IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO.
11, NOVEMBER 2009
Modeling and Control of Utility Interactive Inverters
Yilmaz Sozer and David A. Torrey
(Invited Paper)
AbstractAs alternative energy sources become more competi-
tive with traditional energy sources, the proliferation of distributed
generation sources that interface to the electric utility grid con-
tinues. Most of the alternative energy sources either produce dc
directly (solar photovoltaics or fuel cells) or create dc before inver-
sion to the utility (wind or hydroelectric turbines). The dc electric
energy is injected into the ac utility through an inverter. The result-
ing ac electric energy has to be compatible with the energy within
the ac utility system at the point where the inverter is connected
to the utility system. The control, design, and operation of the in-
verter must meet the applicable standards. This paper provides
an overview of modeling and control of the inverter system that
interfaces with the utility grid. Recent advancements in the state of
the art are presented along with practical implementations. Sim-
ulation and experimental test results are provided to emphasize
concepts and illustrate issues. Embedded control of the inverter
is assumed to be implemented through digital control techniques.
Algorithms are given in general form for application to single- and
three-phase inverters with any number of levels.
Index TermsRenewable energy systems, utility interactive
inverters.
I. INTRODUCTION
S the cost of conventional energy sources continues to
A increase, alternative energy sources continue to gain in
popularity beyond those that see them as a way to reduce en-
vironmental pollution. The new technological developments in
renewable energy systems make them commercially viable al-
ternatives. Small hydro turbines, wind turbines and solar photo-
voltaics (PV) are the most common alternative energy sources
currently. Solar electric energy usage has grown consistently
at a rate of 2025% annually over the last 20 years, and has
accelerated to nearly 50% per annum in the last 5 years. In
2001, just under 350 MW of solar systems were installed. In
2005, 1.460 GW of PV systems were put into use. This num-
ber increased to 1.744 GW in 2006. On-grid installations (also
known as utility-interactive systems) are being installed at al-
most twice the rate of off-grid installations for two reasons.
First, most homes and businesses are connected to the utility
grid. Second, most government incentive programs apply only
to utility-interactive systems. The majority of the on-grid appli-
cations are distributed, namely installed at the point of use.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council wind power
plants generated 22 199 GWh in 2006, which is 6.48% higher
Manuscript received March 9, 2009. Current version published December 4,
2009. Recommended for publication by Associate Editor J. Sun.
The authors are with the Advanced Energy Conversion, LLC, Schenec-
tady, NY 12305 USA (e-mail: yilmaz@AdvancedEnergyConversion.com;
davidtorrey@advancedenergyconversion.com).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2009.2029576
0885-8993/$26.00 2009 IEEE
2475
than in 2005. This production represents a 9% coverage of
demand.
Most alternative energy systems do not have constant energy
sources. Wind speed, sun irradiance, and water flow rate might
change quite a lot during the day. A stable grid interface is
desired to filter the fluctuation in the renewable energy sources
to provide reliable power to the user. As such, most of the
renewable energy sources interface to the grid. The source side
of the energy is mostly in dc form. Solar PV cells provide dc
voltage, and small and mid size wind generators output ac that
is then rectified to dc voltage. The dc electric energy is usually
converted into ac electric energy by use of an inverter. The
control objective on the dc side is to capture maximum energy
and deliver it to the utility grid. The resulting ac electric energy
has to be compatible with the energy within the ac utility system
at the point where the inverter is connected to the utility system.
High penetration of so many distributed systems to the utility
grid brings many issues with it. An unregulated interface to
the utility grid affects the quality of the energy provided and
safety of maintenance personnel or the system user. Standards
have been developed to impose restrictions on connecting utility
interactive inverters to the grid.
A common feature of utility interactive inverters is an al-
gorithm that seeks to maximize the energy extracted from the
renewable resource. In solar PV, this is generally referred to
as maximum power point tracking (MPPT). Wind turbines also
seek to maximize energy capture, but this is typically accom-
plished by forcing the turbine to operate at maximum aerody-
namic efficiency. The subject of MPPT is not dealt with in this
paper; the interested reader is referred to the relevant technical
and patent literature for broad coverage. This paper focuses on
the issues of managing the utility interface, irrespective of the
algorithm used to maximize energy capture.
This paper provides an overview of the challenges in mod-
eling and control of the inverter interfaced to the utility grid.
Grid synchronization methods are discussed and details of the
widely accepted phase-locked loop (PLL) algorithm and exper-
imental verification are presented in Section II. The islanding
phenomenon and the vulnerability of the inverters to the phe-
nomenon are discussed. Commonly used anti-islanding tech-
niques with an emphasis on the Sandia voltage and frequency
shift algorithm are given in Section III. Current regulation al-
gorithms are discussed and a linearized feed-forward digital PI
current regulator is developed in Section IV. Simulated and ex-
perimental results for the controller are presented to show the
effectiveness of the controller. Pulsewidth modulation (PWM)
generation algorithms are presented for multilevel inverters,
made generic to be implemented by an inverter with any num-
ber of levels in Section V; both sine PWM and space vector
2476 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2009

