INVERTERS

(DC-AC Converters)

INVERTERS for SEE 4433

Square wave inverters (1-phase)

Amplitude and harmonic control
(quasi square wave)
Total Harmonic Distortion

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) (1phase)

Bipolar and unipolar
Harmonics
3-phase inverters
Square wave (six-step)
PWM

INVERTERS
In SEE 4433, regardless of the control method, the circuit
topology of single-phase inverter are of two types: Full-bridge
and half-bridge
A.

Full-bridge inverter
Q1

D1

io

Vdc
Q4

D4

Q3

D3

Q2

D2

vo

Upper and lower switches

cannot be ON
simultaneously
Depending on the switches
positions, there can be 3
possible output voltage:
(Vdc), (-Vdc) and 0

INVERTERS
In SEE 4433, regardless of the control method, the circuit
topology of single-phase inverter are of two types: Full-bridge
and half-bridge
B. half-bridge
inverter
C1

+
Vdc/2

Vdc
C2

+
Vdc/2

Q1

D1

vo

Q2

D2

The capacitors equally

devide the voltage Vdc
Depending on the switches
positions, the output
voltage can be either (Vdc/2)
or (Vdc/2)

INVERTERS
Square-wave inverter (with fullbridge)
S1, S2

S3, S4

S1, S2

It can be shown that:

Can also be implemented

using half-bridge inverters

INVERTERS
Square-wave inverter (with fullbridge)
Current path for inductive
load:

Q1

D1

io

Vdc
Q4

D4

Q3

D3

Q2

D2

vo

SEE EXAMPLE 8-2

INVERTERS
TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION
THD is used to measure the quality of the AC voltage or current

The closer the waveform to sinusoidal, the smaller is the THD

Can be applied to voltage or current

SEE EXAMPLE 8-3

INVERTERS
Quasi-square wave inverter Amplitude and harmonic
control

Duration of ZERO output voltage is introduced and it can be shown tha

Amplitude of the fundamental component can
be controlled (by controlling )
Certain harmonic contents can be eliminated
(also by controlling !)
Amplitude and harmonics cannot be controlled independently
Cannot be implemented using the half-bridge inverter.

INVERTERS
Quasi-square wave inverter Amplitude and harmonic
control

Fourier series of the output voltage is given by:

vo (t)

V sin n t
n

n,odd

where

Vn

4Vdc
cos n
n

INVERTERS
Quasi-square wave inverter Amplitude and harmonic
control
Amplitude control
Amplitude of fundamental
component:

V1

4Vdc
cos

By changing the amplitude of the fundamental

will change
Harmonic control
The nth harmanic can be eliminated if its amplitude
made zero
For example, the amplitude of the third harmonic
(n=3) is zero when = 30o

V3

4Vdc
cos 3(30o ) 0
3

INVERTERS
Quasi-square wave inverter Amplitude and harmonic
control
Simultaneous control of amplitude and harmonic
In order to be able to control amplitude and harmonic
simultaneously, variable Vdc has to be added

Vn

4Vdc
cos n
n

Controlled via DC
link

Fixed DC
voltage

DC-DC Variable
converte DC
r

Invert
er

Load

INVERTERS
Quasi-square wave inverter Amplitude and harmonic
control
Switching signals (full-bridge inverter)

S1

S1

S2

S2

S3

S3

S4

S4

INVERTERS
Pulse Width Modulation
Is a method used to control the output voltage (amplitude
and frequency) of an inverter by modulating the width of
the pulses of the output waveform
Main advantages of PWM control:
Filter requirement is reduced
Amplitude and frequency can be control independently
Significant reduction in THD of load current (inductive load)
Disadvantages of PWM control:
More complex control circuit
Higher switching losses
In SEE4433, two switching scheme for single-phase inverter
will be discussed:
Bipolar switching scheme
Unipolar switching scheme

INVERTERS
Pulse Width Modulation
Bipolar switching scheme

(vsine > vtri) : Q1 and Q2 ON; vo=

(vsine < vtri) : Q3 and Q4 ON; vo=

INVERTERS
Pulse Width Modulation
Bipolar switching scheme
fsine

Frequency modulation inde

ftri
Vm,sine

mf
Vm,tri

ftri
fsin

Amplitude modulation index

ma

Vm,sin
Vm,tri

The amplitude of the

fundamental
component of vo is
proportional to ma:
V1=maVdc

INVERTERS
Harmonics in PWM single-phase inverter

INVERTERS
Harmonics in PWM single-phase inverter : Bipolar switching
scheme
If m is chosen as odd integer with the triangular wave
f

synchronize with the modulating signal, then the PWM

output is an odd quarter-wave symmetry.

vo (t )
Vn sin( no t )
an = 0 and bn exist only for odd
n 1

Graphically, this can be represented

using frequency spectrum diagram :

OR using a normalized Fourier

coefficients table:

INVERTERS
Pulse Width Modulation
Unipolar switching
scheme

(vsine > vtri) : Q1 ON, Q4 OFF; va= Vdc

(vsine < vtri) : Q1 OFF, Q4 ON; va= 0

(-vsine > vtri) : Q3 ON, Q2 OFF; vb= Vd

(-vsine < vtri) : Q3 OFF, Q2 ON; vb= 0

Vab = va - vb

INVERTERS
Harmonics in PWM single-phase inverter : Unipolar switching
scheme
The frequency of the output voltage is doubled.
If mf is chosen as even integer then the first cluster of
harmonics appear around 2mf (the harmonic at 2mf
itself is zero)

Graphically, this can be represented

using frequency spectrum diagram :

Or using a normalized Fourier

coefficients table:

INVERTERS
Harmonics in PWM single-phase inverter :
Comparison between square wave and PWM
SQUARE-WAVE
Contains harmonics at relatively low frequency: 3rd, 5th, 7th,
9th, etc.
In order to improve the THDV , a low pass filter can be
employed filter will be bulky since cutoff frequency is
low difficult to remove harmonics since at the same time
must ensure fundamental component is not attenuated.
PWM
Harmonics appear around mf which is further away from
fundamental.
To improve THDV, filter with higher cutoff can be used
smaller in size easier to filter out harmonics.
PWM
mf = 21

Square wave

5
n

11

13

1
19

3
21

5
23

7
25

11

13

15

17

INVERTERS
Three-phase inverters
Six-step inverter
S1

S3

S1

S2
S3

Vdc

S4

A
n

S5

S6

S4
Vdc

vAo

S6

S2

THDV of line-line and line-n are

both 31%
THDI of line current depends on
load, however it will be smaller
than the single phase

vBo
vCo

vAB

vAn

S5

2
Vdc
3

1
Vdc
3

INVERTERS
Three-phase inverters
PWM inverter

mf is chosen to be multiple of 3 so
that the harmonic at multiple of
3, including mf (and its multiple)
are suppressed (or canceled out)
in the line-line voltage