period
DTs (1 – D) Ts t
switch fs = switching frequency
position: 1 2 1 = 1 / Ts

DC component of vs(t) = average value:

 Addition of low pass filter

Addition of (ideally lossless) L-C low-pass filter, for removal of switching

harmonics:

• Choose filter cutoff frequency f0 much smaller than switching frequency fs

• This circuit is known as the “buck converter”
 Addition of control system
for regulation of output voltage
 The boost converter

2 5Vg
+
L 4Vg
1
+ 3Vg
Vg C R V V
–
2Vg

– Vg
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
D
• Positions of inductor and switch are interchanged
• This converter circuit increases the dc voltage
 A single-phase inverter

vs(t)
1 + – 2
Vg +
– + v(t) –
2 1
Load

vs(t)
“H-bridge”
Modulate switch
t
duty cycles to
obtain sinusoidal
low-frequency
component
 1.3 Elements of power electronics

Power electronics incorporates concepts from the fields of

– analog circuits
– electronic devices
– control systems
– power systems
– magnetics
– electric machines
– numerical simulation
 Part I. Converters in equilibrium

Inductor waveforms Averaged equivalent circuit

D'VD
vL(t) RL DRon D'RD D' : 1
Vg – V

+
–
+
DTs D'Ts
Vg + V
t – I R
–V
Switch –
position: 1 2 1

Predicted
efficiency

Discontinuous conduction mode

Transformer isolation
 Switch realization: semiconductor devices
Collector
iA(t)
The IGBT Switching loss Transistor
waveforms Qr
Gate Vg

iL
vA(t)
Emitter 0 0
t
Emitter Diode
iB(t)
iL
Gate waveforms
vB(t)
0 0
t
n n n n Area
p p – Qr – Vg

Minority carrier
n– injection
tr
pA(t)
p = vAiA

Area
~QrVg
Collector Area
~iLVg tr

t0 t1 t2 t
 Part I. Converters in equilibrium

2. Principles of steady state converter analysis

3. Steady-state equivalent circuit modeling, losses, and efficiency

4. Switch realization

5. The discontinuous conduction mode

6. Converter circuits
 Part II. Converter dynamics and control

Closed-loop converter system Averaging the waveforms

Power Switching converter Load
input
+

vg(t) + v(t) R
–
Feedback
connection
–

Transistor
gate driver Compensator
c(t) Pulse-width vc v
modulator Gc(s) –+

c(t) vc(t) Voltage

reference vref

dTs Ts t t

Controller

Small-signal
averaged equivalent
circuit
 Part II. Converter dynamics and control

7. Ac modeling
8. Converter transfer functions
9. Controller design
10. Input filter design

11. Ac and dc equivalent circuit modeling of the discontinuous

conduction mode

12. Current-programmed control

 Part III. Magnetics
n1 : n2

transformer i1(t) + iM (t) + i2(t)

the
v1(t) LM v2(t)
design proximity
– –
R1 R2 effect
+
ik(t)
vk(t)
–
: nk Rk

transformer
size vs.
switching
frequency
 Part III. Magnetics

13. Basic magnetics theory

14. Inductor design

15. Transformer design