techniques are discussed. Section VI provides information about

stand alone inverters that are not interfaced to the utility grid.
Summary and conclusions are provided in Section VII.

II. GRID SYNCHRONIZATION

The phase tracking system is one important part of the control
system. It affects power factor control of the inverter output as
well as the harmonic content of the inverter output current. Fig. 1. Symmetrically displaced three phase voltages.
Ideally, the phase tracking algorithm should respond quickly to
changes in the utility phasing but it should reject the noise and
higher harmonics in the utility voltage. Many algorithms have
been proposed [1][4]. The easiest phase tracking algorithm is
based on zero-crossing detection. The inverter output current is
synchronized to the utility during zero-crossings of the utility
voltage. This algorithm suffers from noise and higher order
harmonics in the utility voltage. Also, zero-crossing detection
suffers from speed as it adapts to utility phasing only twice in
each utility cycle. Many filtering techniques have been used to Fig. 2. Transformation into two components.
estimate the phasing of the utility using open loop and closed
loop techniques.
PLL techniques have become something of an industry stan-
dard to estimate the phase of the utility [5]. Convergence speed
and steady state noise and disturbance rejection performance
can be adjusted through compensator design. The PLL performs
quite well in tracking of the utility phase even in the presence of
higher order harmonics in the utility voltage. On the other hand,
PLL performance might deteriorate in the presence of unbalance Fig. 3. Transformation to constant voltage with changing phase.
in the utility voltage. Using pre- or post-filtering techniques, the
effect of unbalance in the utility system can be rejected [6][8].
A time-varying three-phase utility voltage is convenient for After the transformations, the two-phase decoupled utility
control purposes. To manipulate the natural model, we use voltages become
transformations to move quantities from one reference frame
vd (t) = Vm cos( )
to another. One transformation takes three-coupled phase volt-
ages into two-decoupled phase voltages. A second transforma- vq (t) = Vm sin( ). (2)
tion allows us to move quantities in one reference frame to
a second reference frame that is displaced from the first by a As approaches , vd (t) goes to zero. We can linearize it for
phase angle. The purpose of the PLL is to estimate phase angle control purposes as
of the utility system. Combining the two transformations that vq (t) = ( ). (3)
converts three phase utility Vabc quantities into Vdq quantities
gives The PLL frequency  and phase can track the utility fre-
1 1 quency and phase angle , respectively, by the proper design


 1 of the loop filter. A proportional-integral (PI) type filter for the
Vd 2 cos sin

2 2
= second-order loop can be given as
Vq 3 sin cos 3 3
0 1 + s
2 2 Kf (s) = Kp . (4)
s
Vm cos

V cos 2 The transfer functions of the closed loop system are rewritten
m in the general form of second-order system as
3 . (1)

