Design and Implementation of a Single Phase Inverter with

Sine Wave Tracking Method for Emergency Power Supply

with High Performance Reference

H. R. Karshenas
1
, M. Niroomand
2
1
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran
2
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran

Abstract Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) play
an important role in supplying critical loads. The
majority of UPS systems employ batteries as a mean of
energy storage. Since typical loads are supplied by ac
voltage, an inverter is an indispensable part of a UPS
to convert dc voltage to ac. Conventional control
methods for single phase inverters suffers from many
drawbacks like slow dynamic/transient response,
oscillatory no-load behavior and distorted waveform
in presence of non-linear loads. This paper in
concerned with the control loop design for a
single-phase voltage source inverter when employed in
UPS applications. The regulation of the output voltage
is done based on reference tracking to ensure good
steady-state and dynamic performance. The control
loop is designed taking into consideration the low
damping during light loads. Three control strategies
are proposed. The first is based on modified PID
controller which demonstrated moderate performance
and is suitable for low cost applications. The second
method is based on an additional current control loop
which has the benefit of inherent inverter protection.
The last method is based on the theory of "Internal
Model Controller" which gives nearly ideal
steady-state regulation. Key points in implementing
controllers with digital controllers are addressed. An
experimental system is built to verify the validity of
theoretical results.
I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs)
are widely used in industry and wherever a clean and
uninterrupted power is required. The majority of these
systems employ batteries as a mean of energy storage,
thus a dc/ac inverter is an inherent part of their structure.
Conventional inverters lack many features required by
modern UPSs like fast transient and dynamic
response and good steady-state performance.
Furthermore, many modern sensitive loads which are
supplied by UPS systems are non-linear loads with
non-sinusoidal current waveform. Conventional inverters
which use half-cycle averaging for regulation show high
output voltage distortion in presence of non-linear loads.
As a result, the inverter stage of a modern UPS needs
more advanced control scheme to fulfill the above
mentioned requirements [1],[2].
In this paper, tracking method is used to force the
inverter output voltage to follow a sinusoidal reference as
closely as possible. High switching frequency, which is
easily obtainable with modern power switching
devices, enables us to use a controller with high
bandwidth and achieve fast transient response. It is shown
that conventional PI controllers cannot be used due to
inherent instability of output LC filter, and other
structures like PID controller or current mode control
must be used. To achieve the optimum steady-state
performance, the concept of Internal Model Controllers is
proposed to reduce the steady-state error to zero without
affecting dynamic response. Theoretical and experimental
verifications are used to show the validity of analysis.

II. INVERTER OPEN-LOOP CHARACTERISTIC
Fig. 1 shows a single phase bridge inverter commonly
used in the output stage of a single phase UPS. Using
averaging techniques, the switching stage is modeled by a
gain [3],[4], and thus the transfer function of the inverter
including LC filter is given by:

]
) / 1 / (
[ ) (
2
LC RC s s LC
V
s T
i
+ +
=
It can be clearly seen that at light loads the output
filter becomes oscillatory, as shown by the root locus of
Fig. 2. Also shown in Fig. 3 is the output waveform at
light loads. This is one of the problems associated with
inverter output LC filter.
As stated in the introduction, presently the majority
of sensitive loads are nonlinear loads. Such loads are
normally characterized by non-sinusoidal current due to
input rectifier with capacitive filter, as shown in Fig. 4.
When the diodes are conducting, the inverter is exposed
to a large filter capacitor, and when they are not
conducting, the inverter is practically in no load
condition. Therefore, the inverter repeatedly faces two
totally different loading conditions which happen twice a
cycle.
Fig. 5 shows the open-loop response of an inverter to
a typical diode-capacitor load. The inverter controller
must be able to correctly regulate output voltage with
minimum distortion.
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Fig.1. A single phase bridge inverter

Some standards have been published to specify the
maximum distortion of a static UPS in presence of
non-linear loads. A UPS manufacturer must carefully
follow these standards [5],[6].

Fig. 2. Root locus of inverter with light loads

Fig. 3. Output waveform at light loads

Fig. 4. Non-linear load input current

Fig. 5. Open-loop response of an inverter to a typical
diode-capacitor (non-linear) load.

III. CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM DESIGN
Fig. 6 shows the block diagram of the closed-loop
system. The controller must be designed in such a way to
fulfill all dynamic and steady-state requirements. A
simple PI controller normally used in dc tracking systems
has many drawbacks in this application. Most
importantly, a PI controller cannot increase the system
phase margin adequately. Fig. 7 shows the system
response with a PI controller. It can be seen that proper
damping with this structure is very difficult if not
impossible [7].

Fig. 6. Block diagram of the closed-loop system
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Fig. 7. System response with a PI controller

A PID controller, on the other hand, is able to provide
an acceptable performance. It has high gain at
low-frequencies, without affecting overall system phase
margin. By proper selection of the system bandwidth, an
adequate transient response is also achievable

IV.CASE STUDY
A 220V, 1.5KVA inverter with 48 Vdc input voltage
is considered in this work. A transformer with turn ratio
equal to 1:8 is used at the output for voltage matching.
The output inductor is integrated in this transformer, with
the value equal to 110uH as seen from the low voltage
side. The output capacitor seen from the low-voltage side
is equal to 100uF. The switching frequency is 25 KHz.
The PID controller is designed with corner frequency
equal to 4 KHz. This frequency is high enough to provide
fast dynamic response while does not interfere with
switching frequency. The phase margin is selected to be
o
52 , resulting in the following pole and zero:

sec / 27331
sec / 8545
1
rad w
rad w
P
Z
=
=
To improve the noise immunity, another pole at
sec / 72885
2
rad w
P
= is added, while a zero is placed at
sec / 942 rad w
L
= to increase low frequency gain. Thus,
the complete transfer function is given by:

) / 1 )( / 1 (
) / 1 )( / 1 (
. ) (
2 1 p p
Z L
C
w s w s s
w s w s
K s G
+ +
+ +
=
Inserting the numerical values results in:

s s s
s s
s G
C
+ +
+ +
=

) 10 258 ( ) 10 156 (
1 ) 0012 . 0 ( ) 10 124 (
. 6000 ) (
6 2 12 3
9 2
The gain is selected such that the dc gain at corner
frequency becomes unity. Fig. 8 shows the bode plot of
the compensated system.
Fig. 8. Bode plot of the compensated system.

