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 waveform
generation

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 switches are
closed.

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 positive in the
switch

WHEN S1-S2 TURN ON & S3S4 OFF FOR T1 < T < T2

WHEN S1-S2 TURN OFF& S3S4 ON FOR T2 < T < T3

PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
Vdc
Vdc t
R I min - R e

I o (t )
T
t
Vdc
Vdc 2
I min
e

R
R
I min I max
Pdc Vdc I s

Vdc 1 e 2

R 1 e T 2

T
0 t
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

2
n , rms

In

2
n 1

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

V1,rms
2
rms

2
1, rms

V1,rms
2
dc

4Vdc

4Vdc
n

THDI

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)
100
THDv

4 100

2 1

4 100

2 1

10000 8106

90.03
0.484
48.4%

THDI

I
n2

2
n , rms

I1,rms
2

0.27
1.42 0.53

2
2
2

9.27

0.167

0.17

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
90o

fundamental frequency for a

n
square-wave output from the
full-bridge inverter is determined
by the dc input voltage.
voltage
A controlled output can be
produced by modifying the
switching scheme.
scheme
This output voltage can be
controlled by adjusting the
interval on each side of the
pulse where the output is zero.
Harmonic also can be eliminated
by choosing a value of which
make the sine terms go to zero.

4Vdc
cos

V1 I1Z1

Vn
In

Zn

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 harmonic.

eliminate the 3rd harmonic,

90o

30o
3

V1 I1Z1
I1 R 2 no L

(9.27) 10 1 2 60 0.025
127V
2

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

0.067
6.7% than 10%

TRY THIS

(a
)

()

PULSE-WIDTH MODULATED
OUTPUT

In square wave inverters, maximum output voltage is

achievable.
achievable
However there in NO control in harmonics and output
voltage magnitude.
magnitude
i.e the harmonics are always at three, five, seven etc
times the fundamental frequency.
frequency
Hence the cut-off frequency of the low pass filter is
somewhat fixed.
fixed The filter size is dictated by the VA
ratings of the inverter.
To reduce filter size, the PWM switching scheme
can be utilized.
utilized
In this technique, the harmonics are pushed to
higher frequencies.
frequencies Thus the cut-off frequency of the
filter is increased. Hence the filter components (i.e. L
and C) sizes are reduced.
The trade off for this flexibility is complexity in the
switching waveforms.
waveforms

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
PWM output waveform tracks amplitude and
frequency of reference sinewave

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)

A simple technique based on volt-second that is normally used with
three-phase inverter motordrive

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

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 current-sourced
inverters which operate from DC supplies which
approximate constant voltage source
Introduced pulse-width-modulated inverter