2 s2
Vm cos + H(s) = (5)
3 s2
+ 2n + n2
Fig. 1 shows the displacement of three-phase symmetrically  
where n = Kp Vm / and = Kp Vm /2. A second-order
displaced utility voltages in the complex plane. Converted two digital loop PI filter can be obtained as
phase quantities are placed in the complex plane as shown in
Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows resultant transformation of the decoupled z(z )
Kd (z) = Kp (6)
utility voltage. (z 1)2
SOZER AND TORREY: MODELING AND CONTROL OF UTILITY INTERACTIVE INVERTERS
Fig. 4. Single phase PLL algorithm.
Fig. 5. Three phase PLL algorithm.
where = 1 T / , and T is the sampling period. Fig. 4 shows
the block diagram of the PLL for a single phase inverter. The
three-phase PLL algorithm is shown in Fig. 5.
III. ANTI-ISLANDING
For safety reasons, it is a requirement that utility interactive
inverters must disconnect themselves from the utility if the util-
ity should be interrupted for any reason. This will protect utility
workers and equipment from energy being injected into the util-
ity system that is not under the direct control of the utility. An
inverter that feeds energy into the utility when the utility is not
operating creates an islanding condition.
All utility interactive inverters are required to have over fre-
quency/under frequency (OFP/UFP) and over voltage protec-
tion/under voltage protection (OVP/UVP) methods that prevent
the inverter from supplying power to the utility if the utility volt-
age or frequency is outside of an acceptable range. Fig. 6 shows
the typical connection of the inverter to the utility grid. The in-
verter outputs power P + jQ while local loads take Pld + jQld
with the rest of power being supplied by the utility P + jQ.
The operation of the system after the utility disconnects depends
on the amount of P and Q. If P = 0, the amplitude of the
utility voltage will change and OVP/UVP can detect the change
and prevent islanding. If Q = 0, the phase of the utility will
suddenly shift and OFP/UFP will detect the change in frequency
and detect the islanding condition. If the real and reactive power
2477
Fig. 6. Inverter interface to the utility grid.
Fig. 7. Nondetection zone for anti-islanding algorithms.
of the inverter are not matched closely to the loads or the reso-
nant frequency of the load network is not close to the resonant
frequency of the inverter OVP/UVP, then the OFP and UFP
would be adequate to detect the islanding condition. However,
when the load requirements are being satisfied by the inverter
only, detection of an islanding condition becomes much more
challenging. Certification test requirements for an inverter (such
as IEEE1547) examine the response time of the inverter for the
case where P and Q are near zero.
The nondetection zone (NDZ) concept is developed to de-
termine the effectiveness of the anti-islanding algorithm for a
given Q and P [9][11]. The reaction time of the islanding
detection is dependent on the NDZ. Fig. 7 shows NDZ for is-
landing algorithms. Calculation of the NDZ for Q is given as
V2
QNDZ = (7)
1
Xc X1L
where = 1/ LC. There are many active and passive meth-
ods that have been developed to detect an islanding condi-
tion [12][15]. Passive methods are sometimes either difficult
to implement or have larger NDZs. Active methods require in-
jecting disturbances into the utility. Those injections need to be
controlled properly or harmonized with other inverters to avoid
destabilization of the utility in normal operations.
Fig. 8 shows the frequency shift algorithm to detect an is-
landing condition. The zero time tz is introduced to the inverter
output current as cf = 2tz /Tgrid , where cf is referred to as the
chopping fraction.
The Sandia frequency and voltage shift algorithms if im-
plemented at the same time are very effective in detecting
2478 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2009

Fig. 9. Open-loop Bode plot asymptotes.

To control the sinusoidal inverter output current, it is advanta-

geous to transform the dynamics into a reference frame, where
the desired waveform is a dc quantity rather than sinusoids of a
given frequency. This allows the use of integral control action to
remove steady-state error. To achieve this, a rotation transforma-
tion whose transformation matrix is given by (1) must be used.
Fig. 8. Frequency shift algorithm for anti-islanding. The electrical dynamics of the inverter after the transformation
are given as