Fig. 9. Simulation results of the inverter as imposed
to a nonlinear load

Fig. 9 demonstrates the simulation results of the
inverter as imposed to a nonlinear load. The measured
THD is about 2.5%, which is below the given standards.

V.CURRENT MODE CONTROLLER
Current mode control strategy is a well-known
technique particularly in motor drive applications. In this
control technique, the inverter output current is directly
controlled by a relatively fast inner control loop, and the
output voltage is regulated with a more sluggish outer
loop. Generally speaking, current mode controller design
is more straight-forward since the above mentioned
control loops can be decoupled. Another salient feature of
current mode control technique is that the inverter output
current is directly controlled, making protection strategy
much more effective.
Fig. 10 shows the block diagram of the proposed
system with current mode control strategy [8]. Different
transfer functions can be obtained using this block
diagram. For example, transfer function from output
voltage to duty cycle is given by:
]
) / 1 / (
1
[ ) (
2
LC RC s s LC
V s G
i vd
+ +
=
And the transfer function from inductor current to
duty cycle is obtained as:
(2)
(3)
(4)
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1234
]
) / 1 / (
1
[ ) (
2
LC RC s s LC
sRC
R
V
s G
i
id
+ +
+
=
Fig. 11 shows the simulation results obtained using
current mode control method.

VI. INTERNAL MODEL CONTROLLER
From the control theory, a conventional PID
controller can never track a sinusoidal waveform ideally.
To illustrate this, one may consider the block diagram of
Fig. 6. It can be easily seen that an error must always exist
at the controller input to generate sinusoidal output and
consequently drive the inverter. This error is analogous to
steady-state error, which may not be acceptable.
High gain and bandwidth can improve tracking
performance, but other system parameters, specifically
dynamic characteristics, are limiting factors in increasing
gain.
From the block diagram of Fig. 6 one may suggests
that if the controller can generate a sinusoidal output even
in the absence of input, then ideal tracking is achievable.
From the system point of view, a transfer function with
two conjugate poles at the working frequency can perform
this task [9]. This is in agreement with the Principle of
Internal Model Controller which states:

For proper asymptotic tracking, the loop transfer
function must contain and internal model of the
unstable poles of the reference signal.
Fig. 10. Block diagram of the proposed system with
current mode control strategy

Fig. 11. Simulation results using current mode control method

Using internal model controller one can effectively
decouple the steady-state and dynamic performance,
making the controller design more flexible.

Fig. 12 shows different waveforms obtained using
PID controller with high and low gain and also with
internal model controller. It can be observed that the
steady-state error with internal model controller is
practically equal to zero, while it is not zero and depends
on controller gain in PID controller.

VII. DIGITAL CONTROLLER
Recent advances in fast microcontrollers and DSPs
have opened a new perspective for power electronics
designers. Using digital controller extremely increase the
system design flexibility. Time consuming computations
are now less restricting factors due to high performance
controllers available in the market.

Fig. 12. Different waveforms obtained using PID controller with high
gain(top) and low gain(middle) and also with internal model
controller(bottom)

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In designing a system with digital controllers, the
delays associated with sampling and computation time
must be properly considered. The sampling delay due to
the input zero-order-hold is equal to Ts/2, where Ts is the
sampling period, while the computation delay is generally
equal to one sampling time, Ts. The above delays are
added together and included in the original continuous
system model. Then, the controller is designed and
digitized using existing methods, like Euler or Tustin
methods.
Using this approach, the controller is re-designed for
implementation by a digital controller. The controller
transfer function is then given by:

205 . 0 77 . 0 025 . 0
102 . 0 128 . 0 1 . 129 .
) (
2 3
2 3

+
=
z z z
z z z
z G
dig

The digitization is done controller using Tustin
method and sampling frequency equal to switching
frequency (25 KHz). Simulation results are shown
in Fig 13.

IX.EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATIONS
Fig. 14 shows the inverter used in experimental
verifications. At this stage, only the analogue controller
was implemented using op-amps and other relevant
components. The inverter output waveform when
imposed to a non-linear load is shown in Fig 15. Table I
shows the harmonic spectrum of the output voltage.
Fig. 13. System response with a digital controller

Fig14. Inverter used in experimental system
Fig. 15. Inverter output waveform when imposed to
a non-linear load

Table I. Harmonic spectrum of the output voltage
X. CONCLUSION
A single phase inverter used at the output stage of
UPS systems is considered. Various requirements of such
inverter are stated. It is shown that conventional
controllers can not fulfill the necessary requirements
particularly when the inverter is supplying a non-linear
load. A PID controller is designed based on given
specifications. Current mode control technique is also
used to design a controller with desired dynamic
performance and inherent current limiting capability. It is
shown that the concept of Internal Model Controller can
be used to design a controller with zero steady-state error.
Controller design using digital controllers is shown and
some aspects associated with the existing time delays are
addressed.
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1236
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