islanding [12]. The Sandia frequency shift is basically modi- did

vd (t) = Rid (t) + L Liq (t) + ed (t)
fication of frequency shift algorithm given as dt
diq
cf = cf 0 + K(fa fline ) (8) vq (t) = Riq (t) + L + Lid (t) + eq (t). (10)
dt
where K is an accelerator to destabilize the inverter output The dynamics in one axis are dependent on the current state
frequency when the utility is disconnected. of the other axis. (This is analogous to the cross-coupling ex-
The Sandia voltage shift algorithm is similar to the frequency perienced in electric machines where direct axis flux produces
shift algorithm. An additional term is added to inverter output quadrature axis back electromotive force (emf) and vice versa.)
current based on the change in utility voltage as This introduces a coupled multi-inputmulti-output (MIMO)
system that is dependent on the product of two states: cur-
iout = iref + KV. (9)
rent and frequency. The coupling term can be estimated by the
Both of these methods cause the power quality of the inverter measured currents and compensated. The utility voltage can be
output waveform to deteriorate. The quality of the waveform modeled as a disturbance to the system or can be compensated
and desired detection times are trade offs that can be adjusted based on measurements. After feed-forward compensation and
through the value of K. The Sandia algorithm adds a small decoupling, the linear model of the first order plant that we are
amount of positive feedback to both voltage and frequency reg- trying to control is
ulation by the inverter, so the inverter is continuously trying to 1 1/R
destabilize the utility. This works well if the utility is stiff; how- G(s) = = . (11)
sL + R s(L/R) + 1
ever, one can imagine what could happen with deep penetration
of renewable resources. The structure of the controller was chosen to be a PI controller,
which has the transfer function
IV. CURRENT REGULATION
Kp s + KI s(Kp /KI ) + 1
The amount of desired output power delivered to the util- D(s) = = KI . (12)
s s
ity is controlled through the current regulation algorithm. The
accuracy of the current regulation algorithm is important for ef- The frequency of the compensator zero is KI /KP , and is as-
fective maximum power processing. The quality of the current sumed to be lower in frequency than the pole of the plant at
regulation algorithm is also important to meet the total harmonic R/L. Therefore, the asymptotes of the Bode plot can be drawn
distortion restrictions imposed by the applicable standards. as shown in Fig. 9.
Many control algorithms have been proposed to control in- Fig. 10 shows the block diagram of the current regulation
verter output current for utility interactive operations. Hysteretic algorithm. The same algorithm can be used for both three-phase
type controllers with different closed loop compensators have and single-phase systems once the dynamics are transferred into
been used running at varying or constant switching frequen- the rotating reference frame. Digital implementation of the PI
cies [16][19]. We present here an easily implementable and controller can be realized with
effective current regulation algorithm that works harmoniously
z (1 T (KI /KP ))
with grid synchronization methods. It is also applicable to mul- D(z) = KP . (13)
tilevel inverters. z1
SOZER AND TORREY: MODELING AND CONTROL OF UTILITY INTERACTIVE INVERTERS
Fig. 10. Current regulation algorithm.
The control algorithm is tested on a 20 kW bidirectional utility
interactive inverter. The active power is commanded to be 4 kW
initially and step changed to 8 kW with zero-reactive power.
As shown in Fig. 11, the power command is tracked perfectly
by the inverter. Fig. 12 provides the experimental results for
3 kW active power and a transient in reactive power control.
Parameters for the cross coupling terms are tuned beyond the
expected values to zero the offset in the reactive power control.
Also, a faster sampling rate in the embedded control helps to
reduce dc offset in current waveforms. The quality of the current
waveform transferred into utility is quite good and well within
harmonic standards.
V. PWM IMPLEMENTATION
A. Sine PWM Control Algorithm
After calculating the reference voltages for the individual
phases, the PWM generation algorithm produces the duty ratios
for individual inverter switches [20]. The sine PWM technique
is easy to implement and very effective. Sine PWM generation
is modeled such that it can produce the switching positions for
inverters of 2, 3, 4, and 5 levels. The current controller produces
a reference voltage (Vref ) between 1 and 1. Vref is scaled based
on the number of levels in the topology; m denotes the number
of levels. A multilevel comparator produces the switch position
output between 0 and m 1. Fig. 13 shows the block diagram
of the sine PWM signal generation. Each value of Sp os and the
corresponding phase leg voltages is given in Table I.
B. Space Vector PWM Control Algorithm
Sine PWM techniques provide independent control for each
individual inverter phase leg. For three-phase inverters it is pos-
sible to control all three inverter phase legs together to better
2479
use the available dc bus voltage. Space vector techniques pro-
vide three phase control with a centralized controller [21], [22].
We will provide a space vector control algorithm that is ap-
plicable to any number of inverter levels. Multilevel inverters
generate their output voltage from three or more discrete volt-
age levels. For an m-level inverter the switching function for
each phase takes on values between 0 and m 1. The phase leg
voltage is
switchp os Vdc
VAn0 = . (14)
m1
Each switching states produces uniquely defined three-phase
line voltages. If the switching positions for the three phases are
i, j, and k, respectively, then the inverter output voltages can be
represented by the switching vector as
ij
V (ijk) = V dc j k . (15)
ki
It is important to note that switching vectors can be produced
by the different switching positions of the inverter. For balanced
output voltages, the sum of the line-to-line voltages must be zero.
That means switching vectors can be represented in two dimen-
sions. The reference voltage can be realized by the application
of the nearest three vectors with the appropriate duration times
(duty cycles). That is, the reference voltage is created through
a time-weighted combination of the nearest three vectors. The
main objective of the modulator is to select the switching posi-
tions of the inverter and the duration of how long each switch
position needs to be applied by the inverter in order to produce
the reference voltage. According to [22], it is convenient to use
nonorthogonal vectors as a new basis to represent the switching
vectors. One base transformation would be


(level 1) 2 1 1
T = (16)
3 1 2 1
so, V ref (g, h) = T V ref (a, b, c). After normalization to Vdc all
the switching position vectors are integers. Switching position
vectors in gh coordinates for a three-level inverter are shown in
Fig. 14. Fig. 15 shows the normalized reference voltage vector
and four nearest switching position vectors in gh coordinates.
The four nearest vectors to normalized reference voltage vec-
tor can be calculated as


floor(Vref g )
V ll =
floor(Vref h )


ceil(Vref g )
V ul =
floor(Vref h )


floor(Vref g )
V lu =
ceil(Vref h )


ceil(Vref g )
V uu = . (17)
ceil(Vref h )
Voltage Vref can be realized as an inverter output voltage by
application of three of the four vectors given above consecu-
tively during one switching cycle. V lu and V u l are always two
2480 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2009

Fig. 11. Transient response of the active power control.

Fig. 12. Transient response of the reactive power control.

of the nearest three vectors. The third nearest vector is one of dVu l = Vref g Vll g
the remaining vectors located at the same side of the diagonal. If
((Vref g + Vref h ) (Vu l g + Vu l h )) 0 then Vref is in the upper dVlu = Vref h Vll g
triangle so choose V u u as the third vector, otherwise Vref is in dVll = 1 dVu l dVlu (18)
the lower triangle so choose V ll as the third vector. For opera-
tion within the lower triangle the duty ratio for each vector can
be calculated as
SOZER AND TORREY: MODELING AND CONTROL OF UTILITY INTERACTIVE INVERTERS 2481

Fig. 13. Sine PWM implementation for a multilevel inverter.

TABLE I
SWITCH POSITIONS (S p o s ) AND CORRESPONDING PHASE LEG VOLTAGES

and for the operation at the lower triangles duty ratio for each
vector can be calculated as

dVu l = Vu u h Vref h
dVlu = Vu u g Vref g
dVll = 1 dVu l dVlu . (19)

VI. STANDALONE CONTROL

In the absence of the utility grid, renewable energy systems Fig. 14. Switching position vectors in coordinates for a three-level inverter.
could be used to provide energy to the local loads [22][25]
assuming an adequate supply of energy for the inverter to draw
upon. The control structure on the dc and ac sides are changed
to accommodate the needs of the local loads. Unless there is
battery backup in the system, the system cannot work on the
principle of maximum power extraction from the source since
this would lead to a sustained energy imbalance. The amount
of energy transfer is dictated primarily by the needs of the local Fig. 15. Normalized reference voltage and the four nearest switching vectors.
loads and the losses within the inverter. If there is enough energy
available at the source, the local loads are fully supported by the
inverter. If the demand from the loads is higher than the available The voltage and frequency of the ac side is set by the inverter.
energy at the source then lower priority loads are needed to be Similar voltage regulation algorithms can be used as in uninter-
shed to make energy available for supporting the higher priority ruptable power supplies. Depending on the steady state and tran-
loads. sient requirements on the voltage control different techniques
2482
Fig. 16. RMS voltage control for standalone inverters.
Fig. 17. Instantaneous voltage control for standalone inverters.
can be used. One of the attractive methods used in uninterrupt-
ible power system (UPS) systems is rms voltage control. The
rms voltage is controlled by a PI compensator. The output of the
compensator adjusts modulation index of the 60 Hz sine PWM.
This type of control provides stable output in the steady state
but transient performance may not be adequate for aggressive
load transients [26], such as starting compressor-driven loads.
Fig. 16 shows the block diagram for the rms voltage control of
the stand alone inverters.
Instantaneous voltage control provides more aggressive con-
trol during transients [27]. It is more difficult to design the com-
pensator especially in the presence of noisy analog measure-
ments. Fig. 17 shows the block diagram for the instantaneous
voltage control of the stand alone inverters.
Multiloop voltage control algorithms provide better results
at both steady state and transient operations. The rms voltage
controller commands a 60 Hz reference current. An inner current
regulator regulates the current using an instantaneous current
measurement.
VII. SUMMARY
Modeling and control of utility interactive inverters are pre-
sented in this paper. State of the art techniques on individ-
ual subjects are given and the most applicable techniques have
been demonstrated in detail. The techniques presented are ap-
plicable to both single- and three-phase inverters and to any
number of levels within the three-phase inverter. Grid synchro-
nization, anti-islanding control, current regulation algorithm,
PWM generation techniques and stand alone inverter controls
are discussed. Control algorithms have been given in digital
control format applicable to embedded control using digital sig-
nal processors. Experimental and simulation results have been
used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the individual control
techniques.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2009
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[22] N. Celanovic and D. Boroyevich, A fast space-vector modulation al-
gorithm for multilevel three-phase converters, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl.,
vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 637641, Mar./Apr. 2001.
[23] H. Shan, Y. Kang, S. Duan, Y. Zhang, M. Yu, Y. Liu, G. Chen, and F. Luo,
Research on novel parallel current sharing control technique of the stand-
SOZER AND TORREY: MODELING AND CONTROL OF UTILITY INTERACTIVE INVERTERS 2483

alone photovoltaic inverter, Proc. IEEE 33rd Annu. Conf. Ind. Electron. David A. Torrey received the B.S. degree in electri-
Soc., pp. 16451649, Nov. 2007. cal engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute,
[24] M. Fatu, L. Tutelea, R. Teodorescu, F. Blaabjerg, and I. Boldea, Motion Worcester, MA, and the S.M., E.E., and Ph.D. degrees
sensorless bidirectional PWM converter control with seamless switching in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute
from power grid to stand alone and back, in Proc. IEEE Power Electron. of Technology, Cambridge.
Spec. Conf., Jun. 2007, pp. 12391244. He spent fourteen years in academia with faculty
[25] M. Heidenreich and D. Mayer, Performance analysis of standalone PV appointments at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, then
systems from a rational use of energy point of view, in Proc. 3rd World Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, where
Conf. Photovoltaic Energy Convers., May 2003, pp. 21552158. he held the Niagara Mohawk Power Electronics Re-
[26] E. H. Kim, J. M. Kwon, J. K. Park, and B. H. Kwon, Practical control search Chair. His research activities are focused on
implementation of a three- to single-phase online UPS, IEEE Trans. Ind. all aspects of electric machine and electronic power
Electron., vol. 55, no. 8, pp. 29332942, Aug. 2008. conversion systems. He is now Chief Technology Officer with Advanced En-
[27] J. M. Guerrero, L. G. de Vicuna, J. Miret, J. Matas, and M. Castilla, A ergy Conversion, LLC, a consulting firm focused on product development that
nonlinear feed-forward control technique for single-phase UPS inverters, integrates electric machines, power electronics and embedded controls. He also
in IEEE 28th Annu. Conf. Ind. Electron. Soc., Nov. 2002, pp. 257261. teaches at Union Graduate College, Schenectady, NY. He is a Registered Pro-
fessional Engineer in New York State.
Dr. David has been involved in the IEEE activities which support power
Yilmaz Sozer received the B.S. degree in electrical electronics, primarily through the Applied Power Electronics Conference. He is
and electronics engineering from Middle East Tech- a member of the Sigma Xi, the Tau Beta Pi, and the Eta Kappa Nu.
nical University, Ankara, Turkey, and the M.Sc. and
Ph.D. degrees in electrical power engineering from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
His masters and doctoral work focused on power
electronics and the development of control algorithms
for electric machines. Since the completion of his
doctorate degree, he has worked at Advanced Energy
Conversion, Schenectady, NY and developed exper-
tise in all aspects of electronic power conversion and
its control, such as belt-driven starter/alternator systems, solar pv inverters, high-
power isolated dc/dc converter systems, and large industrial static power con-
version systems that interface energy storage and distributed generation sources
with the electric utility. He has also served as a part time Faculty Member at
Union Graduate College, Schenectady. He joined the Electrical and Computer
Engineering Department, University of Akron, Akron, OH as a Faculty Mem-
ber, where he is developing a research program on alternative energy systems.